Burial chamber beneath the chancel of Stephansdom in Vienna, Austria
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Stephansdom in Vienna, Austria, which houses the Ducal CryptDucal Crypt
Before his death at age 25 in 1365, Duke Rudolf IV3 had ordered a crypt to be built for his remains in the new cathedral he commissioned, and it has sheltered those remains for over 650 years. He also ordered a cenotaph for himself to be placed upstairs above the crypt, in front of the high altar. That symbolic tomb was later moved to the north choir and his epitaph written in secret symbols was placed on the wall of that choir.
The family of the ruling line of Austrian dukes was buried here after Rudolf IV, but after the dynasty became emperors they were buried in various cities (Vienna was not yet the settled seat of the emperor). After the Imperial Crypt at the Kapuzinerkirche opened in 1633, it became the new dynastic burial place.
The Ducal Crypt (red letters) is one of several burial locations beneath Stephansdom. The bones of over 11,000 persons from cemeteries formerly around the church are stored in the Catacombs.
Embalmers have known since the time of the Ancient Egyptians that it is necessary to remove the internal organs if the rest of the body is to be preserved. The containers with those organs were usually put in the coffin, but when the heir to the Imperial Throne, King Ferdinand IV of the Romans, died in 1654, he specified in his will that the container with his heart be placed in the Augustinerkirche, his body in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche, and the urn with his viscera in the crypt at the Stephansdom. His instructions resulted in the foundation of the Herzgruft at the Augustinerkirche. His younger brother, Emperor Leopold I, pursued a tradition imitating that distribution of remains, and also enlarged the Imperial Crypt to make it large enough for additional future burials. The urns with viscera were thereafter regularly deposited in the Ducal Crypt in the Stephansdom. There are now 33 persons who are each buried in all three places.
By 1754, the small rectangular Ducal Crypt was overcrowded with 12 sarcophagi and 39 urns, so the area was expanded with an oval chamber being added (directly beneath the present location of the Archbishop's Throne) beyond the east end of the rectangular one. New sarcophagi were made for some of the bodies.
In 1956 the crypt was renovated and the contents were rearranged. The sarcophagi of Duke Rudolf IV3 and his wife4 were placed upon a pedestal and the 62 urns containing organs were moved from the two rows of shelves around the new section to cabinets in the original chamber.
Deposition in the crypt has not always been permanent. Emperor Frederick III lay here for only 20 years after his death, until his magnificent tomb upstairs in the south choir was ready. The body of his brother, Archduke Albert VI, was removed after 300 years.
The old and new chambers of the crypt are adjacent, with a tunnel for daylight at the east (left) end, and stairs descending to the crypt's old chamber from the west.
The greatest influx, other that the regular arrival of visceral urns, came as a result of the Austrian version of the Dissolution of the English Monasteries under Emperor Joseph II in 1782. When the religious institutions holding bodies of some of the members of the dynasty were closed, they needed to be moved. The Imperial Crypt at that time had only half the space it has today, and already held 57 bodies. The emperor ordered that the bodies of two persons114 who had died before the Imperial Crypt opened be brought to the Ducal Crypt instead. Another person, Empress Eleanor,16 would normally have been entitled to space in the Imperial Crypt, but because her husband19 was not buried there either, her body was sent to the Ducal Crypt.
It is probably around this time that the body of Duke Albert VI was removed to make room for others, and that the body15 whose sarcophagus is inscribed with only the year and name of the parents arrived. Identified through other evidence as one-year-old Anna of Lorraine, it is known that her brother Charles V, Duke of Lorraine married Archduchess Eleanora Maria Josepha (1653–1697) (widowed Queen of Poland and daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III)21 in 1678, and that marriage may have some connection with this non-Habsburg being brought here, but the exact reason is unclear.
The last item interred here is the urn with the viscera of Archduke Franz Karl78, father of Emperor Franz Joseph, in 1878.
In the Original Crypt, the urns and sarcophagi are shown in disarray in this 1739 engraving. The new chamber was added a dozen years later, connecting through the wall to the left. The cross arrangement engraved in the wall was moved to the new chamber.The New Chamber, as shown in this 1758 engraving, is substantially how it looks today. The window behind the sarcophagus of Duke Rudolf IV has a long sill sloping to the ground above to provide light. The urns containing viscera have now been moved to the adjoining Original Chamber.
"the handsome" son of King Albert I, elder brother of Duke Albert II and uncle of Duke Rudolf IV.3 His remains were moved here in 1782 when the Carthusian monastery he founded at Mauerbach, his original burial place, was closed during the anti-clerical reforms of Emperor Joseph II.
"the founder", eldest son of Duke Albert II. Rudolf commissioned the present cathedral, and founded the University of Vienna before his death in Milan at age 25. He was originally entombed in S. Giovanni in Concha and later moved to here. The University lays a wreath on his tomb every 12 March to commemorate its founding by him.
second wife of Emperor Ferdinand II.19 Her remains were moved here in 1782 from the Carmelite convent "Siebenbüchnerinnen" in Vienna that she had founded.
Daughter of Ferdinand II, Duke of Tyrol and wife of her cousin Emperor Matthias18 who was 28 years older than her. She provided in her will of 1617 for the establishment of a crypt for her and her husband in a Capuchin's Church to be built in Vienna, and died only one year later, at age 33 after seven years of a childless marriage and is buried in tomb 1 in the Imperial Crypt she founded. Her heart is in urn 1 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche.
Emperor Matthias is the first emperor whose viscera are deposited here. They were brought to the Ducal Crypt from their original resting place over 20 years later, after the testament of emperor-elect King Ferdinand IV of the Romans had set the precedent for honoring these three churches with the remains of the members of the Imperial Family.
Third son of Emperor Maximilian II. Once governor of the Austrian Netherlands, he wrested power over Austria, Hungary and Moravia from his inept brother Emperor Rudolf II in 1608 and inherited the rest in 1612. He died, age 62, only three months after his wife Empress Anna.17 He is buried in tomb 2 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche and his heart is in urn 2 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche.
Eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand III.21 He died at age 20. His heart is in urn 4 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 29 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche. He established the tradition of burial of different parts in three separate Vienna churches.
Son of Emperor Ferdinand III21 and Empress Maria Leopoldina, who died during his birth. Bishop of Olomouc and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights at age 13 as heir to his uncle, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm.23 The art collection he inherited from Archduke Leopold Wilhelm23 became the foundation of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Died at age 15. He is buried in tomb 116 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
25(Viscera of) Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel Josef (1667–1668) →Family Tree
Infant son of Emperor Leopold I41 and Empress Margarita Teresa.29 He is buried in tomb 7 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
26(Heart of) Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel Josef.
27(Viscera of) Archduke Johann Leopold (1670) →Family Tree
Infant son of Emperor Leopold I41 and Empress Margarita Teresa.29 He is buried in tomb 8 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
28(Viscera of) Archduchess Maria Anna Antonie (1672) →Family Tree
Infant daughter of Emperor Leopold I41 and Empress Margarita Teresa.29 She is buried in tomb 10 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Second wife of Emperor Leopold I.41 Her 22-year-old body, by her own request, is dressed in the habit of a Dominican nun and is entombed beside her mother in the Dominican Church in Vienna. Her heart is in urn 24 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
32(Viscera of) Archduchess Maria Josefa Klementina (1675–1676) →Family Tree
Infant daughter of Emperor Leopold I41 and Empress Claudia Felicitas.31 Her heart is in a gold and silver urn atop her mother's sarcophagus in the Dominican Church. She is buried in tomb 12 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Second son of Emperor Ferdinand III21 and father of Emperors Joseph I42 and Karl VI.48 He reigned 48 years. He was involved in wars ranging from the defense of western Europe against conquest by the Muslims, to the War of the Spanish Succession to place his second son48 on the Spanish throne when the Spanish branch of the Habsburg dynasty died out in 1700. Leopold died at age 64. His heart is in urn 11 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 37 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Three-years old, eldest daughter of Emperor Franz I Stephen56 and Empress Maria Theresa.57 She is buried in tomb 48 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
47(Heart of) Archduchess Marie Elisabeth.
48(Viscera of) Emperor Karl VI (1 October 1685 - 20 October 1740) →Family Tree
Third daughter of Emperor Franz I Stephen56 and Empress Maria Theresa.57 Died at age 1 year. She is buried in tomb 53 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Regent of the Austrian Netherlands. Daughter of Emperor Leopold I.41 Dead at age 61. Her heart is in urn 14 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 38 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche. The container here for her viscera is of an unusual form, being a flat box instead of the more usual pot shape.
Second son of Emperor Franz I Stephen56 and Empress Maria Theresa.57 Died of smallpox at age 15. His heart is in urn 18 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 44 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Eighth daughter of Emperor Franz I Stephen56 and Empress Maria Theresa.57 Died of smallpox at age 12. Her heart is in urn 19 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 45 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Duke of Lorraine and Grand Duke of Tuscany. Husband of Empress Maria Theresa,57 he died at age 56 after nominally being Emperor for 25 years. His heart is in urn 20 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 55 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
57(Viscera of) Empress Maria Theresa (13 May 1717 - 29 November 1780) Maria Theresa Capuchin Crypt→Family Tree
Eldest surviving descendant of Emperor Karl VI,48→Family Tree her ascension was contested and officially the crown of the Empire went to her husband (1736) Emperor Franz I Stephen.56 but she held Hungary and Bohemia as Queen in her own right. Dying at age 63, her forty years' reign is thought of by the Austrians as the British think of Queen Victoria: the golden years of power, prestige and empire. Her heart is in urn 21 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 56 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
58(Viscera of) Archduchess Louise Elisabeth (Vienna 18 February 1790 - Vienna 24 June 1791) →Family Tree
Third son of Empress Maria Theresia.57→Family Tree Most of his career was spent in Florence, reforming the governance there as Grand Duke of Tuscany, and only his final two years were as Emperor. He died at age 45. His heart is in urn 23 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 113 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Originally contracted to marry Empress Maria Theresia's57 second son, Archduke Karl Joseph,54 his early death diverted her instead to the third son, who later became Emperor Leopold II.59 In the course of 21 years, she bore her not-always-faithful husband 16 children, among them Emperor Franz II, and Archduke Karl the victor of Aspern. Grieving for her husband, she outlived him by only two months leaving many small children. Her 46-year-old heart is in urn 24 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 114 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
61(Viscera of) Archduchess Maria Karoline Leopoldine Franziska Theresia Josepha Medarde (Vienna 8 June 1794 - Vienna 16 March 1795) →Family Tree
Fourth son of Emperor Leopold II59 and Empress Maria Ludovika.60 Palatine of Hungary. Died at 23. His heart is in urn 26 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 64 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Favorite daughter of Empress Maria Theresia.57 Wife of Duke Albert of Teschen.75 The famous and moving monument he erected to her memory is in the Augustinerkirche. She died of Typhus at age 56. Her heart is in urn 28 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 112 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Second wife (1790) at age 18 of Emperor Franz II. Mother of Empress Maria Louise (second wife of Napoleon), Emperor Ferdinand,77 and all subsequent children of her husband. Because her mother73 was a sister of her husband's father59 the couple were first cousins. →Family Tree (ancestors) She died at age 34 of tuberculous pleurisy. Her heart is in urn 35 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 60 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Third wife (1808) at age 20 of 40-year-old cousin Emperor Franz II, she contracted tuberculosis shortly after their wedding, suffering from it for the eight years of marriage before dying at age 28. Her heart is in urn 39 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and she is buried in tomb 58 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Husband of Archduchess Maria Christina.63 The Albertina museum, in his former palace, is named for him because his collection of paintings formed the nucleus of the museum. The oldest of those represented here, he died at age 84. His heart is in urn 40 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 111 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
First son of Emperor Franz II. Severely epileptic, he abdicated after a nominal reign of 12 years and spent the remainder of his 82-year-long life in Prague. His heart is in urn 53 in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche and he is buried in tomb 62 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Third son of Emperor Franz II. When his elder brother Emperor Ferdinand77 abdicated in 1848, he stood aside so that his son, Emperor Franz Joseph, could succeed to the throne instead. Great grandfather of the last reigning emperor, Emperor Karl I. Aged 76 when he died, his viscera are the last interred here, and his heart was the last to be placed in the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche, where it occupies urn 54. He is buried in tomb 135 in the Imperial Crypt in the Kapuzinerkirche.
Kritzer, Hubert; Schaden, Christine (2003). Der Friedhof von Sankt Stephan (Institut für Kunstgeschichte ed.). Vienna: University of Vienna. Archived from the original on 2004-06-27. (in German)
Gruber, Reinhard H. (2001). St. Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna (2nd. ed.). Vienna: Stephansdom.
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