Monthly Archives: July 2024

Jul29

The Crypt of the Hapsburgs – Kapuzinergruft

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Monday, 01-July-2024



Have I mentioned that Vienna is slightly well ornamented, possibly to the point of being ostentacious, and well within the realm of opulence?

Well.

Turns out, the Hapsburgs are buried here, in a private crypt safeguarded by a private monastery. Turns out, new (joking) life goal – have my own order of monks.

As I was walking back from a lovely lunch, I noticed a sign for “The Crypt of the Hapsburgs” in English, along with the German version of “Kapuzinergruft”. I hate to say it, but I grew up hearing “Kaput” as a kind of joking way to say something’s broken… so while I logically know that it’s just the root of the name of the monastery…

Well, I definitely had to stop in and see what it was.

It was… it started normally enough, with a few small caskets that seemed fancy, but not overwhelmingly so. There was also a sign, mentioning a quote from one of the Emperors who was quoted along the lines of “everyone is equal in death”, which seemed a little inaccurate when I walked into the next room and saw a casket roughly the size of a mid-sized sedan, or a little bigger than a nominally-priced New York City apartment.



Still, it was interesting to walk through the crypt and see the caskets and how they varied over time. Those that were still actively venerated with flowers and offerings, and those that apparently hadn’t been visited except for dusting and tourists like myself.

It was a bit of a quick trip, for me, since none of the placards were in English… though I did stop at a few spots to do a translation to read a little bit more. Frankly, though, that was few and far between. In general, I simply wandered and appreciated the ornamentation and sculpture, along with the architecture of the varying rooms and the general “feel” of the area.

It was definitely interesting, and absolutely worthy of a quick stop-by.



Also, interestingly, the Hapsburg line has NOT ended – the most recently interred member was last year, in 2023, and there are quite a few currently living members:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg

Jul28

St. Peter’s Catholic Church – Katholische Kirche St. Peter

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Monday, 01-July-2024


Onward, I continued my adventure and exploration into Old Town Vienna. The opulence of Vienna stayed strong, here, with countless amazing high-end shops with beautifully modern displays set across from sculptures and fountains that likely predate half the cities in the United States.

My next major stop was, unsurprisingly, another church. What can I say? Window-shopping for expensive clothing and designer accessories just doesn’t appeal to me.

From the street, this church didn’t stand out all that much – it was located in an interesting location, standing apart from the buildings nearby… but then again, that wasn’t particularly unique in this section of town. What made it stand apart, though, was when I walked inside and found myself observing a full musical photoshoot.

Acoustics of old cathedrals and churches are, to the surprise of none, exceptionally good. They’re unique, and so (from what I understand) the opportunity to play music in them is quite an opportunity.

I found myself watching and listening to a harpist and a violinist, both young ladies in full evening gowns, while their photographer and coordinator hustled and bustled about them and a steady stream of tourists filtered through the chapel. I stayed here longer than pretty much any other church that I’ve been in, simply to listen to the music being played. It was absolutely lovely, with the reverberations from the stone and marble adding an exceptional ethereal quality to the music.

Definitely glad I stopped in, no doubt about it.




Ohh yeah and there was a skeleton in a glass case.


Those who don’t enjoy seeing skeletons in glass cases would be advised to look away for this next photo… I’ll add some extra words here to hopefully give you a chance to dodge the image loading…

It’s a Catholic church, which I guess means that relics are required for consecration, but I don’t quite know the story of this one… but from my googling I believe it’s either the skeleton of St. Benedict or St. Donathus… but that’s just from a single website, and I couldn’t find any corroborating sources.


Interesting.

Jul28

St. Michael’s Church – Pfarre St. Michael

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Monday, 01-July-2024


After seeing the inside of the Spanish Riding School, I headed onward for a bit of adventure. I didn’t really have a specific place in mind, though I did trend my general direction toward a rather good Schnitzel restaurant that I’d heard of.

On the way, though, I stopped at anything that seemed especially interesting – the first of which was Pfarre St. Michael, or St. Michael’s Church. As with most church visits, this one went pretty quickly – I walked in, checked out the main aisleway and altar, and did a quick loop of the various naves.



Before I headed back outside, though, something caught my eye. An interesting memorial to someone named “Father Jordan”, which spoke about the church’s role in the modern world… I ended up staying quite a while to read through the entire thing (I do love placards), and found it overarchingly positive… an interesting change of pace from most places of worship that I’ve seen throughout my travels.