In the middle of the lovely Old Town you
will encounter Innsbruck’s
major attraction: the Golden Roof (Golden Dach)
Innsbruck’s Old Town appears as a small
medieval village surrounded by ancient walls and massive
palaces.
The robustness of buildings is counterbalanced
by the lightness of their pastel-coloured façades, which
delight the view in rainy days and offer quite a fascinating
contrast with the white of snow standing out from the
mountain chains in the background.
The Old Town is characterised
by a maze of lanes and streets, overlooked by well-decorated
houses and shop windows. The only exception is represented
by the main road, Herzog-Friedrich-Straße, which crosses
the Old Town all the way to the main square, surrounded
by arcades. Although the city offers plenty of attractions,
Innsbruck’s fame is bound to its most renowned and appreciated
monument: the Golden Roof. The Golden Roof is a real
roof, covered with 2738 golden copper tiles.
The roof
is hosted on the façade of the Neur
Hof building, which
was raised in the 16th century by the archduke Friedrich
IV to host the King. Originally the building did not
have the penthouse which lately made it famous.
The balcony
in gothic style was added only afterward, upon the demand
of the Emperor Maximilian, who used to spend some time
on the balcony enjoying the magnificent view over the
city. The construction of the loggia, covered with golden
tiles, was commissioned to celebrate the wedding of Emperor
Maximilian 1st with Bianca Maria Sforza.
This peculiar
way to celebrate a wedding had the merit to enlarge the
boundaries of the empire pacifically, without the use
of military intervention, although some might find bizarre
the choice of the emperor to have his portrait hung on
the balcony, represented between his two wives: Maria
Sforza (the second wife) and Maria of Bulgaria (first
wife).
Beyond the funny side of the Emperor’s love affairs,
the balcony remains a testimony of the extension of the
Empire, with the various Coat of Arms of Austria, Hungary
and Milan, Tyrol and Styria, all represented on the pavement
of baluster, with the two-headed Eagle, symbol of the
Empire. With the end of the imperial glories, the Roof
was used for different purposes, and since 2003 it has
been converted into permanent seat of the Secretariat
of the Alpine convention, an organization which has the
purpose to promote and to preserve the development of
the Alps, protecting its environment.
Back
