On behalf of Emperor Franz Josephs, the new Crypt Chapel was built at the same time as the Franz Joseph Vault. The stucco relief on the ceiling depicts the head of Christ surrounded by angels.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE AND DESIGN
The new Crypt Chapel, or memorial room, of Emperor Charles was designed by Cajo Perisic in the same cool, elegant style influenced by Secessionism as the Franz Joseph Vault. The stucco relief on the ceiling depicts the head of Christ surrounded by angels.
THE MEMORIAL BUST AND SARCOPHAGUS
The Crypt Chapel houses a memorial bust of the last Habsburg emperor, Emperor Charles I. (N°145), and the coffin of his wife, Empress Zita (N°146), who died in 1989. The statue of the Madonna (No. 147) was dedicated by Hungarian women in 1899 in memory of Empress Elisabeth. In 2007, Emperor Charles I.'s son, Carl Ludwig (N°148), was buried here. In 2011, his son Otto (N°150) and his wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (N°151), who died in 2010, also found their final resting place here. If the coffin of Emperor Charles I. were to be transferred from Madeira to the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna, Austria's last monarch would be buried next to his wife Zita – but since his son Otto stipulated in his will that his father should not be exhumed, this is unlikely to happen.
Die GruftKAPELLE im Überblick
Builder/Donor: Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Architect: Cajo Perisic
Architectural style: Secessionism
Sarcophagi:
N°145 Charles I. (1877-1922), last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
N°146 Zita (1892-1989), last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, wife of Emperor Charles I.
N°147 Madonna statue in memory of Empress Elisabeth
N°148 Carl Ludwig, son of Emperor Charles I.
N°150 Otto, son of Emperor Charles I.
N°151 Regina von Sachsen-Meiningen, wife of Otto, son of Emperor Charles I.
N°149 Yolande de Ligne, wife of Carl Ludwig, son of Emperor Charles I.
