Court Church Innsbruck

The Court Church is above all known for the grave of the emperor Maximilian I and the so-called “Black Men”.

On the edge of the historic district of Innsbruck, between the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum and the Imperial Court, there is a famous church, which is the Court Church. On his death-bed, the emperor Maximilian I (1459 - 1519) expressed his wish to be sepulchered in the S. George’s chapel in the Neustädter Castle in Vienna. This wish was fulfilled, but the 40 bronze statues which were commissioned for his grave-site came out to be too heavy for this place. For this reason his grandchild, the emperor Ferdinand I, had a separate church with an empty grave (cenotaph) established.

The 40 larger than life-sized statues have, however, never been completed and only 28 were finally brought into being. These “Black Men” (Schwarze Mander) flank the grave-site and give the church the by-name “Black Men church”. Nevertheless the expression is not completely correct, as the bronze statues also comprise women. Among the statues, there are some members of the family of the emperor Maximilian (e.g. his two wives Maria von Burgund and Bianca Maria Sforza), representatives of Christianity (such as the crusader Gottfried von Bouillon) as well as aristocrats of other courts of Europe, in order to put the emperor’s claims forward. Today the Court Church is the most significant monument of Tyrol and the most striking emperor’s grave-site of Europe.

Additionally it is an exemplary piece of European court art, as the best artists of those days such as Albrecht Dürer and Peter Vischer the Elder were involved in the project by Maximilian I and Ferdinand I. A further highlight: the Ebert organ of the Renaissance period, which is one of the most striking and ancient organs worldwide that is still in use. On this organ still today concerts are played, a special sound experience. And since 1823 the Court Church has been connected to a further important personality of the history of Tyrol, which is the Tyrolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer who is sepulchered right in this place, too…

Where: on the edge of the historic district of Innsbruck, next to the Imperial Court
Peculiarity: the grave of the emperor Maximilian I and the so-called “Black Men”
Opening hours: open daily, Monday - Saturday from 9 am - 5 pm, Sundays and public holidays from 12.30 - 5 pm
Ticket (adults): from Euro 5.00

Further information: phone +43 512 59489-510, volkskunstmuseum@tiroler-landesmuseen.at