He was proclaimed emperor at the age of 18 and remained so until he died in 1916. Reigning for nearly 68 years, he surpassed every other ruler of his dynasty. Franz Joseph’s death, along with military defeat, marked the beginning of the breakup of Austria-Hungary, which took place in the fall of 1918. Franz Joseph I was the last European emperor to die while still in his empire.
The emperor was buried in the Imperial Crypt, also known as the Capuchin Crypt, located on the Neuer Markt below the Capuchin monastery. The Imperial Crypt is the burial place of the Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine.
