Vienna – The Capuchin Crypt
1648–1918
The Kapuzinergruft (Capuchin Crypt), part of the Capuchin Friary on Neuer Markt in Vienna’s historic centre, is the most important tomb of the Habsburg family and a deeply symbolic locus of Habsburg history. Here lie all the emperors of the Habsburg dynasty from the beginning of the seventeenth century (with the exception of Rudolf II, Ferdinand II and Karl I). A total of 138 people are interred here.
The crypt goes back to a Habsburg foundation and was extended several times over the centuries. The sarcophagi and tombs are important in art-historical terms and bear religious motifs and symbols of the finite nature of worldly power.
The Habsburg family crypt is still in the charge of the Catholic order of Capuchin Friars and is open to the public.
