Imperial Crown

Imperial Crown, crown created in the 10th century for coronations of the Holy Roman emperors. Although made for Otto the Great (912–973), it was named for Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman emperor.

The crown is made of eight round-topped plaques of gold hinged together and kept rigid by an interior ring of iron; it is decorated with jewels and enamel in the Byzantine style. It was designed to surmount or incorporate a mitre, which was worn with the points at the sides, and therefore is crossed only by a single arch, from front to back. In the 11th century the present arch, with its cresting of small round-topped plaques, replaced the original, and a jeweled cross, meant originally to hang upon the breast, was fastened to the front plate of the crown. The rim was adorned with side pendants that have been lost.

Another crown, more in keeping with Renaissance taste, was made for the emperor in 1602. It incorporates the imperial mitre in the form of two plates of gold, which rise up within the circlet on each side of the central arch and curve in toward it, giving the crown the appearance of a helmet or kamelaukion. Both crowns are preserved in the national treasury in Vienna.