Arms captured by the Ottomans were generally re-used, only curiosities and particularly precious objects were stored in a safe place. The largest collections of such objects can be found at Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Moscow, Munich, Dresden and Karlsruhe. At Vienna, a city besieged twice by the Ottomans, the Türkenbeute (“Turkish Booty”) can be divided chronologically into two periods: before and after 1683.
The most important collection of arms gathered before 1683, i.e. before the second siege of Vienna, is displayed at the Waffen-und Rüstkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Most of the trophies of this collection which are of superior quality and admirable beauty were presents given to the imperial family by diplomats representing different oriental potentates and monarchs politically or diplomatically connected to the Habsburg Empire. A small part of the collection may also originate from the campaigns of Ferdinand, Archduke of Tyrol (1529- 95) against Sultan Süleyman I.
Other objects of the so-called “Türkenbeute”, formerly exhibited at Vienna´s Civil Arsenal are now on display at the Historische Museum (Historical Museum) at Vienna. The greater part of Ottoman trophies from the Imperial Arsenal were kept in the Artillery Arsenal built in the middle of the nineteenth century. Some of these objects, mainly presents by the emperor, augmented by donations from the imperial family, have been exhibited since 1891at the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum (Museum of Military History). Apart from several special objects the arms shown in these two museums are not of the same artistic quality as the objects exhibited at the Waffen-und Rüstkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Nevertheless, they are important for their realistic evidence of the armament the Ottoman military forces were equipped with in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Guard Axe

The axe is decorated with gold-plated Arabic characters on both sides. The Ottoman sultans, including Mehmet III (ruled 1599-1603) are named in random order in the inscription, some sultans are left out. The axe was probably manufactured for Mehmet’s bodyguard. In the medallions in the middle of the blade Allah is invoked before the script merges with merely decorative elements. It is not known how this guard axe came into the possession of the Imperial Court.



 

Based on German text by Omar Mirza

Bibliography:

Allmayer-Beck, Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum Wien, Saal I, Salzburg 1982.

Beaufort-Spontin C., Pfaffenbichler M., Meisterwerke der Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer,

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Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in Wien, Graz 1960.

Die Türken vor Wien, Europa und die Entscheidung an der Donau 1683,

Ausstellungskatalog, Wien 1983.

Gamber O., Beaufort C., Katalog der Leibrüstkammer, II. Teil, Wien 1990.

Popelka L., Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien, Graz 1988.

Sandbichler V., Türkische Kostbarkeiten aus dem Kunsthistorischen Museum, Wien 1997.

Waissenberger R., Schausammlung, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Wien 1984.