Peeking Inside the Tomb of Emperor Frederick III, 1415-1493

Der Standard stuck an endoscopic camera into the tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III in St. Stephen Cathedral in Vienna.

Frederick the Third (1415-1493) is the first Holy Roman Emperor to be photographed—five and a quarter centuries after his death—from a crack in his tomb in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in the heart of Vienna.

The cathedral’s architectural team (Dombauhütte) threaded an endoscopic camera in an existing test hole in order to examine a tomb whose contents had been commissioned thirty years before Frederick’s death.

Nested in a glazed ceramic sarcophagus and bedecked in fine velvet wrappings, Frederick’s imperial head is adorned with a mitered enamel crown and lies on a pillow of gold brocade; his hands grasp imperial scepter and orb. The inner wall panels frame embossed gold plaques.

Gallery of 9 photos.

RTWT (in German)