The Austrian Crown Jewels are all kept at the Imperial Treasury (in German: Schatzkammer) located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. They are a collection of imperial regalia and jewels dating from the 10th century to the 19th. They are one of the biggest and most important collection of royal objects still today, and reflect more than a thousand years of European history. The treasury can be quantified into six important parts:
The Insignia of the Austrian Hereditary Homage
The Empire of Austria
The Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure
The Holy Roman Empire
The Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece
The Ecclesiastical Treasury
The most outstanding objects are the insignia of the hereditaryEmpire of Austria. They consist of the Imperial Crown, the Imperial Orb and the mantle of the Austrian Empire, and the Coronation Robes of the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom. The Imperial Crown, Orb, Cross, and Holy Lance of the Holy Roman Empire are also highlights. The first five parts are also called Weltliche Schatzkammer (secular/wordly treasury) and the ecclesiastical part the Geistliche Schatzkammer (spiritual treasury).
The Insignia of the Austrian Hereditary Homage
Austria started as a small duchy, and was later elevated to an archduchy. The house of Babenberg and later Habsburg dynasty were the dukes and later archdukes of this fiefdom. After the death of the last Babenberg duke, Frederick II in 1246, KingOttokar II of Bohemia took over for a while. He was however defeated by Rudolf of Habsburg in 1278, with the help of his sons Albert and Rudolf. Rudolf was eventually elected Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany. The enthronement ceremony of the new Archduke of Austria was not an actual coronation, but more a ceremony of homage by the estates. The estates in parliament swore obedience to their new ruler and he in turn guaranteed their rights and uphold their privileges. However, in this ceremony sovereigninsignia were also used.
The Insignia consist of the Austrian archducal coronet, which was made for Joseph II’s entry into Frankfurt for his coronation as German king in 1764. The orb and the sceptre were in use as the royal insignia of the Kingdom of Bohemia until the early 17th century.
The Empire of Austria
Crown of the Austrian Empire
Amongst the most important regalia of the Austrian Empire are as following:
This crown is one the most important work of the European goldsmiths art. It was originally the personal crown of Emperor Rudolf II. The crown and the insignia were kept at Nürnberg and were used only for coronation ceremonies. For all other occasions the emperors had to commission personal crowns, which have survived only in illustrations. Luckily the imperial crown was spared the fate of many other crowns and not broken up after the death of the emperor in 1612.
The crown has three distinct, principal elements, which symbolise the right to rule: the circlet with its fleur-de-lis mounts in the shape of a royal crown (Rudolf II was the King of Bohemia and Hungary), the high ark descending from the imperial crown, and the golden mitre symbolising the divine right of the emperor to rule. The pearls run in rows like lights.
File:Kaiser Franz I.JPGEmperor Francis I (Francis II) wearing the Austrian imperial robes and regalia
In the four spherical triangles of the golden mitre, Rudolf is depicted in his four principal offices and titles: as victor over the Turks (Imperator), his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in Regensburg (Augustus), his ride up the coronation hill after his coronation as king of Hungary in Bratislava, Slovakia, and his procession at his coronation as king of Bohemia in Prague. The inscription inside the arch reads: RVDOLPHVS II ROM(ANORVM) IMP(ERATOR) AVGVSTUS HVNG(ARIAE) ET BOH(EMIAE) REX CONSTRVXIT MDCII (Made for Rudolf II, Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, in 1602).
The choice and number of the stones used have allegorical and mystical significance. Eight diamonds decorate the crown: eight is a holy number referring to the octagonal body of the imperial crown; the diamond is a symbol of Christ.
Under threat from Napoleon, Emperor Francis II dissolved the thousand-year old Holy Roman Empire and proclaimed the Austrian Empire on August 11, 1804. He did not use the crown of the Holy Roman Empire but the old crown of Rudolf II as the crown of the new empire.
The Imperial Orb and Sceptre (made by Andreas Osenbruck in Prague, between 1612 and 1615) were commissioned by Emperor Matthias, the successor to Rudolf II. Both insignia were made out of the same material as the crown, and followed the same concept. They are also partially enamelled, and studded with rubies, sapphire and pearls.
The Mantle of the Austrian Empire (designed by Philipp von Stubenrauch (1784-1848) and executed by Johann Fritz, Master Gold Embroiderer, in Vienna in 1830) was commissioned by Emperor Francis I for the coronation of his son, Ferdinand, as younger King of Hungary. The mantle is made out of red velvet, ermine, and white silk, and pranked with a gold-embroidered scatter pattern formed of double eagles with the Austrian arms. The border is decorated with oak and laurel leaves.
The Coronation Robes of the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom (also designed by Philipp von Stubenrauch and executed by Johann Fritz in Vienna in 1838). It is patterned similar to the Mantle of the Austrian Empire, but made out of blue and orange velvet, with white moiré, gold and silverembroidery, ermine and lace. The edging of the mantle is accompanied by a line of medaillions in which the Iron Crown of Lombardy is displayed. Parallel to this runs a broad ornamental border composed of sprays of palmfronds, oak and laurel leaves.
After Napoleon’s downfall and the Congress of Vienna, the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom fell under Austrian rule. When Emperor Ferdinand I was to be crowned King of Lombardy and Venetia in Milan on 6. September 1838, the question arose as to the choice of appropriate insignia and coronation vestments. Only the Iron Crown already existed. The rest of the insignia and vestments had to be newly comissioned. When the Austrians were forced to withdraw from Italy in 1859, the vestments were brought to Vienna.
The Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure
The Household Treasure contain items from the daily life of the Habsburg monarchs. The collection is vast and only a couple of highlights are featured regularly.
The Cradle of the King of Rome was commissioned by the city of Paris as a gift to Napoleon and his wife Empress Marie-Louise, on the birth of their son Napoleon II (it was build by Pierre-Paul Prudhon (1758-1813), Henri-Victor Roguier (1758-after 1830), Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot (1763-1850) and Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843). It was made in Paris in 1811. It is silver-gilt, and decorated with gold, mother-of-pearl, copper plates covered with velvet, silk and tulle with gold and silver embroidery, and signed on two of the feet: Odiot et Thomire and Thomire et Odiot. Angels hold a little baldachin over the head, and a bird sits at the foot. Bees, the symbol of the Bonapartes, decorate the sides. The cradle was more of horizontal throne with all its splendour, and a more practical cradle was also commissioned, which is in the Louvre today.
other items are precious Christening table clothes, robes, candles.
One notable item listed in the Household Treasure is the
the Crown of István Bocskay. This Transylvanian prince sided with the Ottoman Turks during their wars with the Habsburg empire. As a sign of their gratitude, the Ottomans send him a crown, probably a Persian production from the 1600's. After his death, it was brought to Vienna in 1609. It is made out of gold, and studded with precious stone and pearls, and laid in with silk. As crowns were not in use in the Ottoman Empire, it was modeled after the Byzantinekamelaukion (closed bonnet-like headdress), similar to those used in the Orthodox church. The crown is comprised of two main parts: a broad circlet with a wreath of fleurs-de-lis and a closed, spherical helmet rising from it. The frontal lily bears a Greek cross.
The Holy Roman Empire
Etching of the Crown of the Holy Roman EmpireThe Crown is kept in the Schatzkammer, Vienna
The Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece
The collections houses various items of the Order, such as neck chains of the knights, the Potence (Chain of Arms) of the Herald of the order, the liturgical vestments, altars, etc.
The Ecclesiastical Treasury
The Ecclesiastical Treasury (also known in German as Geistliche Schatzkammer) contains various pieces such as crosses, altars, reliquaries, icons, holy statues, and other items that were used for prayer by the court and the Habsburgs. The collection is very fast, so that only a couple of items are shown regularly, the rest in cycles.
The Reliquary Cross of King Louis the Great of Hungary is a beautiful double-cross made out of gold with silver-gilt, enamel, and precious stones. In it, pieces of the true Cross of Christ are said to be preserved under rock-crystal. This reliquiary cross used to belong to King Louis of Hungary, and was probably produced either in Hungary or Naples, probably between 1370 and 1382.
There is a House Altar of Jasper, made by Ottavio Miseroni in Prague, probably around 1620, another precious
Reliquary with a Nail from the Cross, made in Augsburg in mid-17th century, an interesting
Feather Picture of the Virgin Mary made by the Tarascan Indian artist Juan Baptiste Cuiris in Michoacán (Pátzcuaro), Mexico, around 1550-1580. It is a picture of the Virgin Mary, made completely out of sparkling Hummingbird and parrotfeathers. The Mexican Indian artists from Amentaca were famous for their traditional skills in producing art out of feathers. There are all in all seven feather-pictures in the treasury, making it the largest collection of such specific items. It belonged to the collection of Emperor Rudolf II.
The Ainkhürn (unicorn) is a curious piece that deserves mention in this little space as well. Originally thought to be the horn of a unicorn, it had more value than gold, since magical healing powers were accredited to it. The hilt of a sword was made out of it, as well as a tankardvessel. In reality, the horn probably came from a Narwhal.
