K
aiser Maximilian I.
born on March 22, 1459 at the castle in Wiener Neustadt, Austria
died on January 12, 1519, at Wels Castle, Austria
Maximilian I., born Archduke Maximilian of Austria, of the Habsburg dynasty, was Duke of Burgundy through marriage to Mary of Burgundy from 1477, Roman-German Kingfrom 1486, Lord of the Habsburg Hereditary Lands from 1493, and Roman-German Emperor from 1508 to 1519.
Reference to the Goldener Adler
Emperor Maximilian I. is one of the many famous personalities who were allowed to immortalize themselves on our marble plaque at the entrance to the Goldener Adler.
The year 1494 is noted, in this year he married his second wife Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan, furthermore he had a castle built on the site of today’s Hofburg.
Whether he was really in our house is unfortunately not mentioned in the documents.
Our room #1494 is dedicated to him, Maximilian I. had a lot of influence on Innsbruck and Tyrol, we owe many famous sights to him.
E
xcursion tip
Emperor Maximilian I. is still very much present in Innsbruck today. When you think of him, then the Golden Roof, the Hofburg or the Hofkirche come to your mind.
One of the highlights and our excursion tip for you you, the Innsbruck Hofkirche or also called “Schwarzmanderkirche”.
There you will find the impressive tomb of Emperor Maximilian with the “Black Mander”, 28 larger-than-life bronze statues, the relatives, ancestors, as well as models of Maximilian, who were to stand by his tomb as guards.
Even though he himself is not buried here, his grandson Ferdinand I. realized Maximilian’s wish for his “eternal memory” in the court church.
The Hofkirche with the Ebert organ, the oldest playable Renaissance organ in the world, and the Silver Chapel, as well as other tombs probably one of the most important monuments in Tyrol.
Life and facts
Maximilian was the son of the Roman-German Emperor Frederick III. of the House of Habsburg and his wife Eleanor Helena of Portugal.
Maximilian spent his youthful years in the meagre and simple courts of Wiener Neustadt and Graz Castle.
An enormous break in his life was the early death of his beloved mother when he was 8 years old. From then on, the teachers, appointed by his father, determined the boy’s upbringing and education.
The content of his education was shaped by the influences of early humanism. In addition, his father Ferdinand placed great value on physical hardening and the acquisition of practical knowledge, which is why he had Maximilian taught the “seven knightly skills”, riding, climbing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, dancing and courting, tournament fighting.
After much to and for, he married his first wife, the hereditary duchess Maria of Burgundy, in 1477. They had three children, unfortunately his beloved wife died too early after a riding accident at the age of only 25.
In 1494 he married his second wife, Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan, this marriage remained childless.
After the death of his father, Emperor Frederick III., in 1493, Maximilian succeeded him as reigning Roman-German king and as lord of the Habsburg hereditary lands.
Maximilian died in 1519 on the arduous journey from Innsbruck to Linz in Wels Castle.
True to the will of Wels, he was buried in his baptismal church, St. George’s Chapel of the castle in Wiener Neustadt. His heart was buried separately and interred in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges in the sarcophagus of Mary of Burgundy.
Maximilian’s famous tomb with numerous bronze figures, which he had commissioned during his lifetime for St. George’s Chapel in Wiener Neustadt, remained unfinished.
It was only his grandson Ferdinand I. who had it erected in the specially built court church in Innsbruck. Maximilian was nicknamed “the last knight”; his motto was “Per tot discrimina rerum” (“Through so many dangers”).
Sources
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I._(HRR)
Website Stand 22.07.2021, 01.38
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofkirche_(Innsbruck)
https://www.innsbruck.info/sehenswuerdigkeiten/sightseeing/kirchen-und-kloester/detail/infrastruktur/kaiserliche-hofkirche-innsbruck.html
https://www.innsbruck.gv.at/data.cfm?vpath=redaktion/ma_v/kultur/dokumente33/stadtarchiv1/unterkircher-chronik
https://maximilian2019.tirol/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grabmal_Kaiser_Maximilians_I.
http://www.innsbruck.antonprock.at/website/geschichte-geografie/maximilian-kaiser.html
https://www.innsbruck.gv.at/data.cfm?vpath=redaktion/ma_v/kultur/dokumente33/stadtarchiv1/unterkircher-chronik
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