The Imperial Crypt (), also called the Capuchin Crypt (Kapuzinergruft), is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632, and located on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the Hofburg Palace. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt has served as the principal place of entombment for the members of the House of Habsburg. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. The visible 107 metal sarcophagi and five heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo. Some of the dozen resident Capuchin friars continue their customary role as the guardians and caretakers of the crypt, along with their other pastoral work in Vienna. The most recent entombment was in 2023.
History
Anna of Tyrol, wife of Emperor Matthias conceived the idea of a Capuchin cloister and burial crypt for herself and her husband, to be built in the neighborhood of the Hofburg castle in Vienna. She provided funds for it in the will she made on 10 November 1617 and died the following year in 1618 which released the funds, allowing for planning and construction to commence. Her spouse died in 1619.
The foundation stone was laid on 8 September 1622 in the presence of Emperor Ferdinand II and after slow progress caused by the distractions of the Thirty Years' War the church was dedicated on 25 July 1632. At Easter the following year, the simple sarcophagi containing the remains of Emperor Matthias and Empress Anna were transferred with great ceremony to what is now called the Founders Vault.
Emperor Leopold I enlarged the crypt in 1657 in the area under the nave of the church and his son Emperor Joseph I extended it further westward and built another mausoleum chamber and a chapel to the east in 1710, but awkwardly, beginning the vault that his brother Emperor Charles VI continued westward in 1720 that extends under the chancel and the apse choir above. For the first time, a well-known architect (Lukas von Hildebrandt) was involved with an enlargement of the crypt.
In 1754, his daughter Empress Maria Theresa went even further west, completely past the church above, into the monastery garden with her domed addition that admits natural light. The imposing dome and crypt is the work of architect Jean Jadot de Ville-Issey. During the reign of her grandson Emperor Francis II architect Johann Aman turned to the north for his addition in 1824.
The monastery surrounding the church had fallen into disrepair after 200 years of constant use, so during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand in 1840 the monastery (but not the church) was torn down and rebuilt. As part of that project, architect Johann Höhne built the Ferdinand Vault and the Tuscan Vault as part of the basement of the new structure.
As part of the jubilee celebrating his 60 years on the throne in 1908, Emperor Franz Joseph I had architect Cajo Perisic build another mausoleum chamber and a chapel to the east of Franz II and Ferdinand's vaults. At the same time, new annexes for visitors were created on either side of the church.
By 1960 it was obvious from the deteriorating condition of the tombs that the environment of changing heat and humidity needed to be controlled if the historic sarcophagi were to survive for future generations. The New Vault, north of the Tuscan, Ferdinand's and the Franz Joseph Vault, was built by architect Karl Schwanzer, with metal doors by sculptor Rudolf Hoflehner. It added about 20% to the space of the crypt, and was used as part of a massive rearrangement of the tombs in the vaults.
The original small vault had held, besides the tombs of the two founders, those of a dozen children and had been called the Angel's Vault. Those were moved to open niches newly made in the front wall of the Leopold Vault. Selected tombs from various other vaults were moved to the New Vault and grouped in themes such as Bishops, the direct ancestors of the last reigning emperor, and the immediate family of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, the victor of Aspern.
Thirty seven other tombs, of some minors and minor members of the ruling family, were walled-up into four piers created in the Ferdinand Vault. Thus about half of all the tombs were moved out of the original vaults to more orderly places as part of that great reorganization.
In 2003 another project made the crypt accessible to disabled visitors, and opened previously unused doors so that the visitor route no longer requires the 100% backtracking that was necessary before. The entire crypt was also air conditioned to prevent deterioration of the tombs.
Funeral Entrance Ritual The Chapel has a long cherished burial ceremony that goes back at least 200 years. After a royal member has died, the body is taken to the Chapel. A funeral official knocks on the chapel doors. The chapel friars ask who is there from the opposite side of the closed door. The official says that it is the body of Emperor/Empress, or Prince/Princess so and so. The friar replies that he knows of no such person. This dialogue continues two or three times with further knocking. Finally the funeral official says that the person who died is a 'poor sinner'. When hearing this, the chapel friars open the doors and allows the coffin to be taken inside.Burial of Otto von Habsburg (July 2011).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slcJRqox1gI
The sarcophagi The free-standing tombs are usually variations of either a flat-topped storage chest, or a tub with sloping sides and a convex lid of tapered decks. Ornamentation ranges from simple to elaborate. Until far in the 18th century, the most common material for a sarcophagus here was a bronze-like alloy of tin, coated with shellac. The splendid tombs of the baroque and rococo eras are made of true bronze, a nobler and therefore more expensive material. Reforming Emperor Joseph II decreed simplified burial customs for the people, and introduced the use of lighter and cheaper copper into the Imperial Crypt, where it was then used into the 19th century. In the later 19th century a mixture of cast brass and bronze as well as silver-bronzed copper was adopted. Other metals were used only rarely, except for silver and gold plating on decorations.
Various techniques of metalworking were used: full casting for the sarcophagus; hollow casting for decorative sculpture; carving, engraving, and hammered relief for surface decoration. The parts for chests and covers are riveted together, ornaments and decorative figures are screwed on. The sculptor responsible for the most elaborate tombs is Balthasar Ferdinand Moll.
In order to guarantee the stability of the enormous display tombs, they have iron bracings and wood lining inside. This avoids both cave-ins and a buckling of the side walls from the weight of the cover. The cover of the double tomb of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband alone weighs approximately 1700 kg (3800 lb).
Within the outer case lies a wooden coffin that is wrapped in silk (black with gold trim for rulers, red with silver trim for others). The coffin usually has two locks, the key to one is kept by the Capuchin Guardian of the crypt, the other is kept in the Schatzkammer of the Hofburg palace in Vienna.
Within the coffin, the body usually has had the organs removed as a necessary part of the embalming process for its display before the funeral. For about one-third of the bodies, the heart has been placed into a silver urn and sent elsewhere (usually the Herzgruft in the Augustinerkirche), and for some the intestines and other organs have been put into a copper urn and deposited in the Dukes Crypt in the catacombs of Vienna's cathedral, the Stephansdom.
Conservation of the tombs Over the centuries, constant humidity, variations in temperature, and the host of visitors had taken a great toll on the sarcophagi. Corrosion craters, holes and tears had developed. Layers of the horizontal surfaces had peeled, base plates had broken through, decorative fixtures had been broken or stolen by visitors, the cast metal absorbed too much humidity and puffed up, and heavy covers had caused some sidewalls to bend or cave.
The first major restoration effort was undertaken in 1852, but further work was needed by 1956 when the Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Kapuzinergruft (Association for Saving the Capuchin Crypt) came into being to inform the public of the problem, raise funds, and preserve and restore the tombs.
It was first necessary to create additional space and to dehumidify the crypt. After completion of the New Vault in 1960 and the transfer of 26 tombs from the overflowing Tuscan Vault, the work of dehumidification could begin. Also, a workshop was created in the south end of the Tuscan Vault where highly skilled artisans could work on selected tombs temporarily moved there for restoration.
In 2003 remodelling of the ground-level visitor facilities took place to create a new visitor entrance and make the crypt accessible to disabled visitors. The visitor route was also changed so that visitors now see the tombs in historical sequence by entering at one end and leaving at the other, instead of both entering and leaving via a single stairway that is in the middle of the route. Most importantly, the entire crypt was air conditioned so that humidity can be controlled.
The repair and conservation of the artistic work takes place in close cooperation with the friars, the Association, the Austrian Monument Office and the Vienna Old City Preservation Fund.
People buried here The bodies of 145 people (mainly members of the ruling line of the House of Habsburg and the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine), plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are deposited in one of the ten interconnected Vaults of the Imperial Crypt. They include 12 Emperors and 18 Empresses. The most recent entombment, that of Archduchess Yolande of Austria, wife of Archduke Carl Ludwig, was on 7 October 2023.
From other families there are 33 spouses, plus four others, who have found their resting place here.
The longest-lived person entombed here is Yolande De Ligne, aged 100 years and 5 months. The next longest-lived is Otto von Habsburg, eldest son of the last Austrian emperor, at 98 years. Several died at birth and over 25% of those entombed here were five years of age or younger when they died.
Emperors buried here: Emperor Matthias Emperor Ferdinand III Emperor Leopold I Emperor Joseph I Emperor Charles VI Emperor Francis I Stephen, husband of Maria Theresa Emperor Joseph II Emperor Leopold II Emperor Francis II Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
Empresses buried here: Anna, consort of Emperor Mathias Maria Anna, consort of Emperor Ferdinand III Eleonora Magdalena, consort of Emperor Ferdinand III Maria Leopoldine, consort of Emperor Ferdinand III Margaret Theresa, consort of Emperor Leopold I Eleonora Magdalena, consort of Emperor Leopold I Elisabeth Christina, consort of Emperor Charles VI Empress Maria Theresa Maria Josepha, consort of Emperor Joseph II Isabella Maria, consort of Emperor Joseph II Elisabeth Wilhelmine, consort of Emperor Francis II Maria Theresa consort of Emperor Francis II Maria Ludovika, consort of Emperor Francis II Karoline Augusta, consort of Emperor Francis II Archduchess Marie Louise, Empress Consort of the French Maria Anna, consort of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria Elisabeth, consort of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria Zita, consort of Emperor Charles of Austria (Also, the hearts of Empresses Claudia Felicitas and Amalie Wilhemine are here, but their bodies are buried elsewhere.)
All 146 persons buried here (in whole or in part) are shown on the directory charts below, together with links to a detailed text listing.