Imperial Treasury

The Imperial Treasury stands inside the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, occupying 21 rooms arranged around the sixteenth-century Schweizerhof. The palace itself began as a medieval fortress and was rebuilt in the Renaissance style for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. The treasury belongs to the Kunsthistorisches Museum but keeps its own identity as a separate collection. Its value lies in the objects gathered by the Habsburgs over centuries, including the regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial Crown, Orb and Sceptre of Austria are shown alongside the Burgundian Treasury brought by Mary the Rich in 1477. Among the rarities are one of the world’s largest emeralds, a unicorn horn thought to be a narwhal tooth, and the Agate bowl once believed to be the Holy Grail. Visitors walk through rooms that display crowns, swords and vestments from coronations across Europe. The ecclesiastical section holds Baroque altars and devotional images. In Display Case XIII the story of the 1918 removal of the Habsburg family jewels is told, including Empress Zita’s private pieces and the Florentine Diamond.