When Emperor Franz-Josef I of Austria died in 1916, his was the last extravagant imperial funerals. A grand procession of dignitaries decked out in their imperial regalia followed the coffin, draped in black and bearing the gold imperial colours. The funeral procession descended the stairs of the Capuchin Monastery in Vienna and at the bottom of the stairs was a great iron door leading to the Hapsburg family crypt. Behind the door was the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna.

The officer in charge of the funeral procession began the ancient, established burial ritual by crying out: “Open!” The Cardinal responded from behind the door: “Who goes there?” The officer replied: “We bear the remains of his Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, Franz-Josef I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Defender of the Faith, Prince of Bohemia-Moravia, Grand Duke of Lombardy…” The officer continued with the Emperor’s thirty-seven titles, to which the Cardinal from behind the door responded: “We know him not. Who goes there?”

The officer spoke again, this time using a more abbreviated series of titles reserved for times of emergency. “We know him not,” the Cardinal responded again. “Who goes there?”

The third time, the officer responded, stripping the Emperor of all his grand titles: “We bear the body of Franz-Josef, our brother, a sinner like us all!”

The doors swung open; the body was finally admitted into its final resting place.