Loreto Chapel (Augustinian Church Vienna)

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Loreto Chapel of the Augustinian Church (2013). The heart crypt is behind the iron door to the left of the altar.

The Loreto Chapel is part of the Roman Catholic Augustinian Church in Vienna's 1st district, Innere Stadt . As the successor to an older foundation, the chapel in honor of Saint Mary of Loreto has been located in the group of chapels to the south of the church since 1784, which also includes the George Chapel with the tombs for Count Daun , Gerard van Swieten and the empty, magnificent sarcophagus made by Zauner belongs to Emperor Leopold II . The Loreto Chapel in the Augustinian Church gained particular importance through the heart burials of members of the House of Habsburg .

history

Old chapel from 1627

founding

The first Loreto chapel in the Augustinian Church was donated by Empress Eleonora Gonzaga (1598–1655), the wife of Emperor Ferdinand II. The foundation was made in 1627 in analogy to the Waldsteinian foundation of the Loreto Chapel on the Hradschin in Prague. At their request, the three architects of the chapel had to study the Santa Casa in Loreto (Italy) in 1624 in order to be able to recreate it in Vienna in the same form. It was built in the central nave of the court church of St. Augustin between the first three pairs of pillars and, as a place of devotion to Mary, developed into a private shrine of the imperial family. The dimensions of this Capella Lauretana corresponded to the original dimensions of the Santa Casa in Loreto of 9.25 × 4.1 m with a height of about 5 m. In the style of oriental houses, the chapel was made of rubble stones, the walls were unplastered. Inside there was a walkable altar and in the wall niche behind it there was a statue of Mary with the baby Jesus made of cedar wood. On September 12, 1627, the chapel was consecrated by Franz Cardinal von Dietrichstein in the presence of the imperial court. Empress Eleonora Gonzaga presented the chapel with valuable items made of gold, silver and precious stones and designated the Walpersdorf estate as a property to supply the chapel with 400 florins per year  . Shortly before her death, she donated a further 8,000 florins to maintain the chapel.

Private chapel of the Habsburgs

Over time, the Loreto Chapel in the Augustinian Church became the most important pilgrimage center for the Viennese and the nobility. The Augustinian Church itself was elevated to the status of an imperial court parish church in 1634 and the Loreto Chapel was given the status of a public private chapel of the imperial family. Emperor Ferdinand II used to pray here for the victorious outcome of his military campaigns. As a result, the custom became established of consecrating the standards, flags and trophies of the "Mother of Loreto" taken from the enemy and setting them up in the chapel.

The first court wedding that took place in the small chapel was that of the future Emperor Ferdinand III in 1631 . with the Infanta Maria Anna of Spain . His and his sister Cäcilia Renata's wedding are the only weddings that took place in this small chapel. But even after that there was no court wedding in the Augustinian Church without prior prayer in the Loreto Chapel.

The women from the House of Habsburg prayed for offspring in the chapel, and it was here that the imperial mothers' first devotions after the birth of their children were held. In 1756 Maria Theresa had the weight of her youngest son Maximilian Franz weighed out in gold and placed on the altar of the “housemother of the Austrian Archaeological House” in the Loreto Chapel.

Burial place of the Habsburgs

The Loreto Chapel became the burial place of the Habsburgs when Ferdinand IV (1633–1654) had his heart buried here. He had especially venerated the Virgin Mary's lifetime and testamentary has to be that " put Hertz unnser loved ones Fawen Maria Loreto under your Füess and buried [be] should ".

Until then, the hearts of the deceased Habsburgs had mostly been buried next to the corpse in the same coffin or in St. Stephen's Cathedral. When Ferdinand IV died, his body was dissected that evening, his heart was placed in a cup and displayed next to the body on the display bed during the ceremonial laying out . One day after his death, at nine o'clock in the evening, the heart was transferred to the Augustinian Church, where it was buried in a simple ceremony near the statue of the Virgin in the Loreto Chapel.

The later Austrian Habsburgs retained this custom until the 19th century. In a court law from 1754 it says about the custom “ from the distribution of the corpse to the burial in different places ”: “In the arch-ducal house of Austria three churches in Vienna have every time on the corpse of a ruling Lord Antheil ”.

The bodies of the deceased monarchs and their closest relatives were buried in the Capuchin Crypt, the hearts in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinian Church and the entrails in the Ducal Crypt in St. Stephen's Cathedral . The organs were wrapped in silk cloths, soaked in alcohol and the containers were soldered shut.

Until 1784, the heart crypt consisted of a small marble-lined chamber in the floor behind the altar and the wall niche with the statue of the Mother of God. The chamber in which the heart urns were placed was about 40 cm deep. An iron plate and above it a marble plate formed the closure. The sacristy chronicle of the Augustinian Church gives the following description of this old sepulchrum :
“ The grüfftl, where the heart of their Kaysern and entire Von Hauss Austria stand, is in the Loreto chapels under our dear women In front of the fireplace, under the pavement there is a plate, 3 shoes 6 inches long and 3 shoes 4 inches wide, including von Stein that grüfftl, like a drügerl, so ain and ain half schue Tieff, two shoes 10 and a half inches long in lies and two and a good schue broad in lies, which is what they think Bocall with those hearts. "

Before the Loreto Chapel was moved to its current location, 21 hearts were buried in the Herzgruft by members of the House of Habsburg.

New chapel from 1784

Regotization of the Church

In the course of the regotization of the church in 1784, when Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg acted as construction manager, the Loreto chapel, which had been in the central nave since 1627, was razed. At the urging of the people, however, a new Loreto Chapel was set up on May 25, 1784, and Emperor Joseph II designated the lower part of the George Chapel for its location, which had served the monastery as a chapter house in the Middle Ages. The entrance, closed with an elaborate wrought iron grille, has since been located in the southeast corner of the right aisle of the Augustinian Church.

During the Napoleonic Wars in 1809, the precious silver fittings in the Loreto Chapel were melted down, and most of the other pieces of the once rich interior decoration were also lost over time. However, a stone from the Santa Casa , which an Augustinian monk brought back from a visit to Loreto in 1758, was preserved. After the original chapel was demolished, this stone was transferred to the new Loreto Chapel, where it is still located today. It bears the inscription: “This stone was transferred here from the real H. Hauss Mariae of Loreto. Anno 1758. "

Relocation of the heart tomb

In the course of the new building, the heart urns were also transferred from the old heart crypt to the new Loreto chapel. Until the construction of today's heart crypt in 1802, the heart urns were kept in a sealed box. A separate room was set up in the Augustinian Church for hearts that have been removed over the centuries. At the same time, three hearts - those of Empress Anna , Emperor Matthias and Emperor Ferdinand II - which had first been buried in the royal monastery of the Poor Clares next to the imperial Hofburg , were transferred here. The last Habsburg whose heart was buried here according to the old court protocol of the "separate burial" was Archduke Franz Karl († 1878).

Today's use of the chapel

Heart crypt of the Habsburgs (2013)

Today there are 54 differently designed urns in the Loreto Chapel with the hearts of members of the dynasty from 1618 to 1878, including the hearts of a total of nine Roman-German and Austrian emperors. Only the hearts of Emperor Ferdinand III. († 1657) and Emperor Joseph II († 1790) are not buried here.

The Habsburgs' heart crypt is separated from the rest of the chapel by an iron door to the left of the altar. The Habsburgs' heart crypt is a semicircular room with bare walls in which the urns are placed in two rows side by side. Most heart urns are made of silver, only that of Emperor Matthias is made of gold. The heart beaker of the Duke of Reichstadt is usually decorated with a ribbon in the colors of the French tricolor .

Several clergymen who were connected to the Augustinian Church are buried under the Loreto Chapel, including the Jesuit Father Heinrich Abel, who died on November 23, 1926 . He was the founder of the "Marian Congregation Mater Admirabilis for Merchants", which used the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinian Church as its meeting place. A memorial plaque on the outer wall of the Augustinian Church at Augustinerstraße 7 also indicates this.

The Loreto Chapel of the Augustinian Church is used today as a place of assembly and prayer for the monks and as a place of worship on weekdays. The Habsburgs' heart crypt can be visited on guided tours.

Habsburg hearts in the Loreto Chapel

List of heart urns (1880)

Installation in the top row:

  1. * Empress Anna († 1618), founder of the Capuchin Crypt , wife of Emperor Matthias'
  2. * Emperor Matthias († 1619)
  3. Emperor Ferdinand II. († 1637), father of Emperor Ferdinand III.
  4. * King Ferdinand IV. († 1654), founder of the Herzgruft in St. Augustin, son of Emperor Ferdinand III.
  5. * Archduke Leopold Wilhelm († 1662), bishop and field marshal, brother of Emperor Ferdinand III.
  6. * Empress Margaretha Theresia († 1673), 1st wife of Emperor Leopold I.
  7. * Empress Eleonore Magdalene († 1686), 3rd wife of Emperor Ferdinand III.
  8. * Electress Maria Antonia of Bavaria († 1692), daughter of Emperor Leopold I.
  9. * Archduchess Maria Theresia (1684–1696), daughter of Emperor Leopold I who died early.
  10. * Archduchess Maria Josepha (1687–1703), unmarried daughter of Emperor Leopold I.
  11. * Emperor Leopold I († 1705), son of Emperor Ferdinand III.
  12. * Emperor Joseph I († 1711), son of Emperor Leopold I.
  13. * Emperor Charles VI. († 1740), son of Emperor Leopold I.
  14. * Archduchess Maria Elisabeth († 1741), governor of the Netherlands , daughter of Emperor Leopold I.
  15. * Archduchess Maria Amalia (1724–1730), daughter of Emperor Charles VI who died prematurely.
  16. * Duchess Maria Anna of Lorraine († 1744), daughter of Emperor Charles VI.
  17. * Empress Elisabeth Christine († 1750), wife of Emperor Charles VI.
  18. * Archduke Karl Joseph († 1761), son of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  19. * Archduchess Johanna Gabriela († 1762), daughter of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  20. * Emperor Franz I Stephan († 1765)
  21. * Empress Maria Theresia († 1780), wife of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  22. * Archduchess Louise Elisabeth (1790–1791), daughter of Emperor Franz II who died early.
  23. * Emperor Leopold II. († 1792), son of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  24. * Empress Maria Ludovica († 1792), wife of Emperor Leopold II.
  25. * Archduchess Karoline Leopoldine (1794–1795), daughter of Emperor Franz II who died at an early age.
  26. * Archduke Alexander Leopold († 1795), Palatine of Hungary , son of Emperor Leopold II.
  27. * Archduchess Maria Amalia (1780–1798), daughter of Emperor Leopold II who died at an early age.
  28. * Archduchess Maria Christine († 1798), daughter of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  29. * Archduchess Karoline Luise (1795–1799), daughter of Emperor Franz II who died early.
  30. * Archduke Maximilian Franz († 1801), Prince Archbishop, son of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  31. * Archduchess Carolina Ferdinanda (1793–1802), daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinand III , who died at an early age . of Tuscany
  32. * Grand Duchess Luisa Maria († 1802), 1st wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany

Installation in the lower row:

  1. Archduchess Maria Amalia († 1804), daughter of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  2. * Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este († 1806), son of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  3. * Empress Maria Theresia Caroline († 1807), 2nd wife of Emperor Franz II.
  4. * Archduke Joseph Franz Leopold (1799–1807), son of Emperor Franz II who died early.
  5. * Archduke Johann Nepomuk Carl (1805–1809), son of Emperor Franz II who died early.
  6. * Queen Maria Karolina of Sicily († 1814), daughter of Emperor Franz I. Stephans
  7. * Empress Maria Ludovika († 1816), 3rd wife of Emperor Franz II.
  8. * Albert, Duke of Saxony-Teschen († 1822), husband of Archduchess Maria Christine
  9. Archduke Rudolph Franz (* / † 1822), son of Archduke Charles who died early
  10. * Franz, Duke of Reichstadt († 1832), son of Emperor Napoleon I.
  11. Emperor Franz II († 1835), son of Emperor Leopold II.
  12. Archduke Anton Viktor († 1835), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, son of Emperor Leopold II.
  13. Archduke Karl († 1847), field marshal and victor of Aspern, son of Emperor Leopold II.
  14. Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este († 1850), son of Archduke Ferdinand Karls († 1806)
  15. Archduke Franz Joseph (* / † 1855), son of Archduke Karl Ferdinand who died early
  16. Archduchess Maria Anna (1804-1858), unmarried daughter of Emperor Franz II.
  17. Archduchess Hildegard († 1864), wife of Archduke Albrechts
  18. Archduke Ludwig Joseph († 1864), son of Emperor Leopold II.
  19. Grand Duchess Maria Anna († 1865), 2nd wife of Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany
  20. Archduchess Mathilde († 1867), daughter of Archduke Albrechts
  21. * Emperor Ferdinand I († 1875), son of Emperor Franz II.
  22. * Archduke Franz Karl († 1878), father of Emperor Franz Joseph

Over time, 41 family members were given a " separate burial " with their bodies divided between all three traditional Viennese burial sites of the Habsburgs (Herzgruft, Kaisergruft , Herzoggruft ) - these are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list above.

Web links

Commons : Loreto Chapel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water, The Capuchin Crypt. Burial place of the Habsburgs in Vienna , 2nd edition Vienna 1993, p. 71.
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  3. ↑ a b c d e www.kaisergruft.at/Die Herzgruft in St. Augustin , accessed December 26, 2012
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  8. ↑ Cölestin Wolfsgruber : History of the Loretto Chapel near St. Augustin in Vienna , Vienna 1886, p. 73 ( archive.org )
  9. ^ The Habsburgs' Heart Crypt ( Memento from February 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 5, 2012
  10. ↑ Theophil Zurbuchen: Habsburg Hearts - For the last rest in the monastery of Muri. In: NZZ Folio . 05/94, accessed November 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water, The Capuchin Crypt. Burial place of the Habsburgs in Vienna , 2nd edition Vienna 1993, p. 72.
  12. ↑ a b Alexander Glück, Marcello LaSperanza, Peter Ryborz: “Unter Wien: On the traces of the third man through canals, tombs and casemates”, Christoph Links Verlag 2001 online on Google Books , p. 43
  13. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  14. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  15. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  16. ↑ Joseph II had decreed that his body should not be opened and that no organs should be removed and that it should be placed in the oak coffin, dressed in the uniform of a field marshal. - Cölestin Wolfsgruber : The Imperial Crypt with the Capuchins in Vienna , Alfred Hölder, Vienna 1887 ( archive.org ), p. 262.
  17. ↑ see Figures 1 , 2
  18. ↑ Father Abel's death picture, accessed January 3, 2015
  19. ↑ http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Gedenktafeln/pers/A/abel_1.htm
  20. ↑ Abel, Heinrich . Austria Forum. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  21. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  22. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  23. ↑ At the end of the 18th century, his heart beaker was in such poor condition that Emperor Joseph II ordered the manufacture of an over beaker (see [1] ).
  24. ^ The body of Emperor Ferdinand II rests in his mausoleum in Graz. Originally, the heart and the entrails were in the same urn. After the transfer from Graz to Vienna, Emperor Joseph II had the intestine at St. Stephen's and the heart buried in a new cup here (see [2] ).
  25. ↑ Since there were only 24 engraved hearts instead of an inscription on her heart urn, it was initially not known whose heart it contained. It was only when the duke's crypt at St. Stephan was opened in 1753 that a similar one was found with an engraved name and was therefore able to assign the urn in the heart's crypt. Archduchess Maria Theresia died of peeling at the age of twelve in Ebersdorf near Vienna, which is why the coffin was not opened for the last time when buried in the crypt because of the risk of infection (see [3] ).
  26. ↑ Your heart urn has two handles, the lid has a golden name plate. Archduchess Maria Elisabeth was originally buried in Brussels Cathedral and, due to her testamentary wish , was transferred to the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna together with Duchess Maria Anna of Lorraine († 1744), where she was buried in the "Charles Crypt" (see [4] ). On April 24, 1749, at eight o'clock in the evening, the bodies of Maria Elisabeth and Maria Anna arrived at the Capuchin crypt in a carriage. They were wrapped in lead foil that were in wooden coffins. In 1754, today's sarcophagi were made by Balthasar Ferdinand Moll and the two dead were placed in the new sarcophagi without wooden coffins, while 81 Capuchins, holding burning candles, attended the solemn act (see Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water, Die Kapuzinergruft. Burial site of the Habsburgs in Vienna , 2nd edition Vienna 1993, p. 150).
  27. ↑ Her heart was originally in a small wooden container, when it became rotten, it was replaced by a silver cup. Duchess Maria Anna was originally buried together with her daughter, who died prematurely, in Brussels Cathedral and, at Maria Theresa's request , was transferred to Vienna with Archduchess Maria Elisabeth († 1741) in the Capuchin Crypt, where she was buried in the “Charles Crypt”. Her unnamed daughter rests in the "Maria-Theresia-Crypt" of the Capuchin Crypt (see [5] ). On April 24, 1749, at eight o'clock in the evening, the bodies of Maria Elisabeth and Maria Anna arrived at the Capuchin crypt in a carriage. They were wrapped in lead foil that were in wooden coffins. In 1754, today's sarcophagi were made by Balthasar Ferdinand Moll and the two dead were placed in the new sarcophagi without wooden coffins, while 81 Capuchins, holding burning candles, attended the solemn act (see Magdalena Hawlik-van de Water, Die Kapuzinergruft. Burial site of the Habsburgs in Vienna , 2nd edition Vienna 1993, p. 150).
  28. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augustinerkirche.at
  29. ↑ After his death in 1832, the burial took place in Vienna, dividing the body into heart crypt, imperial crypt and ducal crypt ; In 1940 the sarcophagus was transferred from the Imperial Crypt to Paris on the orders of Adolf Hitler .