Imperial Treasury

This guide to Vienna's Imperial Treasury follows the Holy Lance, the relic believed since medieval times to be the spear that pierced the crucified Christ, and the young Adolf Hitler's fixation on it as a museum visitor decades before he became dictator. It traces the lance's role as the ultimate coronation relic for Holy Roman Emperors, and what happened after Hitler annexed Austria in 1938. Look nearby for the narwhal tusk once sold to emperors as a unicorn's horn.