The museum was in a building built between 1849 and 1856. Inside was a detailed overview of the history the Austrian military since the 1600s, from the times of the Habsburg monarchy through World War II, when Austria was part of Nazi Germany. The museum was full of everything from suits of armor to German and American tanks. The highlight was the car Archduke Francis (Franz) Ferdinand was in when he was assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914, as well as the bloody clothes (and funny hat) he was wearing. We thought it was pretty neat to literally see the blood that started WWI.
The Museum of Military History
One of the expansive rooms of Austria military artifacts
The museum's ceiling artwork
Ferdinand's assassination as seen in every high school history book
Note how the coat and hat are actually blue, not brown and black
The car Archduke Ferdinand was in when he was assassinated
Ferdinand's clothes and his funny hat
The bloody clothes of Archduke Ferdinand--the blood that started WWI
A room of German military relics
Austrian, German, American, Russian, British and French tanks
This would probably inflict some heavy damage to whatever it hit
After the military museum, we went to the Hofburg Palace to see the Austrian crown jewels. The British crown jewel display pales in comparison (however, this may be due to the fact that there is a British monarchy that keeps all the good stuff, but no Austrian one). The amount of jewels and shiny on display was amazing. Most of the items are behind glass, so my pictures have reflections, so see more pictures here. Rick Steves' guidebook says the Austrian Treasury's 21 rooms contain "the best jewels on the continent."
The Crown of the Austrian Empire has been used since 1602 and is made of pure gold
The museum even contained an 8 foot tall, 500 year old unicorn horn (which is probably a narwhal tusk, but made the Austrian peasants think the monarchy was pretty sweet, at least in the mythical creature poaching department).
Holy unicorn horn, Batman! Wait a minute...
The collection's highlight is the 10th century crown of the Holy Roman Emperor (major bling)
Other items include jewels that belonged to Charlemagne, clothes (with gold fabric woven in) and other treasures belonging to monarchs, Napoleon's son's cradle, a 2860-carat Colombian emerald and a 492-carat aquamarine. I should point out that one of my friends is a history major, focusing on European monarchies, which means, I got a lot of background information!
A 2680-carat Colombian emerald
One of the rooms full of Austrian treasures
Part of the Hofburg Palace
After we left the treasury, we headed to the Kaisergruft, the Cappuchin church and crypt housing the remains of 150 of the Hapsburgs, aka Habsburgs. Family members here include Maria Theresa and Franz I, who are the parents of Marie Antoinette; Emperor Maximilian of Mexico; and Elisabeth, aka "Sisi," who was the "most beautiful and narcissistic woman of her time." The newest tomb is that of the last Austrian Empress, Zita, who died in 1989. Empress Zita's husband died in 1922 and she remained a widow for 67 years.
The Kaisergruft (Cappuchin Crypt)
One of the rooms in the crypt
The Schönbrunn Palace was our next destination. The former summer residence of the Hapsburgs, it is located 4 miles from the center of Vienna, and according to Rick Steves, "among Europe's palaces, only the Schönbrunn rivals Versailles."
Of the palaces 1,441 rooms, only 40 are open to public tours. Sadly, no pictures were allowed inside the palace, but this site has great panoramas. On the tour, one of the first rooms is Sisi's dressing room, where she spent hours each day caring for her ankle-length hair. Another room saw the first concert by 6 year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Great Gallery was the location for the 1961 meeting between JFK and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Paintings of the Hapsburgs abound in the palace. My friend Leah also couldn't contain her excitement over the fact that the mirrors she was looking in were the same mirrors Marie Antoinette had looked in as a girl (she was known as Maria Anna then).
The Schönbrunn Palace
The Schönbrunn Palace (I'm in the center on the porch)
The sun had begun to set as we were touring the palace and so weren't able to really see the Imperial Gardens (but there were just big ruts of dirt where the flowers will go in in the spring to make fancy lawn displays).
The Schönbrunn Gardens
As we wandered around waiting for our bus to Brno, we passed the Austrian Parliament building and the Vienna City Hall, both lit up in their night-time splendor.
Vienna at night
Vienna at night
Some building in Vienna whose name escapes
The Austrian Parliament
The Vienna City Hall
