August 6
Inside the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury)
* The Schatzkammer is a stunning collection. Home of the Habsburg’s Imperial Treasury, the museum is full of gold, silver, jewels, relics and beautiful tapestries. I could not believe the detail that was put into all the objects on display; it just goes to show how wealthy the Habsburgs were. Something that I surprisingly learned while I was there was that Napoleon became a member of the Habsburg network by marrying Marie Louise, which was also mentioned in the readings. I was enticed by this because I don’t remember studying this in high school, and also because I thought Napoleon only had ties with Josephine. I enjoyed the room dedicated to Napoleon’s era and was amazed by the blankets that were made of gold and pearls. I also found the largest cut emerald in the world quite astounding. In the Vienna guide book it mentions that one of the rooms alone holds enough jewels to “wipe the debt of a third-world country.” That is insane! There is also a large tusk in the museum that was once claimed to be the horn of a unicorn, which supposedly had magical healing powers. This caught me off guard because I’ve never associated unicorns with modern Europe, they usually seem like medieval creatures that go hand-in-hand with the myth of the dragon.
posted by lauREN @ 9/11/2006
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