The Schatzkammer Museum in Vienna, Austria is a dream vacation tour for the both the wealthy and the underprivileged. Even the world’s richest people could not ever afford the many treasures therein any more than the pauper as each piece is priceless. Art renderings in portrait (or in precious metal and precious stone) were gathered for centuries through acquisitions by marriage and gifts to the empire. Pretty understandable why it’s called “Schatzkammer” (Schatzkammer is German for treasure vault). This guarded vault chamber was the place where the rulers of old, much as affluent people today, protected their wealth and more expensive items. The Imperial Treasury of the Hapsburg Rulers is located in Hofburg Palace and houses a collection so vast it encompasses over 1000 years of relics! The collection is divided into 2 separate sections; one religious and one secular.
Among the religious items to be seen are an agate goblet once thought to be the Holy Grail, fabulous and intricate priestly vestments, rare illuminated Bibles, and the Crown of The Holy Roman Empire. The secular section contains some of the most historically significant items of European history in existence. Some examples of these spectacular artifacts on view at the Schatzkammer are The Imperial Lance, The Insignia, and entire jewel collection of the Hapsburgs, including one of the world’s largest emeralds!
The Schatzkammer Museum is where history and art come together. The kingdom’s leaders set about gathering wealth and art collections on a scale never measured by one family. It ruled as one of the world’s largest and richest kingdoms, in both area and natural wealth, for centuries. The rulers tried to eschew wars and instead married off their heirs to expand the empire. The shrewd planning by the Hapsburg Family leaders eventually led to a vast nation of millions of people with varied ethnicities and of course the spectacular amount of riches they amassed. The emperors of The Holy Roman Empire employed whole city areas for artisans, craftsmen and artists of all sorts to do just one thing, create unique art forms in precious media. This they did with alacrity and it is ubiquitous in the Schatzkammer.
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