A Hat fit for a Prince The Crown of an Austrian Archduke

The second 100 Euro coin in the gold series “Crowns of the House of Habsburg” will be released on Wednesday, 4th November. It is dedicated to the so-called “Archduke’s Hat”, a name derived from the red velvet cap within the crown itself.

The title of archduke was invented by Rudolf IV in the spurious document of 1358/59 called the privilegium maius. It was an attempt to assert the status of the House of Habsburg as the equal of any Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. There exists a mediaeval portrait of Rudolf wearing a crown similar to the Archduke’s Hat. Early versions of the crown have not survived, being either broken up or melted down. In 1616, however, Archduke Maximilian III of Tyrol had the present Archduke’s Hat fashioned and he gave it to the Augustinian Abbey of Klosterneuburg just outside Vienna in honour of St. Leopold, whose tomb and shrine are still situated there to this day. The crown was not worn as such. There was no coronation. It was rather a symbol of authority and rank. It was brought into Vienna only for the ceremony of homage paid by the Estates of Lower Austria on the accession of a new Habsburg ruler. Even today the crown is not permitted to be outside the walls of the abbey for more than 30 days at a time.

The Archduke’s Hat is a diadem of eight golden peaks decorated with enamel, pearls and precious stones. Two pearl encrusted arches hold a sapphire mounted by a cross at their intersection. In the crown itself is a red velvet cap and the diadem is embedded in a circle of ermine, copying the hats worn by the Prince Electors. On the accession of a new ruler the crown was brought in procession into Vienna, conveyed in its own sedan chair. Along with other pieces of regalia such as orb and sceptre, it was presented to the new ruler and then carried in solemn procession from the palace to St. Stephen’s Cathedral for High Mass. (more…)