Hofkirche

Innsbruck, Austria

The Hofkirche (Court Church) is a Gothic church built in 1553 by Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) as a memorial to his grandfather Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519), whose cenotaph within boasts a remarkable collection of German Renaissance sculpture. The church also contains the tomb of Andreas Hofer, Tyrol's national hero.

Although Maximilian's will had directed that he be buried in the castle chapel in Wiener Neustadt, it proved impractical to construct there the large memorial whose plans he had supervised in detail, and Ferdinand I as executor planned construction of a new church and monastery in Innsbruck for a suitable memorial. In the end, however, Maximilian's simple tomb remained in Wiener Neustadt and the Hofkirche serves as a cenotaph.

The church was designed by architect Andrea Crivelli of Trento in the traditional German form of a hall church, consisting of three naves with a setback three-sided choir, round and pointed arch windows, and a steep broken hip roof. Its layered buttresses reflect compromise of contemporary Renaissance design with German late Gothic style. Stonemasons Hieronymus de Longhi and Anton de Bol carved the fine Renaissance portal.

The high altar seen today was designed in 1755 by the Viennese court architect Nikolaus Pacassi, and decorated with a crucifixion by the Viennese academic painter Johann Carl Auerbach, and bronze statues of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Teresa of Ávila by Innsbruck court sculptor Balthasar Moll (1768). The Renaissance organ (1560) is by Jörg Ebert of Ravensburg, and described locally as one of the five most famous organs in the world. Domenico Pozzo from Milan painted the organ panels.

Emperor Maximilian's ornate black marble cenotaph occupies the center of the nave. Florian Abel, of the Prague imperial court, supplied a full-sized draft of the high tomb in the florid style of court Mannerism. Its construction took more than 80 years. The sarcophagus itself was completed in 1572, and the final embellishments—the kneeling emperor, the four virtues, and the iron grille—were added in 1584.

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Details

Founded: 1553
Category: Religious sites in Austria

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

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4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Dale Chapman (4 months ago)
Really impressive tomb, statues, and carvings. Not very big, so I would not recommend buying a ticket just for this. I would buy either a museum pass or the Innsbruck card which entitles you access to more places, to make this worthwhile
Illy (5 months ago)
A nice gothic church in Innsbruck city! The statues are worth seeing!!!
Terrence Au (6 months ago)
The Hofkirche, also called, Court Church is a Gothic church located in the Altstadt (Old Town) section of Innsbruck, Austria. Required tickets to go in and let you take pictures without flash.
Suchir Kumar (7 months ago)
As you see the most interesting part are the iron carving statues. If you look closely, every statue has its own theme and story. The detailed carvings and detailed work is impressive. Imagine doing this on Iron casting. The rest of the church is also impressive.
Katethip Varanyuwatana (12 months ago)
Love all the bronze sculpture in this palace. Very appreciated all the fine detail that's goes into the bronze crafts. Besides the bronze work, the church and the museum next to the main hall is also a must and not to be missed. Make sure to leave plenty of time to look around this palace else you will miss out on some of the fine detail ?
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