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.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Austria

User Reviews

david antoun (3 months ago)
Gothic church from mid 16th century. contains the impressive emperor Tomb and the high locals sculptures along side tomb od an Empress and local Tyrol hero. in the upper floor there is also another church. the entrance will be reduced if you already visited the Hofburg. so keep your ticket.

Jon Martin (4 months ago)
Amazing church with attached museum that is fascinating. The artwork and artifacts are amazing. Tickets are not expensive for what you get to see. I recommend doing the museum first and then the church.

Becky T (13 months ago)
If the church was free I would likely give it 4 stars for its good audio guide or just to have a quick wander through as you can see it all in about 15-20 minutes (30 if you go very slowly), but removed one as 8 EUR didn’t feel like great value for money. The church was built to commemorate Maximilian I tomb, but his body evidently lies elsewhere per the brochure/statues map. The 28 statues surrounding it of his family and people admired are beautiful and detailed, and a bit unique for a church, as is the adjoining chapel up the stairs. Facility wise there is a cafe and clean toilets, which is a plus. But not worth 8 EUR as a standalone attraction.

Andrea Nori (2 years ago)
I have to be honest: why do you need to pay 8€ to visit a church with some statues inside of it? To me it doesn't make any sense at all! However, if you are under 19 it is free to enter. What I suggest is, if you are a family, not to enter everyone, but just the ones who can enter for free, so they can make pictures and then they can show you how it is inside, since, again, it is not worth the price

Chris Dent (2 years ago)
The 'black men' statues are great and an interesting story about why they shouldn't be there. Worth visiting. We got the joint ticket for the Tirol museum next door (where you enter the church and buy the tickets) - free with the essential 'Innsbruck Card'. Museum also good, some great dioramas and old farm tools (really), and recreations of Tirolean homes. You can easily do both in an hour.

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