The great St Benedict in his Rule enjoins his
monks to think upon death daily (and soon I will turn 72, and I find
myself doing that willy-nilly). In light of this spiritual counsel (and
since I myself am leaning towards a heroic bronze for my own grave) I
present the Habsburg tombs from the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Enjoy, if
that's the right word to use in this instance.
Emperor Matthias & Empress Anna, who founded the crypt in 1633, it houses the remains of 150 people, including 12 emperors and 19 empresses. The tomb of Empress Maria Theresa & her husband Franz Stefan. It is the largest and most ornate; requiring a separate chapel to be built to accommodate it. Joseph II, her son and successor, was much the antithesis of his mother, and the two often didn't get along. He placed his simple bronze casket right in front of his mother's massive monument. Ya think it was some kinda protest?[
Emperor Ferdinand
Emperor Franz-Josef
His wife Empress Elizabeth, the legendary "Sisi"
Karl, the last emperor, deposed after WWI; he chose not to be buried in Vienna but on the Portuguese island of Madeira, his place of exile.
