Austrian Crown Jewels

The collective term "Crown Jewels" denotes the regalia and vestments worn by the Holy Roman Emperor, and later the Austrian Emperor during the coronation ceremony and at various other state functions. The term refers to the following objects: the crowns, sceptres, orbs, swords, rings, crosses, holy relics, and the royal robes, as well as several other objects connected with the ceremony itself.

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 hereditary empire 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 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, King Ottokar 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 sovereign insignia 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:

• The Crown of Rudolf II, later Crown of the Austrian Empire (made by Jan Vermeyen in Prague, in 1602). It is made out of pure Gold, partially enamelled, and studded with diamonds, rubies, spinel rubies, sapphire, pearls, and cushioned with velvet.

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.

File:Francis I.jpg

Emperor Francis I (Francis II) wearing the Austrian imperial robes and regalia

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.

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 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) Blue and orange velvet, white moiré, gold and silver mbroidery, ermine, lace;

269 cm long

After Napoleon’s downfall, when a new European order was established in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna, the provinces in the North of Italy fell to Austria and were united to form the Lombard - Venetian Kingdom. When Emperor Ferdinand I decided to have himself crowned King of Lombardy and Venetia in Milan on 6. 9. 1838, the question arose as to the choice of appropriate insignia and coronation vestments. Only the venerable Iron Crown of Lombardy already existed. The rest of the insignia and vestments had to be newly comissioned.

The robes were designed by Philipp von Stubenrauch, based on the mantle of the Austrian Emperor made in 1830. The edging of the mantle is accompanied by a line of medaillions in which the iron crown is displayed. Parallel to this runs a broad ornamental border composed of sprays of palm fronds, oak leaves and sprays of laurel. When the Austrians had to withdraw from Italy in 1859, the vestments were brought to Vienna.

The Holy Roman Empire

Etching of the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire

The Crown is kept in the Schatzkammer, Vienna