The Franz Vault

Francis II.(I.)

The era of Josephine reforms, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars passed before a new building was constructed in the Capuchin Crypt after the Congress of Vienna. At the beginning of the 19th century, consideration was given to moving the burial place of the imperial family to the crypt at St. Augustine's, as the crypt had once again become too small. However, in 1824, Emperor Francis II.(I.) (N°57) ordered a further extension of the crypt to the north, towards the sacristy garden. The extension was designed by Johann Amann, took 1 1/2 years to complete and embodies the spirit of the Biedermeier period.

The architectural style

The era of representing imperial power and Baroque exuberance was over, as was the cool breath of Josephinian rationalism. Wartime austerity and, above all, a new appreciation of individuality, expressed in a more bourgeois lifestyle, shaped the new style. The changing times are evident: while the first three rooms were an expression of imperial thinking and the Maria Theresa Vault represented an attempt to bring the afterlife into this world, the Franz Vault conveys the protective family atmosphere and shielding nature of bourgeois Biedermeier.

The Architecture 

The Franz Vault was built in the style of the Maria Theresa Vault, but with a simpler floor plan, elevation and decoration, and featuring a new decorative element, the semicircular niche. This was a revival of prehistoric niche structures, but also a reminder of the octagons found in Syrian, Asia Minor, North African and early Christian areas; the octagonal niche had already experienced a revival during the Italian Renaissance.

The Franz Vault was built on an octagonal floor plan. On the shorter diagonal sides are semicircular, smooth niches in which the emperor's four wives are buried. The walls and dome feature dark green stucco lustro, the pilasters and arch surrounds dark pink, and all cornices dark green. The Franz Vault is no longer purely classicist, but already shows hints of neo-baroque.

The dome-like, raised vault has a matt-glazed opening at its apex, through which subdued daylight falls into the room.

The Sarcophagi

The coffins of the emperor's four wives are placed centrally in front of the semicircular niches and surround the raised sarcophagus of Emperor Francis II (I). In 1925, there were still 13 coffins in a small room. The planned central arrangement could only be achieved through the expansion in 1960.

Overview of the FRanz Vault

Builder/Donor: Emperor Francis II.(I.)

Architect: Johann Amann

Architectural style: Biedermeier, Classicism

Sarcophagi:

• N°57 Francis II.(I.) (1768-1835), son of Leopold II, holder of the Holy Roman Emperor crown until 1806, Emperor of Austria from 1804
• N°58 Maria Ludovica of Este-Modena (1787-1816), Empress, third wife of Franz II (I)
• N°59 Elisabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg (1767-1790), Crown Princess, first wife of Francis II (I)
• N°60 Maria Theresia of Neaples-Sicily (1772-1807), Empress, second wife of Francis II (I)
• N°61 Karolina Augusta of Bavaria (1792-1873), Empress, fourth wife of Franz II (I)