Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Germany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Frauenkirche in Munich, Bavaria, Germany; By Diliff – CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5825439

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) also called Münchner Dom (Munich Cathedral), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church and the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Munich located in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria.

Frauenkirche in 1870 looking toward the main altar; Credit – Wikipedia

In the 12th century, a Romanesque church was built on the site replacing an earlier church. This new church served as a second parish in Munich following the older Alter Peter Church. A new late Gothic cathedral commissioned by Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and the people of Munich, was erected in the 15th century. The cathedral was built from 1468 – 1488 by bricklayer and architect Jörg von Halsbach. Red brick was chosen as the building material for financial reasons and because there was no nearby rock quarry. The cathedral was consecrated In 1494 but the towers were not completed until 1525.

Frauenkirche in ruins after World War II. The steps led to the main altar; Credit – https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/

The Frauenkirche was severely damaged by the Allied Forces’ bombing raids during World War II. The roof collapsed, one of the towers was damaged, and much of the interior was destroyed. A major restoration was required and continued until 1994.

Interior of the restored Frauenkirche looking towards the main altar; Credit – By Chabe01 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64107752

From 1971 – 1972 the main altar area was redesigned according to the reforms and specifications of the Second Vatican Council. From 1989 – 1994, the interior decorations of the original architect Jörg von Halsbach and the oak choir stalls with the sculptures of the original sculptor Erasmus Grasser were reconstructed and new altarpieces were created. Artwork from notable 14th to 18th-century artists like Peter Candid, Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Hans Leinberger, Hans Krumpper, and Ignaz Günther replaced the artwork destroyed in the World War II bombing raids.

The main altar; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62161379

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Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor

The Cenotaph of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

A cenotaph, an empty tomb erected in honor of a person whose remains are elsewhere, for Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor who died in 1347, stands in the south aisle. The remains of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor are interred in the Frauenkirche crypt. The cenotaph was the work of sculptor Hans Krumpper (circa 1570 – 1634) who was the chief sculptor to the Bavarian court during the reigns of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria.  During the World War II-related restoration of the Frauenkirche in the 1980s, the cenotaph was restored with financial help from the Messerschmitt Foundation whose primary goal is the preservation and maintenance of German cultural monuments.

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The Crypt

The 1971 crypt in the Frauenkirche; Credit – By User: Bbb at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22660042

The crypt we see today was created in 1971 when a larger crypt with exposed brick walls and a concrete beam ceiling was built during World War II-related reconstruction. The coffins of members of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach were then transferred to new wall niches with grave markers. The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918.

Besides the Frauenkirche, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have mostly been interred at the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St Cajetan) in Munich and Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, and the Andechs Monastery in Andechs. In 1977, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until his death in 1996, set up a Wittelsbach family cemetery near Andechs Abbey due to the lack of space in the other Wittelsbach burial sites. The cemetery complex is now the main burial place of the Wittelsbach family.

Burial site of some members of the House of Wittelsbach; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62160767

The following members of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in the crypt:

Burial site of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, his wife and five of their children; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Frauenkirche (München) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frauenkirche_(M%C3%BCnchen)> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Munich Frauenkirche – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Frauenkirche> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Baugeschichte. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/die-kathedrale/geschichte/baugeschichte/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].
  • Muenchner-dom.de. 2021. Der Münchner Dom: Home. [online] Available at: <https://www.muenchner-dom.de/> [Accessed 29 December 2021].

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein reigned from 1836 – 1858. Born Alois Maria Josef Johann Baptista Joachim Philipp Nerius on May 26, 1796, the feast day of St. Philip Neri, whose name he bears, in Vienna, Austria, he was the third of the fourteen children and the eldest of the seven sons of Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein and Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra. Since Alois’ father Johann Josef was a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire and then the Imperial Army of the Austrian Empire, the family spent much time in Vienna, Austria.

Alois had thirteen siblings:

  • Princess Maria Leopoldine of Liechtenstein (1793 – 1808), died in her teens
  • Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein (born and died 1795), died in infancy
  • Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein (1798 – 1869), married Count Vincenz Esterházy von Galántha, no children
  • Princess Maria Josepha of Liechtenstein (1800 – 1884), unmarried
  • Prince Franz de Paula of Liechtenstein (1802 – 1887), married Countess Julia Potocka, had four children. Their great-grandson was Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
  • Prince Karl Johann of Liechtenstein (1803 – 1871), married Countess Rosalie d’Hemricourt von Grünne, had three children
  • Princess Klothilda of Liechtenstein (1804 – 1807), died in childhood
  • Princess Henriette of Liechtenstein (1806 – 1886), married Count Joseph Hunyady von Kethély (link in German), had six children
  • Prince Friedrich of Liechtenstein (link in German) (1807 – 1885), married famous German opera singer Sophie Löwe who left the opera to marry Friedrich, no children
  • Prince Eduard Franz of Liechtenstein (1809 – 1864), married Countess Honoria Choloniowa-Choloniewska, had two children
  • Prince Ludwig of Liechtenstein (1810 – 1824), died in his teens
  • Princess Ida Leopoldine of Liechtenstein (1811 – 1884), married Karl 4th Fürst Paar, Baron auf Hartberg und Krottenstein, had seven children
  • Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein (1816 – 1848), unmarried

Alois’ early education was supervised by the French priest Abbe Werner. As he grew older, specialist tutors instructed him in various disciplines including Leopold Trautmann, professor of agriculture at the University of Vienna, and Friedrich von Schlegel, German literary critic and philosopher. In 1818, Alois took an educational trip to Italy, where he visited famous museums, art galleries, and churches. Two years later, he took another educational trip to England and Scotland.

Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 8, 1831, in Vienna, Austria, Alois married Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, the daughter of Count Franz de Paula Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau and Countess Therese of Wrbna and Freudenthal.

Alois and Franziska had eleven children:

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein in the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Golden Fleece; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his father Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 20, 1836, Alois became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. In 1837, Alois went to the United Kingdom on a diplomatic mission and attended the coronation of Queen Victoria. Like his father and grandfather, Alois continued modernizing his estates and reorganizing their administration. Prince Alois II was the first reigning prince to visit the Principality of Liechtenstein, as we know it today, but he did not live there. Previously and at that time, the Princes of Liechtenstein lived in their palaces in Vienna, Austria, and on their estates in Moravia, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic. Alois’ son Franz I (reigned 1929 – 1938) was the first Prince of Liechtenstein to spend a substantial amount of time in the actual Principality of Liechtenstein.

Alois was politically conservative. In the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848, and at the insistence of the citizens of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Alois gave the principality a more liberal constitution but suspended it in 1852 and returned to a more absolutist government. Alois was active in the Imperial Agricultural Society in Vienna and served as its president from 1849 – 1858. He belonged to a total of 74 humanitarian, scientific, and industrial associations and was extremely generous in his charitable donations.

The New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 62, died on November 12, 1858, at Lednice Castle in Eisgrub, Moravia, Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire, now Lednice, Czech Republic. He was buried in the New Crypt at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Cs.wikipedia.org. 2021. Alois II. z Lichtenštejna – Wikipedie. [online] Available at: <https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_II._z_Lichten%C5%A1tejna> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Alois II. (Liechtenstein) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_II._(Liechtenstein)> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Aloys II, Prince of Liechtenstein – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloys_II,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein> [Accessed 16 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/johann-i-josef-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • Fuerstenhaus.li. 2021. Century: 19th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/19-century/> [Accessed 16 December 2021].

St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34672766

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which this writer has visisted, is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is the main church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria, and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. In 1137, construction began on the first St. Stephen’s Church. The church in the Romanesque style, which was probably not completely finished at the time, was consecrated in 1147. A second Romanesque church was constructed from 1200 – 1225. Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned a major extension of the previous church and also founded the University of Vienna before his early death at age 25.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral survived the bombing raids during World War II. However, on April 12, 1945, during the final days of the war, civilian looters lit fires in nearby shops as the Soviet Army troops entered Vienna. Winds carried the fire to the cathedral, severely damaging the roof and causing it to collapse. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III’s tomb, and other treasures prevented major damage to the interior except for the 1487 choir stalls which could not be saved. Reconstruction began immediately after the war and St. Stephen’s Cathedral was reopened in 1952.

Double-headed Habsburg eagle on the roof; Credit – Von kodiak – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1820946

The original wooden roof was replaced by a roof of 230,000 colored glazed tiles in a zig-zag pattern. On the south side of the cathedral, the tiles form the double-headed eagle, a symbol of the Habsburg dynasty, and on the north side, the tiles form the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and the Republic of Austria.

The coats of arms of the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63314921

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Altars

St. Stephen’s Cathedral has eighteen altars and additional altars in the various chapels. The High Altar and the Wiener Neustadt Altar are the most famous.

The High Altar; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63298940

The High Altar was built from 1641 – 1647 by Johann Jacob Pock (link in German), a stonemason, sculptor, and architect, and by his brother painter Tobias Pock who painted the altarpiece. The High Altar shows the stoning of the cathedral’s patron saint St. Stephen in front of the walls of Jerusalem.

Wiener Neustädter Altar, Sunday panels; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56638264

The Wiener Neustädter Altar made in 1447 is considered the most important altar in the cathedral. It is a pentaptych, a convertible altar with a main shrine, two movable outer and two movable inner wings. On weekdays, the panels are closed and display a painted scene involving 72 saints. On Sundays, the panels are opened showing gilded wooden figures depicting events in the life of the Virgin Mary. Originally, the altar was given as a gift by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III to the Cistercian Viktring Abbey. In 1786, the altar was sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, founded by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, in the city of Wiener Neustadt. When the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1885, the altar was sold to St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Wiener Neustädter Altar weekday panels; Credit – Von Uoaei1 – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25932276

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Pulpit

Pulpit at St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66368821

The carved stone pulpit has long been attributed to Austrian sculptor and architect Anton Pilgram but today it is thought that Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden is more likely to be the carver. The pulpit stands against a pillar in the nave, instead of in the chancel at the front of the church. This placement of the pillar would allow the congregation to better hear the sermon before the advent of microphones and loudspeakers. Beneath the stairs is a stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window. The chisel in the subject’s hand and the stonemason’s signature mark on the shield above the window led to the speculation that it could be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

Stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window; Credit – Von Markus Leupold-Löwenthal – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3868897

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Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor

Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56696439

Friedrich III (1415 – 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. In 1469, he succeeded in obtaining the necessary permissions from Pope Paul II to establish the Diocese of Vienna. Upon his death, Friedrich was interred in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. In 1463, thirty years before his death, Friedrich commissioned Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden to build a monumental tomb in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Van Leyden died in 1473 and the work was completed by Austrian stonemason and sculptor Michael Tichter (link in German). On November 12, 1513, the remains of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor were transferred in a grand ceremony from the Ducal Crypt to the tomb. The tomb lid shows Emperor Friedrich in his coronation regalia surrounded by the coats of arms of all his dominions. The sides of the tomb are decorated with 240 small statues. The tomb is considered a masterpiece of medieval sculptural art.

Depiction of the tomb lid; Credit – Von Georges Jansoone – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1061466

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Royal Events at St. Stephen’s Cathedral

1989 Funeral of Zita of Bourbon-Parma, wife of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria

This may not be a complete list.

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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Royal Burials in the Ducal Crypt

Coffins in the Ducal Crypt; Credit – Von Burkhard Mücke – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54225621

In the Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft), located beneath the chancel of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, sixteen bodies of members of the House of Habsburg are buried along with copper urns containing the viscera (intestines) of members of the Habsburg dynasty. When Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned an extension of the previous church, he also ordered a crypt to be built for his remains. After Rudolf IV, the family of the ruling line of Habsburg Dukes of Austria was buried here. However, after the House of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperors beginning in 1440, they were buried in various cities as Vienna was not yet the settled seat of the Holy Roman Emperor. After the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna opened in 1633, it became the new burial site of the House of Habsburg.

In 1956, the Ducal Crypt was renovated and redesigned, with the coffins moved into the oval crypt space and niches built into the rectangular crypt space, in which the urns with entrails were placed behind gates.

The bodies of the following members of the House of Habsburg are interred in the Ducal Crypt:

  • King Friedrich III of the Romans, Duke of Austria (1289 – 1330), originally buried at Mauerbach Monastery, which he had founded. He was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the monastery was dissolved in 1782.
  • Friedrich III, Duke of Austria (1347 – 1362) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Catherine of Bohemia, Duchess of Austria (1342 – 1395) – wife of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht III, Duke of Austria (1348 – 1395) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht IV, Duke of Austria (1377 – 1404) – son of Albrecht III, Duke of Austria
  • Wilhelm, Duke of Austria (1370 – 1406) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Leopold IV, Duke of Austria (1371 – 1411) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Duke Georg (born and died 1435) – infant son of Albrecht II, King of the Romans, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht VI, Archduke of Austria (1418 – 1463) – son of Ernst I, Duke of Austria
  • Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1551 – 1552) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (1598 – 1655) – second wife of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, originally buried in the Discalced Carmelites convent she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.
  • Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1564) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Archduke Karl of Austria (1565 – 1566) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France (1554 – 1592) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, wife of King Charles IX of France, originally buried at the Convent of Poor Clares Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, which she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.

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A Note About Two Habsburg Rulers

Empress Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Empress Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article.

Emperor Franz I of Austria, formerly Holy Roman Emperor Franz II; Credit – Wikipedia

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until he died in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

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Royal Viscera Burials

In the foreground are the gated niches with urns containing the viscera of members of the House of  Habsburgs; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66345452

Gated niches in the original burial vault outside the entrance to the current burial vault contain the copper urns with the viscera (intestines) of the following members of the House of Habsburg.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Grabmal Kaiser Friedrichs III. – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grabmal_Kaiser_Friedrichs_III.> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Herzogsgruft – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzogsgruft> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Hochaltar des Stephansdoms – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochaltar_des_Stephansdoms> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kanzel des Stephansdoms – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzel_des_Stephansdoms> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Stephansdom – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephansdom> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Wiener Neustädter Altar – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_Altar> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ducal Crypt, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducal_Crypt_(Vienna)> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_Cathedral,_Vienna> [Accessed 26 December 2021].
  • Jenkins, Simon, 2021. Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals. Dublin: Penguin Random House.
  • Stephanskirche.at. 2021. Domkirche St. Stephan. [online] Available at: <https://www.stephanskirche.at/> [Accessed 26 December 2021].

Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra, Princess of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra, Princess of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra was the wife of Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein who reigned in Liechtenstein from 1805 – 1836. Born on June 21, 1776, in Vienna, Austria, Maria Josefa Sophie was the eldest of the five daughters and the fourth of the eight children of Joachim Egon, Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1749 – 1828) and Countess Sophia Maria of Oettingen-Wallerstein (1751 – 1835). The House of Fürstenberg-Weitra was a cadet branch of the Princely House of Fürstenberg, originally from Donaueschingen in Swabia, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. After 1744, the Landgraves of Fürstenberg-Weitra resided at Weitra Castle (link in German) in Weitra, Austria, a Renaissance castle close to the border with the Kingdom of Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Josefa’s father Joachim Egon, Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Weitra held several positions at the imperial court in Vienna, eventually serving as the Hofmarschall, the chief administrative official in charge of the imperial court, supervising all its activities. Because of her father’s positions at the imperial court, Josefa’s family spent much of their time in Vienna.

Josefa had seven siblings:

  • Friedrich Karl, Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1774 – 1856), married Princess Maria Theresa of Walburg von Schwarzenberg, had ten children
  • Philip Carl of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1775 – 1807), a canon at St. Gereon’s Basilica in the Free Imperial City of Cologne
  • Franz Ludwig of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1783 – 1800), died in his teens
  • Carolina Sophia of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1777 – 1846), married Prince Karl Joachim of Fürstenberg, no childrem
  • Eleanor Sophia of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1779 – 1849), became a nun
  • Maria Sophia of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1781 – 1800), became a nun
  • Elizabeth Maria of Fürstenberg-Weitra (1784 – 1865, Vienna), married Prince Johann Josef Norbert of Trautmansdorf-Weinsberg, had four children

Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 12, 1792, in Vienna, Austria, Josefa married the future Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein, son of Franz Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Marie Leopoldine von Sternberg. Josefa and Johann Josef had fourteen children who were all born in Vienna, Austria including Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein who succeeded his father. Since the Principality of Liechtenstein was a constituent member of the Holy Roman Empire headed by the Habsburgs and Johann Josef was a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Army, the family spent much time in Vienna, Austria. Upon the death of his childless brother Alois I, Prince of Liechtenstein on March 24, 1805, Johan Josef became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein and Josefa became the Princess Consort of Liechtenstein.

Josefa and Johann Josef’s children:

Josefa was a supporter of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who dedicated his 1801 Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 “Quasi una fantasia” to her. Josefa received the honors Dame of the Imperial Court and Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross, an imperial Austrian dynastic order for Catholic noble ladies, founded in 1668. The order still exists under the House of Habsburg even though the Austrian Empire no longer exists.

The New Crypt, which Johann Josef had built, at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 20, 1836, Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 75, died at Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna, Austria. He was buried in the New Crypt, which he had built, at Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. Josefa survived her husband by twelve years dying at the age of 72 on February 23, 1848. She was buried with her husband.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Bg.wikipedia.org. 2021. Йоахим Егон фон Фюрстенберг-Вайтра – Уикипедия. [online] Available at: <https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%99%D0%BE%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%BC_%D0%95%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A4%D1%8E%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3-%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Josefa zu Fürstenberg-Weitra – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefa_zu_F%C3%BCrstenberg-Weitra> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Landgravine Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landgravine_Josepha_of_F%C3%BCrstenberg-Weitra> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/johann-i-josef-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 14 December 2021].
  • geni_family_tree. 2021. Landgraf Joachim Egon von Fürstenberg-Weitra. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Landgraf-Joachim-von-F%C3%BCrstenberg-Weitra/6000000007416697920> [Accessed 14 December 2021].

Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Capuchin Church in Vienna (Cloister on left, Church in middle, Imperial Crypt on right); Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche), a Roman Catholic church in Vienna, Austria, which this writer has visited, contains the Imperial Crypt, the burial site for members of the House of Habsburg. The Imperial Crypt is in the care of the Capuchin monks from the cloister attached to the church. The burial place of the Habsburgs is so unlike the soaring structures containing the other burial sites I have visited and certainly not as grandiose. The Capuchin Church is small and is on a street with traffic, shops, stores, restaurants, and cafes. One cafe is directly across from it. Walking past the church, one would never think the burial place of emperors was there.

The Capuchin Church was founded by Anna of Tyrol and her husband Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor in 1617. Anna of Tyrol had come up with the idea of a Capuchin monastery and burial place for her and her husband and wanted to build it near Hofburg Palace in Vienna. In her will, Anna left funds to provide for the church’s construction. Anna died in December 1618, a year after she had made her will, and her husband Matthias died three months later. The foundation stone was laid in 1622, but the church was not completed and dedicated until 1632 because of the Thirty Years’ War. On Easter of 1633, the two sarcophagi containing the remains of Matthias and Anna were transferred to the Capuchin Church and placed in what is now called the Founders Vault.

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Interior of the Capuchin Church; Credit – Wikipedia

Although there have been renovations over the years, the main part of the church is more like a chapel with one main altar and two side altars. Father Norbert Baumgartner (1710 – 1773), a Capuchin friar at the cloister, painted the three altarpieces.

The High Altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156888

The right side altar is dedicated to St. Felix of Cantalice, the first Capuchin friar to be named a saint.

The right side altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156891

The left side altar is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.

The left side altar; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156894

Two side chapels contrast the simpler church. The Imperial Chapel contains a series of life-size statues of rulers from the House of Habsburg and a high altar with a painting of Mary, Help of Christians. The last heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Otto von Habsburg, who died in July 2011, and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, who died in 2010 but was temporarily interred elsewhere, lay in repose in the Imperial Chapel before their burial in the Imperial Crypt.

The coffins of Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen lying in repose in the Imperial Chapel; Credit – By Gryffindor –  CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17173925

The Pietà Chapel has a marble altar with a life-size Pietà, created by Austrian sculptor and painter Peter Strudel. The statue was originally in the Imperial Crypt and was moved into the Pietà Chapel at the end of the 18th century. In the floor in front of the altar is the burial place of Blessed Marco d’Aviano, an Italian Capuchin friar beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. Marco d’Aviano’s name has often been given to Austrian royals and other Roman Catholic royals. See Wikipedia: Marco d’Aviano Honorary Protection.

The altar in the Pietà Chapel; Credit – By Ricardalovesmonuments – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69156907

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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The Imperial Crypt is entered by descending the stairs marked by a sign “Zur Kaisergruft” (To the Imperial Crypt); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Underneath the Capuchin Church lies the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft) which contains nearly 150 tombs of the Habsburg family. Through the years, additional vaults have been added and Capuchin friars still look after the tombs. By tradition, the bodies of the Habsburgs were buried at three locations. The hearts were interred in the Heart Crypt (German: Herzgruft) in the nearby Augustinerkirche in Vienna. The intestines were placed in copper urns in the Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft) of the Catacombs in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Their bodies were entombed in the Imperial Crypt. All the caskets and tombs in the Imperial Crypt are labeled in German with the identity of the person and the relationship to a Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, or Archduke.

Read more about my visit to the Imperial Crypt at Unofficial Royalty: A Visit to the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) in Vienna.

Imperialcryptvault layout

Credit – Wikipedia

A. Founders Vault: is the oldest part of the Imperial Crypt, dating from the original construction of the church which was completed in 1632.
B. Children’s Columbarium: was built in the 1960s and contains the sarcophagi of 12 children who had previously been in either the Founders Vault or the main hall of Leopold’s Vault
C. Leopold’s Vault: was built under the nave of the Capuchin Church beginning in 1657 by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I following the edict of his father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III that the hereditary burial place of the imperial family would be in the Capuchin Church.
D. Karl’s Vault: was built in 1710 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and extended in 1720 by Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI
E. Maria Theresa’s Vault:  started construction in 1754. It is behind the Capuchin Church with its dome rising into the cloister courtyard.
F. Franz’s Vault: was built in 1824 by former Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, now Emperor Franz I of Austria. The octagonal Franz’s Vault is attached to the right wing of the Maria Theresa Vault.
G. Ferdinand’s Vault: was built in 1842, along with the Tuscan Vault, in conjunction with the reconstruction of the cloister above. There are only two visible sarcophagi but Ferdinand’s Vault contains one-fourth of the Imperial Crypt’s burials, walled up into the corner piers.
H. New Vault: was built between 1960 and 1962 under the monastery grounds as an enlargement to eliminate overcrowding in the other nine vaults, and to provide a climate-controlled environment to protect the metal sarcophagi from further deterioration.
I. Franz Joseph’s Vault: and the adjacent crypt chapel (J) were built in 1908 as part of the celebrations of Emperor Franz Joseph’s 60 years on the throne.
J. Crypt Chapel: The Crypt Chapel was built, along with the Franz Joseph Vault, in 1908. It is usually entered from the south doorway of the Franz Joseph Vault. The most recent burials are here.
K. The Tuscan Vault:  was built in 1842, along with the Ferdinand Vault. This vault takes its name from burials here of the many descendants of the younger sons of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, who reigned as Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 – 1790, before he became Holy Roman Emperor.

Founders Crypt

Tombs of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias and his wife Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Von Welleschik – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6619836

Located under the Imperial Chapel, the Founders Crypt is the oldest part of the Imperial Crypt, dating from the original construction of the Capuchin Church. The Founders Crypt cannot be entered by visitors and is visible through a gate from the Leopold Crypt. It contains the two sarcophagi of the founders of the Capuchin Church.

Leopold’s Crypt

Leopold’s Crypt; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Leopold’s Crypt was built under the nave of the Capuchin Church beginning in 1657 by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I following the edict of his father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III that the burial place of the House of Habsburg would be at the Capuchin Church.

Children’s Columbarium

Children’s Columbarium; Credit – By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – Austria-00826 – Emperor Tomb, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66921927

In the 1960s, the Children’s Columbarium, twelve niches in the wall of Leopold’s Crypt, was built for the coffins of twelve young children. The coffins were originally in the Founders Crypt or Leopold’s Crypt.

  • Archduke Philipp August of Austria (1637 – 1639) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Maximilian Thomas of Austria (born and died 1639) – son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduchess Theresia Maria of Austria (1652 – 1653) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Ferdinand Josef of Austria (1657 – 1658) – son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (1667 – 1668) – son of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduke Johann Leopold of Austria (born and died 1670) – son of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (born and died 1672) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Anna Maria Sophia of Austria (born and died 1674) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Maria Josepha (1675 – 1676) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Archduchess Christina of Austria (born and died 1679) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I
  • Unnamed (born and died 1686) – son of Johann Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuberg and Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
  • Archduchess Maria Margareta of Austria (1690 – 1691) – daughter of Holy Emperor Leopold I

Karl’s Crypt

Tomb of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

What is now known as Karl’s Crypt was first built in 1710 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph. In 1720, the crypt was enlarged on the orders of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Karl VI’s famous tomb has a death’s head at each corner wearing one of the crowns of his major realms, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Archduchy of Austria.

Maria Theresa’s Crypt

Tomb of Maria Theresa and her husband with the tomb of their son Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in the foreground; Credit – By Wotau – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21894136

A Note About Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article. Maria Theresa and her husband had sixteen children. Eight of the couple’s children died in childhood and four of the eight died from smallpox.

Construction of the Maria Theresa Crypt started in 1754. It is located behind the Capuchin Church with its dome rising into the monastery courtyard.

Franz’s Crypt

Tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II/Emperor Franz I of Austria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until his death in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

In 1824, Emperor Franz I of Austria built the octagonal Franz’s Crypt attaching it to the Maria Theresa Crypt. The crypt contains the tomb of Franz surrounded by the caskets of his four wives (two died in childbirth, one died of tuberculosis, and one survived him) in the crypt’s corners.

Tomb of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, second wife of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the mother of his children. Maria Theresa died giving birth to her twelfth child who also died; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Ferdinand’s Crypt

Tomb of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria; Credit – By Jebulon – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19158475

Ferdinand’s Crypt was built in 1842, along with the Tuscan Crypt, during the renovation of the monastery which is above the crypt. Only two sarcophagi, those of Emperor Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Maria Anna of Savoy, are visible, but 25% of the tombs in the Imperial Crypt are interred in the walls of Ferdinand’s Crypt.

Sarcophagi placed in the vault:

Interred in wall niches:

  • Archduchess Ludovica Elisabeth of Austria (1790 – 1791) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Karoline Leopoldine of Austria (1794 – 1795) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria (1772 – 1795) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (1780 – 1798) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Karoline Louise of Austria (1795 – 1799) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Luisa of Naples and Sicily, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1773 – 1802), granddaughter of Empress Maria Theresa, first wife of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Amalie Therese of Austria (born and died 1807) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria (1799 – 1807) – son of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduke Johann Nepomuk Karl of Austria (1805 – 1809) – son of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Karoline Ferdinanda of Austria (1793 – 1802), daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany and granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1835 – 1840) – sister of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Karolina of Austria (1821 – 1844) – daughter of Archduke Rainer of Austria and granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Archduchess Sophie Friederike of Austria (1855 – 1857) – daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1804 – 1858) – daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria
  • Archduchess Maria Eleonore of Austria-Teschen (born and died 1864) – daughter of Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria-Teschen
  • Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1796 – 1865) – 2nd wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Maria Antoinetta of Austria (1858 – 1883) – daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Archduchess Henriette Maria of Austria (1884 – 1886) – daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Rainer Salvator of Austria (1880 – 1889) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduchess Stephanie of Austria (1886 – 1890) – daughter of Archduke Friedrich of Austria, Duke of Teschen
  • Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1874 – 1891) – daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Ferdinand Salvator of Austria (1888 – 1891) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria (1839 – 1892) – son of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
  • Archduke Robert Ferdinand (1885 – 1895) – son of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Archduke Albrecht Salvator of Austria (1871 – 1896) – son of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduchess Natalie of Austria (1884 – 1898) – daughter of Archduke Friedrich of Austria, Duke of Teschen
  • Archduke Leopold of Austria (1823 – 1898) – son of Archduke Rainer of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1814 – 1898) – 2nd wife of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany
  • Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Archduchess of Austria (1844 – 1899) – wife of Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria
  • Archduke Ernst of Austria (1824 – 1899) – son of Archduke Rainer of Austria and grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
  • Adelgunde of Bavaria, Duchess of Modena (1823 – 1914) – wife of Francesco V, Duke of Modena
  • Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria-Teschen (1825 – 1915) – daughter of Archduke Karl, Duke of Teschen and wife of Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria
  • Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (1847 – 1915) – son of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany
  • Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria (1872 – 1942) – son of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany
  • Maria Theresa of Portugal, Archduchess of Austria (1855 – 1944) – 3rd wife of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria
  • Archduke Leopold of Austria (1897 – 1958) – son of Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria

Tuscan Crypt

Tuscan Crypt; Credit – By Welleschik – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6656990

The Tuscan Crypt was built in 1842 at the same time as the Ferdinand Vault. The vault takes its name from the many descendants of the younger sons of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. Leopold reigned as Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 – 1790. He abdicated as Grand Duke of Tuscany in favor of his second son Ferdinando when he was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

New Crypt

New Crypt: Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The New Crypt was built under the monastery grounds from 1960 – 1962 to provide more space. The two most famous tombs in the New Vault stand directly across from each other: Empress Marie-Louise of France, daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, second son of Archduke Franz Karl and brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. Emperor Maximilian of Mexico was deposed and executed by a firing squad.

Franz Joseph’s Crypt

Left to Right: Tombs of Empress Elisabeth, Emperor Franz Joseph I, and Crown Prince Rudolf; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28243562

In 1908, Franz Joseph’s Crypt was built along with the adjacent Crypt Chapel in celebration of Emperor Franz Joseph’s sixty years on the throne. Currently, Franz Joseph, with a reign of 67 years and 355 days, is the sixth longest-reigning monarch in history. Along with Franz Joseph’s tomb, the crypt contains the tombs of his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria, known as Sissi, who was assassinated, and their only son Crown Prince Rudolf who died by suicide along with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at his Mayerling hunting lodge.

Crypt Chapel

Crypt Chapel; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Crypt Chapel, where the most recent interments have occurred, was built in 1908 along with Franz Joseph’s Crypt. Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the wife of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, two of her sons Otto and Carl Ludwig, and Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen are buried here. There is a space reserved for Carl Ludwig’s widow Princesse Yolande de Ligne. The Crypt Chapel contains a memorial to Emperor Karl I, who has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church and who is buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira, Portugal. There is also a memorial to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. Both were assassinated at Sarajevo, an event that was one of the causes of World War I. Franz Ferdinand and his wife are buried at Artstetten Castle in Austria.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kaisergruft – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisergruft> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kapuzinerkirche (Wien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapuzinerkirche_(Wien)> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Capuchin Church, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Church,_Vienna> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Imperial Crypt – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Crypt> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2012. A Visit to the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) in Vienna. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/austrian-imperial-burial-sites/a-visit-to-the-kaisergruft-imperial-crypt-in-vienna/> [Accessed 22 December 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2012. Burial Sites – House of Habsburg-Lorraine: Emperors of Austria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/austrian-imperial-burial-sites/house-of-habsburg-lorraine-emperors-of-austria/> [Accessed 22 December 2021].

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom – Seventy Years on the Throne

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, official photo for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook page

On February 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom marked seventy years on the British throne. On September 9, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned 63 years, 216 days, as the longest-reigning British monarch.

The top ten longest-reigning British monarchs:

  1. Queen Elizabeth II, reigned February 6, 1952 – September 8, 2022; 70 years, 214 days
  2. Queen Victoria, reigned June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901, for 63 years, 216 days
  3. King George III, reigned October 25, 1760 – January 29, 1820, for 59 years, 96 days
  4. King Henry III, reigned October 18, 1216 – November 16, 1272, for 56 years, 29 days
  5. King Edward III, reigned January 25, 1327 – June 21, 1377, for 50 years, 147 days
  6. Queen Elizabeth I, reigned November 17, 1558 – March 24, 1603, for 44 years, 127 days
  7. King Henry VI, reigned August 31, 1422 – March 4, 1461, and October 31, 1470 – April 11, 1471, for 38 years, 347 days
  8. King Æthelred II, reigned March 18, 978 – December 25, 1013, and February 3, 1014 – April 23, 1016, for 37 years, 362 days
  9. King Henry VIII, reigned April 22, 1509 – January 28, 1547, for 37 years, 281 days
  10. King Henry I, reigned August 3, 1100 – December 1, 1135, for 35 years, 120 days

As of September 8, 2022, the day of her death, Queen Elizabeth II was second on the list of longest-reigning monarchs of internationally recognized sovereign states with verifiable reigns by exact date, after only King Louis XIV of France, who reigned for 72 years, 110 days (May 14, 1643 – September 1, 1715).

Read more about Queen Elizabeth II at:

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May 12, 1937, Coronation Day of King George VI

As the second son of the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II’s father Prince Albert, Duke of York (known as Bertie) was not expected to inherit the throne. His role would be to support his father King George V of the United Kingdom, and then later his brother The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, known as David in the family.

Bertie married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters: Elizabeth born in 1926 and Margaret born in 1930. However, things were soon to change for the York family. In January 1936, Bertie’s father King George V died. His elder brother became King Edward VIII and Bertie became heir presumptive to the throne. The new king was unmarried and involved with Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. This relationship would soon bring about unheard-of events in the British monarchy. Failing to reach an agreement with the Government by which he and Mrs. Simpson could marry, King Edward VIII abdicated on December 11, 1936, giving his famous “without the woman I love” speech on the radio. Upon Parliament’s passing of the Abdication Act, Bertie became the new King of the United Kingdom, taking the regnal name George VI, in honor of his father, and to stress the continuity of the British monarchy.

King George VI’s elder daughter, the 10-year-old Princess Elizabeth, was now the heir presumptive to the British throne. However, because there was always the possibility of a younger brother being born and becoming heir apparent, Elizabeth did not receive any of the titles traditionally held by the heir. For her father’s entire reign, she remained Princess Elizabeth.

Eventually, the British succession would be more equitable. The Succession to The Crown Act 2013, which formally went into effect on March 26, 2015, put in place absolute primogeniture, which means that for those born after October 28, 2011, the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender. On April 23, 2018, with the birth of her younger brother Prince Louis of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-granddaughter, became the first British princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by her younger brother.

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King George VI waving goodbye to Elizabeth and Philip on January 31, 1952

In 1947, when Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, born Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark, her father was only fifty-two years old and it was thought she would not become Queen for years, enabling her to settle into married life and then life with children. By 1949, King George VI’s health was failing. He was suffering from lung cancer and several other ailments. Elizabeth and Philip began to take on more royal duties, often filling in for King George VI when he was unable to attend events. A tour of Australia had been postponed and on January 31, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set off in King George VI’s place. He came to the airport to see them off, looking drawn and frail. It would be the last time he would see his daughter. On February 6, 1952, 56-year-old King George VI passed away in his sleep at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England.

Queen Elizabeth II returning to London on February 7, 1952 after her father’s death

During a stop-over in Kenya, on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip had just returned to Sagana Lodge, where they were staying in Kenya after a night spent at Treetops Hotel when the news arrived of the death of King George VI and consequently Elizabeth’s immediate accession to the throne. Philip broke the news to the new queen. They immediately returned to London, where Queen Elizabeth II attended the Accession Council on February 8, 1952.

For more information about what happens when the British monarch dies, see Unofficial Royalty: When The British Monarch Dies.

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Queen Elizabeth II does not intend to abdicate although her heir Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales and other family members have taken on more of her duties and she carries out fewer public engagements. The Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth. The celebration plans were formally unveiled by Buckingham Palace on January 10, 2022. Events took place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day holiday weekend from Thursday, June 2, 2022 to Sunday, June 5, 2022.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend

On February 5, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II released a Platinum Jubilee message to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The highlight of the message was her statement that when her son Charles becomes king, “Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her loyal service.”

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died at the age of 96, at Balmoral Castle, her home in Balmoral, Scotland, on September 8, 2022, at 3:10 PM, more than three hours before the public was informed. The death certificate, released by National Records of Scotland cites the Queen as dying of “old age”.

Queen Elizabeth II Resources 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. List of longest-reigning monarchs – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-reigning_monarchs> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. When The British Monarch Dies: The Accession Council. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/when-the-monarch-dies-the-accession-council/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2014. King George VI of the United Kingdom. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-george-vi-of-the-united-kingdom/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2015. Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-of-the-united-kingdom/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • The Royal Family. 2022. Plans announced for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.royal.uk/platinum-jubilee-central-weekend> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2015. Longest Reigning British Monarchs. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies/british-royals/british-royal-history/longest-reigning-british-monarchs/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].

Transition: The Final Months of King George VI and Accession of Queen Elizabeth II

by The Laird o’ Thistle (Special Edition)
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth picnicking on the moors near Balmoral in August 1951, Princess Elizabeth behind, taken by the Earl of Dalkeith, later 9th Duke of Buccleuch; Credit – ROYAL FAMILY PICTURE ANNUAL – Volume One, The Daily Graphic by Pitkins Pictorials Ltd

One of the royal treasures I have acquired over the years is a little volume I found in a used book shop circa 1990. It is the ROYAL FAMILY PICTURE ANNUAL – Volume One, published “in association with” The Daily Graphic by Pitkins Pictorials Ltd. In 1952. The volume of photos and narrative traces the Royal Family’s activities from August 1951 to August 1952… which is to say the final six months of the life of King George VI, and the first six months of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Over the last few months, as we have drawn ever nearer to HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee observance, I have found myself picking up this little volume repeatedly, to remind myself of how the story of the King’s final months unfolded, as well as the more widely familiar story of his death and the Queen’s Accession to the Throne. I have found it a poignant story… such as occurs for so many families. But in this case, it is the story of a very particular family… of the last King-Emperor and his wife, his elder daughter and heir, with her husband and two children, his younger daughter who had only just come of age and an elderly mother who was beginning to experience her own decline. (Queen Mary died in March 1953.) In what follows, from this and various other sources, I want to briefly convey the broad outlines of King George VI’s final months, culminating in the first two weeks of February 1952.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (soon to be Queen Mother) departed London for Balmoral on the Royal Train on the evening of 2 August 1951. They were accompanied on the journey by their grandchildren, Prince Charles (age 2-3/4) and Princess Anne (just turning 1), and the children’s nannies. After fulfilling some engagements in Edinburgh on 4 August, Princess Elizabeth joined the children at Birkhall, followed by Prince Philip on 10 August. Princess Margaret arrived on 13 August. The immediate family was assembled.

It was intended to be a “normal” family holiday at Balmoral, essentially as it had been from the days of Queen Victoria to the present. The King and his guests would shoot grouse. The family would attend services at Crathie Kirk. Guests would come and go. But, there were also to be a couple of very special celebrations, the first birthday of Princess Anne on 15 August, and the twenty-first birthday of Princess Margaret on 21 August. A special family group photoshoot was arranged to mark the two occasions.

The royal family at Balmoral in August 1951

This holiday was additionally intended as a recuperative time for the King. His health had been concerning since May, including an inflammation in the lung. Advised to rest and recover, the King canceled his public engagements in June and July. By early September, however, concerns were renewed. The King and Royal Family attended the Braemar Gathering on 6 September, but the next day he flew to London for an in-depth examination by medical experts. After returning briefly to Scotland, the King departed his beloved Balmoral forever in mid-September. On 18 September it was announced that “structural changes” had occurred in the King’s lung. Three days later it was announced that he would be having surgery. An operating room was quickly fitted up at Buckingham Palace, and the surgery took place on 23 September. The King’s cancerous left lung was removed. (It is believed that he was never actually told he had “cancer” – generally a taboo word in that generation – though he may have realized it.) He began an extended period of recuperation and recovery.

The Royal Family undertook to “keep calm and carry on” in the immediate aftermath of the King’s surgery. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were due to depart for a tour of Canada, and a brief visit to the United States, shortly afterward. The decision was made for the trip to proceed, but they would fly out from the United Kingdom on 7 October, rather than travel by sea as first planned. They departed accordingly, leaving their children in the care of the Queen and Princess Margaret… and, of course, the nannies.

Elizabeth and Philip were away from 8 October to 17 November. They crisscrossed Canada and paid a brief visit to the United States, including an official dinner with President and Mrs. Truman at Blair House in Washington DC (the White House being under renovation at the time). This was Princess Elizabeth’s first encounter with a sitting American President, although she’d met Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt on several occasions during and since World War II. At the end of the trip, they returned to the United Kingdom by sea.

The future Queen Elizabeth II with American President Harry Truman in the autumn of 1951

As the King recuperated and grew stronger he returned to a few low-key duties, audiences, meetings, and so on. This included the post-General Election meetings on 26 October to accept Clement Atlee’s resignation as Prime Minister, and to ask Winston Churchill to form a government.

Having the grandchildren staying at Buckingham Palace meant that Prince Charles celebrated his third birthday with them, on 14 November. Much in the way that the little Princess Elizabeth (age 3) bonded with her grandfather during a recuperative period at Bognor Regis in the spring of 1929, the King now had the opportunity to bond more closely with his grandson. In fact, Prince Charles spent quite a lot of time around his grandparents during the King’s final months… at Balmoral, at Buckingham Palace, and then at Sandringham. (Princess Anne, too. But she was only 1 at the time.)

King George VI with his grandson Prince Charles on Charles’ 3rd birthday

On 14 December, the Royal Family gathered at Buckingham Palace for a small luncheon to celebrate the King’s 56th birthday. Along with the Queen and Princess Margaret, the King was joined by Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Queen Mary, The Princess Royal, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and the Duchess of Kent. Also on 14 December, the King knighted his surgeon, Dr. Price Thomas, and pulmonologist Dr. Geoffrey Marshall, who had attended him.
As in more recent times, the Royal Family’s Christmas holiday began when the King and Queen, Princess Elizabeth and the children, Princess Margaret, and Queen Mary, departed for Sandringham on the Royal Train on 21 December. (Prince Philip followed on the 22nd.) It was the first public sighting of the King since his surgery. The Gloucester and Kent families joined the house party in the following days.

Christmas at Sandringham was, then, much as it continued up to 2019. There were special services at St. Mary Magdalene Church. After the large Christmas Dinner, the King and his family listened to the pre-recorded Christmas Broadcast. In listening to the King’s “last” speech, you can hear not only the lingering post-surgical hoarseness but also the remnants of the old royal stammer.

British Royal Family, Christmas 1951

As 1952 began, the King and Queen remained at Sandringham. The King attended to both his official boxes and estate business. He went out with the guns on several occasions. The big upcoming event for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip was the Commonwealth Tour they would be undertaking in the King’s stead, beginning in February. The pace of preparations picked up quickly in January, though they still spent nearly three weeks of the month at Sandringham. The children would once again be staying with the King and Queen while their parents were away. Elizabeth and Philip returned to London on 25 January for a week of engagements, packing, and last-minute details.

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret went to London on 28 January. Over the next couple of days, he undertook some “light duties” at Buckingham Palace, including several audiences. On the night of 30 January the King and Queen, Elizabeth and Philip, and Princess Margaret attended South Pacific at Drury Lane. The King received an ovation which he acknowledged with a wave from the Royal Box. It was King George’s first true public outing since September. On the following morning the King, Queen, and Margaret were at London Airport with the Prime Minister and other relatives to send Princess Elizabeth and Philip off to Kenya, and the Commonwealth. The King looked gaunt and frail, hatless in the late January weather. The family returned to Sandringham the next day, 1 February.

King George VI at London Airport on January 31, 1952

Upon their arrival in Kenya, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip fulfilled a series of official engagements in Nairobi before journeying to Royal Lodge, Saguna, their wedding gift from the people of Kenya. They were to spend a few quiet days at the lodge before departing on the Commonwealth Tour. Among their party was Philip’s cousin, Lady Pamela Mountbatten (Hicks), who was serving Elizabeth as a Lady-in-Waiting on the Tour. Along with the Queen, she is now… at age 93… the only surviving member of the immediate royal party.

Meanwhile, at Sandringham, the King attended to business as he could. On 3 February he attended church with the Queen and Princess Margaret, walking back to the house with them afterward. All accounts say that Tuesday, 5 February 1952, was a “good” day for King George VI. He spent the afternoon with the “Keeper’s Day” shoot on the estate, enjoying himself. He spent some time with Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Tea. After dinner, Princess Margaret played the piano. King Geroge retired to his room to do a bit of paperwork, enjoyed a cup of cocoa, and went to bed. At midnight the policeman on duty saw him latching his bedroom window, after which he turned out the light. Sometime in the night, he died. “Coronary thrombosis” is the longstanding official cause of death. More recently other possible causes have been suggested, such as an embolism or hemorrhage in his right lung.

The next morning, it is said, Prince Charles noticed one of the maids crying, and asked why. “Because your grandfather has gone away,” he was told. Charles was confused, but no further answers were forthcoming. Eventually Queen Elizabeth – the new “Queen Mother” – came to see him and told him that his parents would be coming home unexpectedly soon. As I’ve read, he then asked his grandmother where his grandfather was, at which point she broke down in tears. It was finally his mother who explained, as best one can to a 3-year-old, that his grandfather had died.

In Kenya, the royal party had spent an exciting night observing the wildlife at the Tree-Tops Hotel, Nyeri, before returning to the Saguna Royal Lodge. It was to be some hours before the news reached them, and was confirmed. Prince Philip took his wife out for a walk on the grounds to break the news. Observers remarked that he looked like the weight of the world had descended upon him. Her secretary duly asked by what name she wanted to be known? “Why, my own of course.” And so the second Elizabeth acceded to the throne.

There remained the whirlwind of arrangements to head immediately back to the U.K., a trip delayed some hours by thunderstorms en route. Messages had to be sent. Mourning clothes had to be procured. The Queen’s packed ones were in Nairobi, but they were flying more directly back. Fresh ones were rushed to the airplane when they got back to London. At her request, no photos were taken of her until she reached London. As they departed Saguna Lodge the accompanying journalists lined the road in respect, with their cameras sitting at their feet.

Dressed in black Queen Elizabeth II sets foot on British soil for the first time since her accession as she lands at London Airport following the death of her father King George VI

Reaching London on 7 February, she descended the airplane steps… discretely followed by Prince Philip… to be greeted by her Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, The Duke of Gloucester, and various officials. Arriving home at Clarence House, her first visitor was “her old Granny”, Queen Mary, who said she came to kiss her Sovereign’s hand. The next day, 8 February, was occupied by the official Accession Council and Proclamation. Then, finally, she could depart to her family at Sandringham.

It was three days later, 11 February 1952, that George VI’s body was brought to London to lie in state at Westminster Hall. Charles and Anne remained at Sandringham with the nannies. Perhaps the most striking photograph of all the solemnities emerged from the Lying-in-State, that of the three black-clad queens – Elizabeth, Mary, and Elizabeth (QM) – awaiting the arrival of the coffin at Westminster. Queen Mary looked spectral. After that, the aging Dowager (nearly 85, which was “older” then than now) did not attend any of the rest of the funeral rite, although she later watched the funeral procession pass down The Mall from her window at Marlborough House.

Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary, and The Queen Mother await the arrival of King George VI’s coffin at Westminster Hall in London on February 11, 1952

King George was buried at Windsor on 15 February 1952, in rites at St. George’s Chapel not unlike those we saw for Prince Philip earlier this year… except, of course, in scale. In 1969 the tiny George VI Memorial Chapel was added to St. George’s Chapel, and the King’s remains were moved there.

On 6 February 2022, ninety-five-year-old Queen Elizabeth II is expected to follow her tradition of having a small service of remembrance for her father at Sandringham, 70 years to the day after his passing. For her, the accession anniversary is a day of remembrance, not celebration.
These coming weeks will also mark the twentieth anniversary of the deaths of Princess Margaret (9 February) and the Queen Mother (30 March), followed by the first anniversary of Prince Philip’s death (9 April).

Recent months have seen increasing concern for the Queen’s health. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Princess Royal, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex have been taking most of her public engagements. In the few instances where she has been seen, shown at a private audience or glimpsed as she is being driven somewhere, she seems increasingly frail.

In the course of time, the Queen, too, will pass on. It is the “way of all flesh” as it is said. When the time comes, the plan is for her to be buried in the George VI Chapel at Windsor, along with her parents, her sister Margaret, and her beloved Philip. But, for now, she continues carrying on, day by day. May God bless and keep her, always!

Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson, the Laird o’ Thistle

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Johann I Josef, reigned as Prince of Liechtenstein from 1805 to 1836. Born in Vienna, Austria on June 26, 1760, Johann Baptist Josef Adam Johann Nepomuk Aloys Franz de Paula was the sixth of the eight children and the fourth but the second surviving son of Franz Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Marie Leopoldine von Sternberg. Since the Principality of Liechtenstein was a constituent member of the Holy Roman Empire headed by the Habsburgs, and Alois’ father had several government positions, the family spent much time in Vienna, Austria.

Johann Josef had seven siblings:

Johann Josef as a teenager, 1776; Credit – Wikipedia

Because he had an elder brother and was not expected to succeed to the throne of Liechtenstein, Johann Josef chose a military career in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire, of which Liechtenstein was a constituent state. At the age of 22, he joined the army with the rank of lieutenant. He participated in the Austro-Turkish War (1788 – 1791) and was promoted to the rank of colonel. Johann Josef gained prominence during the Napoleonic Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II feared that Napoleon could take over his personal, hereditary Habsburg lands within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria. As it turned out, Franz’s move was a wise one because the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.

Holy Roman Emperor Franz I (on the left) meeting Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (on the right) after the Battle of Austerlitz. Johann Joseph is standing between the two emperors. Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his childless brother Alois I, Prince of Liechtenstein, on March 24, 1805, Johan Josef became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. However, he continued his military career. Johann Josef was promoted to the rank of field marshal, became commander in chief of the army of the Austrian Empire, and led the Austrian army, the losing side, in the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz. He was later accused of making two unfavorable peace treaties with Napoleon. Both of these agreements were favorable to Napoleon and unfavorable to Austria, and Johann Josef was accused of having little diplomatic ability. To avoid criticism, Johann Josef left the army in 1810 and shifted his activities to the administration and management of the estates.

In 1806, Napoleon accepted the Principality of Liechtenstein into the Confederation of the Rhine, which gave Liechtenstein more sovereignty than it ever had. At the Congress of Vienna (1814 – 1815), which decided the political reorganization of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars and the defeat of Napoleon, the Principality of Liechtenstein was admitted as a sovereign member of the German Confederation, a political union of all German states.

As Prince of Liechtenstein, Johann Josef carried out progressive reforms. However, in 1818, he approved a new constitution that limited the monarch’s power. He established modern practices in agriculture and forestry and reorganized the government administration to meet modern needs.

Johann Josef arranged for the extensive private art collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, started by Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein (reigned 1627 – 1684), to be transferred to the Liechtenstein Garden Palace in Vienna, Austria. From 1810, the art galleries at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace, eventually called the Liechtenstein Museum, were open to the public for a fee. It has not been run as a museum since 2012 and is now called Palais Liechtenstein. The Palais Liechtenstein remains home to part of the private art collection of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, one of the largest private collections in the world, and is available for visit by booked guided tours.

Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra, Johann Josef’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 12, 1792, in Vienna, Austria, Johann Josef married Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra, daughter of Joachim Egon, Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Weitra and Countess Sophia Maria of Oettingen-Wallerstein. Johann Josef and Josefa had fourteen children who were all born in Vienna, Austria, including Alois II, Prince of Liechtenstein, who succeeded his father:

The New Crypt, which Johann Josef had built, at the Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 20, 1836, Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 75, died at Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna, Austria. His remains were transferred with military honors from the Liechtenstein Palace to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel near the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where a funeral service was held. Johann Josef was buried in the New Crypt, which he had built, at the Chuch of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. His wife Josefa survived him by twelve years, dying at the age of 72 on February 23, 1848, and was buried with her husband.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Cs.wikipedia.org. 2021. Jan I. z Lichtenštejna. Available at: <https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_I._z_Lichten%C5%A1tejna>.
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Johann I. Josef (Liechtenstein). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_I._Josef_(Liechtenstein)
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein – Wikipedia.  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_I_Joseph,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein>
  • Fuerstenhaus.li. 2021. Century: 19th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/19-century/>.

Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

The integration of the Augustinerkirche with the Hofburg Palace can be seen in this photo. The church is located below the church tower; Credit – By SchiDD – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37007074

The Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church), which this writer has visited, is a Roman Catholic church located in Vienna, Austria, adjacent to the Hofburg Palace, the winter palace of the Habsburgs. Originally built as a separate building, the church became integrated with the Hofburg Palace as the palace expanded over the centuries. The church looks relatively inconspicuous from the outside but it has an impressive interior. The Augustinerkirche is most known for its Herzgruft (Heart Crypt) in the Loreto Chapel where silver urns containing the hearts of Habsburg family members are interred (see below).

Engraving of the image of the original Augustinerkirche (on the left) and the Hofburg Palace (on the right)

In 1327, Friedrich I, Duke of Austria founded a monastery with a church for the Augustinian order of monks. The church was built as a Gothic three-aisled hall church by the Bavarian builder Dietrich Ladtner of Pirna from 1330 – 1339 but it was not consecrated until 1349. In 1634, the Augustinerkirche became the imperial court parish church and remained so until the end of the monarchy in 1918. After the church was named the imperial court parish church, it was renovated in the Baroque style and a tower was added in 1652. During the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, eighteen side altars were removed when the church was restored to its original Gothic style by Austrian architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (link in German).

The main aisle of the Augustinerkirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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A Note About Two Habsburg Rulers

Empress Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Empress Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty, Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article.

Emperor Franz I of Austria, formerly Holy Roman Emperor Franz II; Credit – Wikipedia

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until he died in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

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The High Altar

The high altar; Credit – Autor: Bwag – Vlastní dílo, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23347194

The current high altar was designed and made by German sculptor Andreas Halbig from 1857 – 1870. It was made from sandstone and made in the polychrome style, the decoration of architectural elements and sculpture in a variety of colors. The altar was originally made for the Votivkirche in Vienna but the architect of the Votivkirche rejected the altar because it would have prevented a view of the ambulatory, so the altar was installed in the Augustinerkirche in 1873. The altar shows Christ the King as ruler of the world, surrounded by angels and saints.

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The Altar Dedicated to Blessed Karl of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria

The altar dedicated to Blessed Karl of Austria in the Augustinerkirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 2004, a new side altar was dedicated to Blessed Karl of Austria. On October 3, 2004, Pope John Paul II beatified Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, and he is known as Blessed Karl of Austria. Beatification is the third of four steps toward sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. On January 31, 2008, the Roman Catholic Church, after a 16-month investigation, formally recognized a second miracle attributed to Karl I which is required for his canonization as a saint. However, no word on his canonization has been forthcoming.

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The Cenotaph of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Duchess of Teschen

Cenotaph of Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1742 – 1798), was the fifth of the sixteen children of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I Stephen, Holy Roman Emperor. According to Empress Maria Theresa’s writings, Maria Christina was her favorite child. Allowed to marry for love, Maria Christina married Prince Albrecht of Saxony. The couple received the Duchy of Teschen, and Maria Christina and her husband were jointly appointed Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, serving from 1781 – 1789 and 1791 – 1792. Maria Christina’s last illness was a long one. The day before her death at the age of 56, she wrote a farewell letter to her husband in which she told him of her deep and lifelong love for him. After the death of his wife, her grieving husband Albrecht had an impressive cenotaph (empty tomb) built for Maria Christina, designed and sculpted by Italian neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova.

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Habsburg Weddings

The wedding of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium; Credit – Wikipedia

Information about the Augustinerkirche often says many Habsburg weddings took place there. In reality, many of these marriages were proxy marriages. A proxy marriage was a wedding in which one or both of the individuals being married are not physically present, usually being represented instead by other persons. It was very common during this time period for princesses to have a proxy marriage in their home country. The groom would usually be represented by one of the bride’s male relatives. Once the bride arrived in the groom’s home country, a larger religious ceremony was usually held.

For example, the proxy marriage of Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, and Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, the future Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France, was held at the Augustinerkirche in Vienna on April 19, 1770, with Maria Antonia’s brother Archduke Ferdinand of Austria standing in for Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France. On May 16, 1770, Maria Antonia, now known by her French name Marie Antoinette, and Louis-Auguste were married in person in a grand ceremony held in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.

The weddings below were ceremonies where both the bride and groom were present in the Augustinerkirche. They were not proxy marriages. This is very likely an incomplete list.

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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Herzgruft – Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel

Loreto Chapel, the metal door to the left of the altar leads to the Herzgruft (Heart Crypt; Credit – Wikipedia

The Herzgruft (Heart Crypt) in the Loreto Chapel has 54 silver urns containing the hearts of 54 members of the Habsburg family. The chapel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Loreto. The women from the House of Habsburg prayed for the gift of children in the Loreto Chapel, and after giving birth, they offered prayers of thanksgiving in the chapel.

During the renovations of the Augustinerkirche by Austrian architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (link in German), the original Loreto Chapel was demolished and a new one was built. A separate room in the new Loreto Chapel was set up for the heart urns. At the same time, the hearts of Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, originally interred in the royal monastery of the Poor Clares next to the Hofburg Palace, were transferred to the Loreto Chapel. The last Habsburg whose heart was interred at the Loreto Chapel was Archduke Franz Karl, son of Emperor Franz I of Austria and father of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who died in 1878.

Urns with hearts in the Herzgruft (Heart Crypt); Credit – Autor: Gugerell – Vlastní dílo, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28367548

The current Loreto Chapel, located behind a wrought iron gate in the right aisle, adjacent to the high altar, was built in 1724 and is the successor to the original 1627 Loreto Chapel. Access to the heart crypt is by an iron door to the left of the altar in the Loreto Chapel. The heart crypt is a semicircular room with bare walls in which the urns are placed on two shelves side by side in the sequence of death dates. The heart urns are made of silver except for the gold urn of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias. The heart urn of Prince Napoleon II of France, son of Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French and his second wife Archduchess Maria Louise of Austria, daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria, is usually decorated with a ribbon in the blue, white, and red colors of the French tricolor.

All but three of those whose hearts are interred in the Augustinerkirche are buried in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, a short distance from the Augustinekirche. The burial place of those three is noted below.

Note: Holy Roman Emperors were elected. The Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors were also the Kings of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia and sovereigns of Austria and other Habsburg territories.

The upper row of heart urns arranged in sequence of death dates, from left to right:

The lower row of heart urns arranged in sequence of death dates, from left to right:

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Augustinerkirche Wien. 2021. Augustinerkirche Wien. [online] Available at: <https://augustinerkirche.augustiner.at/> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • Cs.wikipedia.org. 2021. Augustiniánský kostel (Vídeň) – Wikipedie. [online] Available at: <https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustini%C3%A1nsk%C3%BD_kostel_(V%C3%ADde%C5%88)> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • Cs.wikipedia.org. 2021. Hrobka srdcí – Wikipedie. [online] Available at: <https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrobka_srdc%C3%AD> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Augustinerkirche (Wien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustinerkirche_(Wien)> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Loretokapelle (Augustinerkirche Wien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretokapelle_(Augustinerkirche_Wien)> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Augustinian Church, Vienna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustinian_Church,_Vienna> [Accessed 11 December 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Herzgruft – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzgruft_(Vienna)> [Accessed 11 December 2021].

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