INNSBRUCK COURT CHURCH - HOFKIRCHE
Kings and Queens of Bronze Fashion
The
centerpiece of the Hofkirche (Court Church) in the Alps city of Innsbruck
Austria
is the tomb of
the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (Kaiser Maximilians
I), one of the most important of the kings of Tyrol and Europe, who
died in 1519. The great outsized sarcophagus of black and rose marble
is decorated with
scenes
in relief
from the Emperor’s life story. More impressive, is that it was
the emperor’s wish his burial place be surrounded by his ancestors
and heroes. Filling the royal church gallery of the Gothic and Renaissance
church, facing the dead emperor are 28 amazingly lifelike,
yet larger-than-life figures of the kings and queens who went before,
some close relatives, some fanciful or legendary.
The
statues are remarkably detailed in costume and image, regal knights
dressed
in armor with
noble heraldic shields and queens as period fashion
models. The main tomb, the largest of its kind, is flanked
by the four virtues and among the adoring relatives, including wives,
fathers and grandfathers are Phillip the Fair and Charles the Bold of
Burgundy (see Dijon
Cathedral) his son, Rudolf von Habsburg, and perhaps
harder to connect to the Habsburg line, King Arthur of the legendary
round table, here presented as a 13th Century knight, Godfrey of Boullion,
the crusader King of Jerusalem, who’s image here is of a much older
Godfrey than the heroic statue at his castle in Belgium (see Castle
of Godfrey of Bouillon), with the most curious of armor
represented with elbow plates of conquered demon faces and a crown of
thorns, and the deified Queen Elizabeth of Hungary with her worn fingers
(see Wartburg
Castle).
Perhaps, most
remarkable
about
the massive
celebration
of royal heritage and ego, is that Maximilian isn’t there. The
tomb is empty. He’s actually
buried in the Neustadt Castle chapel near Vienna, the capital of his
Holy Roman Empire. The Court Church in
Innsbruck was built by his grandson Ferdinand to hold the monument which
was too large to actually fit where Maximillian wanted to be buried,
so it remains as a “cenotaph”. The idea of the monument came
from a collection of busts of Roman Emperors meant to trace the Holy
Roman Empire back to the actual Emperors of Rome,
copies of which can be found in the Emperors Hall at the Royal Residence
Palace in Munich (see Emperors
in Residence Munich).
The
work on the tomb and figures were begun during Maximilian’s
life, but only 11 finished by his death. Designed by Munich court artist
Gila Schreiber, the first statue was cast in 1509 by local Innsbruck
foundry artisan Peter Löffler with the last statue cast in 1550
by his son, Gregor. Additional work was continued on the tomb itself
until 1584, based on a design
by Prague artist Florian Abel, with the kneeling Maximillian and four
virtues and a wrought iron grill by
Flemish
artist Colin Alexander the last to be added.
Three of the statues including
King Arthur were poured by Peter Vischer the Elder of Nuremberg, after
a painting by Albrecht Dürer. The Hofkirche itself was designed
by Italian architect Andrea Crivelli of Trento (see Castle
Buonconsiglio).
Depicted on the tomb among 24 other scenes are a meeting of Maximillian
with King Henry the VII 
of
England in a match of power, the defeat of the Venetians, gaining
control of the Italian tyrol, the halt of the Turks in Croatia, the marriage
of his daughter to the French kings of
Burgundy and Maximilian's own weddings, first to Maria of Burgundy who
died after a fall from a horse and to his third wife Bianca Maria Sforza
of the Milanese Savoys. He apparently never even met his second wife,
Anne of Brittany (the marriage annulled by the Pope so she could
marry King Charles VII of France).
The
gallery around the church also adorned by marble statues of the patron
saints
of the
Habsburgs and up the stairs is the Silver Chapel
(Silberne Kapell) added in 1578 as a tomb for Ferninand II and his wife
Philippine. The Renaissance period wooden organ of the Hofkirch added
in 1560 is not as ornate as some others but is original, one of the world’s
oldest still in use. Also buried in his own monument is Tryolean national
hero Andreas Hofer.
Visiting the Vienna Hofkirche
Admission is €4 and the Hofkirche is in the old town (see Hotel Goldener Adler) about four blocks from the main rail station at 2 Universitätsstrasse, well worth a stop-over in Innsbruck on a rail trip over the Alps between Germany and Italy. © Bargain Travel Europe
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