The Hofburg was the official residence of the governor of Tyrol in Innsbruck, which later became the summer residence of the Austrian imperial family.
Hofburg (Innsbruck) History
The history of the Hofburg in Innsbruck is very old as the first castle built there dates back to medieval times when the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, Count of Tyrol felt the need to fortify the village of Innsbruck. His successor, King of the Germans and then Emperor Maximilian I, built the current system that can still be seen. The structure remained unchanged until the time of Maria Teresa of Austria when she gave the order to renovate the castle in rococo style which is the form with which it came to us.
The work was first entrusted to the local architect Johann Martin Gumpp, between 1754 and 1756, later succeeding K. J. Walter, from 1766 to 1773 [1]. Inside are the sumptuous Punkräume, the "Gala Halls", among which emerges the beautiful Riesensaal, the "Hall of the Giants", used as a party room, with a frescoed ceiling depicting the Triumph of the Habsburg-Lorraine Dynasty, painted in 1775 by the German Fran Anton Maupertsch. Large portraits of the Habsburg-Lorraine on the walls.
Maria Teresa also built a triumphal arch on the current Maria-Theresien-Straße in memory of two of her visits to the city, one in 1739 and one in 1765 on the occasion of the marriage of her son Leopold, an event that was partly obscured by the death of her husband, Emperor Franz Stephen of Lorraine during the festivities. The imperial couple was staying at the Hofburg in Innsbruck at the time and Maria Teresa, who had unbridled admiration for her husband, gave orders for her bedroom to be converted into a chapel for the palace.
Currently the Hofburg is state-owned and is home to exhibitions and conferences.