It's the size of a large fist, 10.9 centimetres tall. In the Treasury's jewels room it sits alone in a dark case, lit from above, and it glows. It is one emerald, hollowed out into a small pot with a lid, and the Imperial Treasury counts it among the largest emeralds in the…
Most of the Order of the Golden Fleece's treasure is about the knights. This piece belonged to the man who kept track of them. It's the potence, the…
Every Sunday from late September to late June, at 9:15, the Vienna Boys' Choir sings Mass in the Hofburg's own chapel. It's not a concert. It's a…
For about three hundred years, when a Habsburg baby was christened, the water came out of this ewer and fell into this basin. Together they weigh…
Most crowns are made for a coronation. This one never saw one. Rudolf II had it made in Prague in 1602 to wear when the real imperial crown was out…
If you see one thing in the Hofburg, make it the Treasury. It's small, about twenty rooms, and it holds the objects that made a Habsburg an emperor…
Among the crowns and regalia of the Imperial Treasury stand two small vases of flowers that will never wilt. Every petal is gold, enamel or a cut…
Most of the Imperial Treasury is about power that lasted centuries. One case is about an empire that lasted three years. It holds the chains of two…
Walk into the courtyard In der Burg and turn towards the oldest part of the palace, and you're looking at the most photographed doorway in the…
