Later on the route through the Imperial Armoury, the steel knights give way to blue cases full of curved sabres, pointed helmets, gilded pistols and jewelled harness. This is the section the museum calls Europe and Western Asia, and it's a reminder that for three centuries the…
At first glance it looks like a joke. A knight in full armour, wearing a flared, pleated skirt down to his knees, every pleat beaten out of steel…
Most armour in Vienna is bright steel, sometimes blued, sometimes gilt. This one looks as if someone has painted a carpet on it. Every plate, from…
A good part of the Imperial Armoury in the Neue Burg exists because of one man. Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol collected armour the way other princes…
Late Gothic armour is the armour people picture when they think of a knight: slim, pointed, ridged like folded cloth, the steel following the line of…
Heldenplatz is the big open square on the Ring side of the Hofburg: lawns, two bronze horsemen, the curved front of the Neue Burg, and a long view…
Most visitors to the Neue Burg come for the Weltmuseum and walk past the stairs to the Imperial Armoury. That's a mistake. Upstairs is one of the…
The Neue Burg was meant to be the grandest wing of the Hofburg, half of an imperial forum on Heldenplatz. The empire ended before it was used as a…
Prince Eugene of Savoy rides in front of the Neue Burg on a rearing horse, baton in hand, facing Archduke Charles across Heldenplatz. It's the second…
Look at the coat of arms of Albania and above the black double-headed eagle you'll see a helmet with a goat's head on top. The original of that…
In one long, marbled hall of the Imperial Armoury, knights sit on armoured horses in full tournament dress, plumes on their helmets and painted…
