Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the chandeliers of a Habsburg palace, with its pure 19th-century imperial splendor uncon-
strainedbyvelvetropes.(Becausetheoriginaldrawingsandprintsthatoncehunghereareso
light-sensitive,you'llseeonlyreproductionsofsomeworks.)Thenfollowsignsfor
Meister-
werke der Moderne
(
Die Sammlung Batliner,
on the top floor). These modern galleries hold
awonderfulrotatingexhibitfromthemuseum's
Batlinercollection
ofmodernart(fromIm-
pressionismtoAbstractExpressionism,withminorworksbymajorartists—Monet,Picasso,
Chagall, Matisse), along with temporary exhibits.
Two churches near the Hofburg offer starkly different looks at dearly departed Viennese: the
Habsburg coffins in the Kaisergruft, and the commoners' graves in St. Michael's Church.
Visiting the imperial remains is not as easy as you might imagine. These original organ
donorslefttheirbodies—about150inall—intheunassumingKaisergruft,theirheartsinthe
AugustinianChurch(vaultsopentopublicSunaftermass),andtheirentrailsinthecryptbe-
Cost and Hours:
€5, daily 10:00-18:00, last entry at 17:40; crypt is in the Capuchin
Church at Tegetthoffstrasse 2 at Neuer Markt; tel. 01/512-6853,
www.kaisergruft.at
.
Visiting the Kaisergruft:
As you enter, buy the €0.50 map with a Habsburg family tree
and a chart locating each coffin.
Find the pewter double-coffin under the dome. This tomb of
Maria Theresa
(1717-1780) and her husband,
Franz I
(1708-1765), is worth a close look for its artwork.
Maria Theresa outlived her husband by 15 years—which she spent in mourning. Old and
fat, she installed a special lift enabling her to get down into the crypt to be with her dear,
departed Franz (even though he had been far from faithful). The couple recline—Etruscan-
style—atop their fancy lead coffin. At each corner are the crowns of the Habsburgs—the
Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Bohemia, and Jerusalem. Notice the contrast between the
Rococo splendor of Maria Theresa's tomb and the simple box holding her more modest son,
JosefII
(athisparents'feet).Thisunderstatedtombisinkeepingwithhisenlightenedpolit-
ics.
Nearby, find the appropriately austere military tomb of
Franz Josef
(1830-1916) in the
morebrightlylitmodernsection.FlankingFranzJosefarethetombsofhisson,thearchduke
Rudolf,
and Empress Elisabeth. Rudolf and his teenage mistress supposedly committed sui-
cide together in 1889 at Mayerling hunting lodge and—since the Church figured he forced
her to take her own life and was therefore a murderer—it took considerable legal hair-split-
ting to win Rudolf this spot (after examining his brain, it was determined that he was men-
