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…
The horse is the reason everyone stops. It rears up so far that only its two hind hooves touch the pedestal, and nothing else holds it. When Anton…
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…
Walk to the middle of the State Hall of the Austrian National Library and you're standing in front of the man who paid for it. Emperor Charles VI…
Under the dome of the State Hall, around the marble emperor in the middle, stand four big globes. Most visitors give them a glance on the way to the…
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…
In the middle of the Hofburg's inner courtyard, In der Burg, an emperor in Roman dress stands on a tall pillar with his right arm stretched out over…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Josefsplatz is one of the most complete Baroque squares in Vienna: the white front of the court library on one side, palace wings on two more, and in…
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…
Most people on Josefsplatz look at the bronze emperor on his horse, then at the doors of the State Hall, and go in. Very few look up. They should. On…
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…
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…
In one long, marbled hall of the Imperial Armoury, knights sit on armoured horses in full tournament dress, plumes on their helmets and painted…
