Sunday, January 29, 2017

The Habsburg Dynasty: Pharaohs on the Hudson

From Just on Travel:
The Habsburg Dynasty had a tradition that was a bit like that of the Pharaohs: After the death of a Habsburg the heart and viscera were removed from the body according to strict ceremony. The sovereign bodies were then embalmed and entombed in the nearby Imperial Crypt. The viscera were laid to rest in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the hearts in the so-called “Heart Crypt” in the Augustinian Church. The Augustinian Church was one of the important stations in the life of every member of the House of Habsburg. It is here where they were baptized and where they married – and to where they would forever after consign their hearts. 54 Habsburgian hearts are forever safeguarded in silver urns here in the Augustinian Church. (Read more.)

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