We arrived at home late at night from our trip to Vienna for the Archduke's funeral.
What was it like in the US? Did the TV stations give any info about it?
Thousands of people were out on the streets to see Otto on his last way.
Found sone clips on youtube:
The 1st Quarter of the Conduct - in fact the ro was so long that people would still be goiing out of St. Stephen's Cathedral as the Honor Guard (marching in front of the Conduct) reached the Crypt. That's a distance of about 2 kilometres...
Here you can see a part of the funeral ceremony in St. Stephen's Cathedral. It's the Cardinals marching right at the beginning.
This link here pictures the last part of the funeral - the "Knocking Ceremony".
The ceremonial master knocks three times at the door of the Crypt, the monks waiting inside.
At first the monk asks "who is there?" - the cm answering "Otto of austria, former Crownprince of Austria and Hungary, royal Prince of ... (naming all his royal titles).
The monk then will answer "We don't know him".
The cm then knocks again 3 times, and the monk again will ask "who is there?"
This time the cm will say "Dr. Otto von Habsburg, president of the Pan-European Union, member and president hc of the European Parliament, ... (naming all his hc titles).
The monk then will answer again "we don't know him".
The cm will then knock a third and last time; again the monk's question "who is there?".
"Otto, a poor sinful person" is the answer of the cm.
The monk then says "So he may enter" and they open the doors.
This ceremony has a long tradition and shows that in death even Kings and Emerors are equal with the lowest people.
One more
Documentation about the life of Otto von Habsburg (sorry, German too).
Will post more once I find something on the net
