Apartments Aleksandra - In der Burg - Hofburg - Vienna
The next four chambers are named after the Russian Tsar, who spent most of the year at the Hofburg during the Congress of Vienna in 1815 r. Their décor does not differ from the style generally accepted in the palace, and no trace of Alexander remained. In one of the salons, a portrait of the last of the Habsburgs was hung, Emperor Charles I. (1916-1918), who together with his wife, Zytą, he occupied several chambers during his short reign (wife outlived him by over 75 lat).
No longer stopping at the red Reception Hall, hung with tapestries, you come to a dining room with tables laid out as in the times of Franz Joseph, with silver and gold cutlery to the right of the plates, in accordance with the Spanish court ceremonial and with napkins folded according to a secret court recipe. The strictness of eating meals with the emperor was widely known. Elizabeth genuinely hated formal dinners, and when she appeared on them several times, she hadn't even touched the food.
The next room is the Small Salon, in which there is a portrait of the only son of Franz Józef, heirs to the throne, Rudolph, which in 1889 r. committed suicide. Also the younger brother of the emperor,
Karol Ludwik (1833-1896), next candidate for the title, he ended his life suddenly. He died after drinking the saint (but infected) the waters of Jordan. Another portrait shows the son of Karol Ludwik, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, murdered in Sarajevo in a year 1914. A portrait of Rudolf's wife hangs on the wall, Stefania, painted by Hans Makart. The omission of the morganatic wife of Franz Ferdinand is noteworthy, Zofia Chotek, which I did during my lifetime, and after her death she was disregarded at court. Despite this, that the heir to the throne should marry a princess of royal blood, Franz Ferdinand entered into a marriage for love, with an ordinary countess, who stood lower than at least thirty archduchesses, which even being younger, they were allowed to go in front of her during official ceremonies. Even after the coup, The Habsburgs did not allow her to be buried in the Imperial Crypt.
Collection of silverware and porcelain
Behind the ticket office, on the ground floor of the Court Office, there are six rooms, with a collection of court silverware and porcelain (Hofsilber- and table chamber); not to be confused with a treasury with coronation jewels. The collections in the treasury arouse general admiration, but to appreciate the collection of silver and porcelain, you need to be at least a bit familiar with the subject.
One of the most outstanding exhibits is the 18th-century green and gold service from Sevres, consisting originally of 290 pieces, donated to Maria Theresa by Louis XV. Due to its size, a 19th-century Milan tray made of gilded bronze stands out (33 m in length). Maksymilian's great Chinese dinner service, Emperor of Mexico, comes in 1865 year,- seems unlikely, so that he could use it before he died (he was executed two years later). The Meissen service with 1775 r., delicately and in moderation decorated with floral motifs and a set of plates from the Viennese porcelain factory from 1803 r., distinguished by painted landscapes. The collection also includes stone jugs and trays, which on Holy Thursday served the imperial couple to wash the feet of twelve ordinary subjects.