Secular Treasures

The Austrian Imperial Order of the Iron Crown was one of the highest orders of merit of Austria and Austria-Hungary until 1918.The original Order of the Iron Crown had previously been an order of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy,  then re-established in 1815 by Emperor Franz I of Austria.

The order took its name from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombardy, a medieval jewel with what was thought to be an iron ring  forged from what was supposed to be a nail from the True Cross as a band on the inside. For centuries the iron crown was part of the regalia in the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The order had three classes and till 1884 all classes conferred automatic hereditary ennoblement; the third class conferred the rank of Ritter, the second class conferred the rank of Baron and the first class conferred the title of Privy Councillor, the style of Excellency, and the right to attend court. Appointment to the third or second class of the Order of the Iron Crown became one of the main routes to ennoblement for Austrian bourgeois families and for civil servants and military officers.

Religious Treasures

This sacred vessel was inscribed with the letters “AEIOU,” which stood for “Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo” (“It is for Austria to Role the Whole World.” These same letters were imprinted on a large bone — believed to be the tibia of a giant who perished during Noah’s Flood — discovered in the early thirteenth century.

Click HERE for the story of the “giant’s bone” and the five letters on its surface.