Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
every half hour between the castle and central stops like the Hauptbahnhof (central train
station) and Hofburg.
Goldenes Dachl & Museum
(Golden Roof; Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 15; adult/child €4/2; 10am-5pm, closed Mon Oct-Apr)
Innsbruck's
golden wonder is this Gothic oriel, built for Emperor Maximilian I and glittering with
2657 fire-gilt copper tiles. An audio guide whizzes you through the history in the mu-
seum; look for the grotesque tournament helmets designed to resemble the Turks of the
rival Ottoman Empire.
MUSEUM
Hofburg
PALACE
(Imperial Palace;
www.hofburg-innsbruck.at
;
Rennweg 1; adult/child €8/free; 9am-5pm)
Demanding atten-
tion with its imposing facade and cupolas, the Hofburg was built as a castle for Archduke
Sigmund the Rich in the 15th century, expanded by Emperor Maximilian I in the the 16th
century and given a total baroque makeover by Empress Maria Theresia in the 18th cen-
tury.
The centrepiece of the lavish rococo state apartments is the 31m-long
Riesensaal
(Giant's
Hall), adorned with frescoes and paintings of Maria Theresia and her 16 children (includ-
ing Marie Antoinette), who look strangely identical - maybe the artist was intent on
avoiding royal wrath arising from sibling rivalry in the beauty stakes.
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum
(
www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at
;
Museumstrasse 15; adult/child/family €10/6/20; 9am-5pm Tue-Sun)
This
treasure trove of Tyrolean history and art moves from Bronze Age artefacts to the origin-
al reliefs used to design the Goldenes Dachl. Alongside brooding Dutch masterpieces of
the Rembrandt ilk, the gallery displays an astounding collection of Austrian art including
Gothic altarpieces, a handful of Klimt and Kokoschka paintings, and some shocking Vi-
ennese Actionist works (for a description of Actionism,
Click here
)
.
More specific to Tyrol are the late- baroque works by fresco master Paul Troger, Alf-
ons Walde's Kitzbühel winterscapes and Albin Egger-Lienz' sombre depictions of rural
life in postwar Tyrol.
GALLERY
