This chapter is one of those which contributes little to the plot but is nevertheless important to understand the network of ancestors and cognates, both living and deceased, that Marianne belonged to. April offered enough examples to illustrate her place in the chain of generations. Another similarly loaded month in the family calendar seems to be December, with three Imperial deaths (both of Marianne’s grandmothers and her young maternal aunt) as well as three births (the Emperor and his brother, Marianne’s uncle and baby Max, her youngest brother).
It was Imperial custom to separate the deceased’s body parts for the funeral. From the 17th century onwards, the hearts, viscera and corpses of many Habsburgs were stored in the Augustinian Church, St Stephen’s Cathedral and the Capuchin Church in Vienna, respectively. Especially the last one: the tens of magnificent copper sarcophagi are a popular tourist attraction. Though, it is not the final resting place for Marianne; her remains were not dissected and have been buried in Klagenfurt.
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