Imperial Sword

The Reichsschwert is one of the four main pieces of the Holy Roman Empire’s regalia, kept in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Alongside the Imperial Crown, Sceptre and Orb, it was presented to each new emperor during coronation ceremonies. Known also as the Mauritiusschwert, it is linked by legend to Saint Maurice, though the sword itself dates from a later period. The blade bears a Latin inscription invoking Christ as Victor, King and Emperor, reflecting the medieval idea of sacred kingship. Its pommel shows the arms of Emperor Otto IV, who ruled from 1209 to 1215. Made in the twelfth century, possibly for Otto IV’s coronation in 1198, the sword was later decorated and refitted in the late medieval and early modern eras. The scabbard is decorated with fourteen gold plates depicting German monarchs from Charlemagne to Henry III, crowned in 1046. The first written mention of the sword appears in a 1315 letter from a lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth of Aragon, wife of Frederick III. Earlier inventories from 1246 list two gem-encrusted swords, which may include this piece. Fifteenth- and seventeenth-century images provide the first pictorial records of the weapon. Visitors to the Hofburg Palace can view the Reichsschwert in the Imperial Treasury. The sword has a blade of 95.3 centimetres and a total length of 110 centimetres, with a silver-wire-wrapped hilt and a mushroom-shaped pommel. The scabbard’s gold plates show crowned figures in sequence, illustrating the line of kings. The Latin inscriptions on the crossguard and pommel reveal the religious and political ideas of the time. The treasury displays the sword alongside the other regalia, offering a direct view of these historic objects.