Ducal Crypt (Vienna)

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The Ducal Crypt (red letters) is but one of several burial locations beneath the Stephansdom. The bones of over 11,000 persons from cemeteries formerly around the church are stored in the Catacombs.
The Ducal Crypt (red letters) is but one of several burial locations beneath the Stephansdom. The bones of over 11,000 persons from cemeteries formerly around the church are stored in the Catacombs.

The Ducal Crypt is a mausoleum under the chancel of the Stephansdom in Vienna. It holds 78 containers with the bodies, hearts, or viscera of 72 members of the Habsburg dynasty.

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[edit] History

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 almost 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.

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.

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 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.

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 Duke Albert VI was removed after 300 years.

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 persons1 14 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.

[edit] List of persons buried in the Ducal Crypt

The Ducal Crypt shelters the bodies of:

  • 2 Duke Friedrich (1347 - 1362), second son of Duke Albert II and the 15-year old brother of Rudolf IV.3
  • 3 Duke Rudolf IV (1339 - 1365) "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.
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 been now moved to the adjoining Original 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 been now moved to the adjoining Original Chamber.
  • 8 Duke Leopold IV (1371 - 1411) "the fat" younger son of Rudolf IVs youngest brother, Leopold III.
  • 12 Archduke Ferdinand (1551 - 1552) 15-month old son of Emperor Maximilian II.
  • 13 Archduchess Maria (1564 - 1564) one-month old daughter of Emperor Maximilian II.

Gated niches in the original chamber (outside the entrance to the previous chamber) protect 62 copper urns containing the viscera (intestines) of various members of the Habsburg dynasty.

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.
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.
  • 26 (Heart of) Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel Josef.
  • 31 (Viscera of) Empress Claudia Felicitas (30 May 1653 - 8 April 1676) →Family Tree 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.
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.
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.
  • 35 (Heart of) Archduchess Maria Margareta
  • 39 (Heart of) Archduke Leopold Joseph
Emperor Leopold I41 enlarged the Imperial Crypt at the Kapuzinerkirche and established the tradition of burying members of the Imperial Family in these three churches in Vienna, following the precedent set in 1654 by King Ferdinand IV of the Romans.
Emperor Leopold I41 enlarged the Imperial Crypt at the Kapuzinerkirche and established the tradition of burying members of the Imperial Family in these three churches in Vienna, following the precedent set in 1654 by King Ferdinand IV of the Romans.
  • 44 (Heart of) Archduke Leopold Johann.
  • 47 (Heart of) Archduchess Marie Elisabeth.
  • 50 (Heart of) Archduchess Marie Caroline.
Emperor Leopold II spent little time in Vienna even during his two-year reign, but is now buried in three different Viennese churches.
Emperor Leopold II spent little time in Vienna even during his two-year reign, but is now buried in three different Viennese churches.
  • 60 (Viscera of) Empress Maria Ludovika (24 November 1745 - 15 May 1792) →Family Tree 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.
Emperor Ferdinand,77 painted at age 40, is the last emperor to have his viscera deposited in the Ducal Crypt.
Emperor Ferdinand,77 painted at age 40, is the last emperor to have his viscera deposited in the Ducal Crypt.
  • 78 (Viscera of) Archduke Franz Karl (1802 - 1878) →Family Tree 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Kritzer, Hubert; and Schaden, Christine (2003). Der Friedhof von Sankt Stephan, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Vienna: University of Vienna.  (in German)
  • Gruber, Reinhard H. (2001). St. Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna, 2nd. ed., Vienna: Stephansdom. 
  • Theroff, Paul. "Austria", An Online Gotha.