Imperial Crypt - History

History

Subscript numbers behind the names of most persons listed in this article are used to avoid confusion in cross-references due to the similarity or duplication of names over the many generations. A unique small appears with the name of every person buried in the Imperial Crypt. The number corresponds with that person's entry in the detailed listing of occupants of each Vault, to which it is hyperlinked. When necessary to establish continuity, a person buried elsewhere is assigned a number preceded by an and then listed in the Selected Other Habsburgs section.

Anna of Tyrol₁, wife of Emperor Matthias₂ conceived the idea of a Capuchin cloister and burial crypt for her 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 soon made the funds available by dying just a year later. Her spouse followed a year after that.

The foundation stone was laid on 8 September 1622 in the presence of Emperor Ferdinand II_x578 and after slow progress caused by the distractions of the Thirty Years' War the church was dedicated on 25 July 1632 and at Easter of the next year, the simple sarcophagi containing the remains of Emperor Mathias₂ and Empress Anna₁ were transferred with great ceremony to what is now called the Founder's Vault.

Emperor Leopold I₃₇ enlarged the crypt in 1657 in the area under the nave of the church and his son Emperor Joseph I₃₅ extended it further westward in 1710, but awkwardly, beginning the vault that his brother Emperor Karl VI₄₀ 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 Theresa₅₆ 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 II₅₇ 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 Ferdinand₆₂ in 1840 the monastery (but not the church) was torn down and rebuilt. As part of that project, architect Johann Höhne built Ferdinand’s 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 Joseph₁₄₂ had architect Cajo Perisic build another mausoleum chamber and a chapel to the east of Franz II₅₇ and Ferdinand’s₆₂ 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 Franz Joseph’s Vaults, 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 Leopold’s 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 Charles₁₂₂ 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 Ferdinand’s 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 the handicapped, 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.