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