Capuchin Crypt (Imperial Crypt)

The Imperial Crypt is located beneath the Capuchin Church and is intended for members of Austria’s former Habsburg dynasty, who have been laid to rest in the crypt since 1633.

149 Habsburgs, including 12 emperors as well as 19 empresses and queens, have their final resting place here. The magnificent double sarcophagus of Maria Theresia and her husband, Emperor Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen, is a work by Balthasar Ferdinand Moll.

In strong contrast to this is the plain sarcophagus of her son Joseph II. The last emperor to be buried here was Franz Joseph I. (1916). The sarcophaguses of Empress Elisabeth and Crown Prince Rudolf are situated in the crypt, which is looked after by Capuchin monks. The hearts of the Habsburgs were buried in the Heart Crypt of the Church of the Augustinian Friars from 1654 to 1878.

Burials take place in the Imperial Crypt to this day: the last Austrian empress, Zita, was buried here in 1989. And on 16 July 2011, her eldest son, the former Crown Prince and European politician, Otto Habsburg, was laid to rest here alongside his wife, Regina.

Capuchin Crypt (Kapuzinergruft) Imperial Crypt

Tegetthoffstraße 2
1010 Vienna

Vienna City Card
- Your benefit with the Vienna City Card: -18%
  
  Additional information on the offer:
  
  Standard ticket price: 8,50 €
  reduced ticket price: 7 €
Opening times
- Mo, 10:00 - 18:00
- Tu, 10:00 - 18:00
- Mo, 10:00 - 18:00
- Th, 09:00 - 18:00
- Fr, 10:00 - 18:00
- Sa, 10:00 - 18:00
- Su, 10:00 - 18:00
- 1 and 2 November: 10.00 am - 2.00 pm, 24 and 31 December: 10.00 am - 4.00 pm.
Guided tours
- Wednesday - Saturday
  - 2 pm (German)
  - 3.30 pm (English)
Accessibility
- Main entrance
  - no steps (Automatic sliding doors142 cm wide)
- Elevator available
  - Door 90 cm wide
- Further information
  - Wheelchair accessible restroom available.
- Comments
  Access to all exhibition rooms: no steps, except 3 steps to the tomb of emperor Franz Joseph and to the burial vault chapel.
  
  The touching of objects is not permitted due to reasons of preservation.

Map Points of interest in the area

Guided tours (duration about one hour):
Wed - Sat 2 pm (German) and 3.30 pm (English)
Bilingual if required

Vienna's cemeteries

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14 pictures

Caskets in illuminated room, plinth bearing inscription Franz Joseph — Sarcophagi of Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Elisabeth and Crown Prince Rudolf – © Robert Vanis

Caskets in hall, casket with crown and orb — Sarcophagi of Emperor Franz II/I and his four wives Elisabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este and Caroline Augusta of Bavaria – © Robert Vanis

Casket with sculptures — Double sarcophagus of Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen – © Robert Vanis

Caskets in hall — View inside the Tuscany Crypt, in which Emperor Leopold II lies buried – © Robert Vanis

Two caskets — Founder's crypt with the sacrophagi of Emperor Matthias and Empress Anna – © Robert Vanis

Caskets in illuminated hall — New Crypt (right in picture: sarcophagus of Empress Louise, the wife of Emperor Napoleon I) – © Robert Vanis

Skull sculpture with imperial crown — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

Skull with crown on casket — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

Caskets in hall, sculpture and illuminated altar — Crypt chapel with the sarcophagi of Empress Zita, Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina von Sachsen-Meiningen – © Robert Vanis

Two caskets with skull sculpture and crown — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

Casket lid with crown and orb — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

Skull sculpture with imperial crown on a casket — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

Casket with skull sculpture and figures — Details of a sarcophagus – © Robert Vanis

The double sarcophagus of Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan of Lorraine viewed from above – © Robert Seydel

Sarcophagi of Emperor Franz II/I and his four wives Elisabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este and Caroline Augusta of Bavaria – © Robert Vanis