Schloss Ambras on the southeastern edge of Innsbruck holds one of the oldest surviving museum collections in the world, a Renaissance Wunderkammer assembled by Archduke Ferdinand II between 1572 and 1583. Ferdinand gathered scientific instruments, weapons, natural curiosities, and portraits into a systematic collection meant to represent the full range of the strange and the rare. The Spanish Hall, completed in 1571, is an intact Renaissance banqueting hall with 27 life-size portraits of Tyrolean rulers and still used for concerts and events. Open daily April to October, approximately EUR 16 adults. Tram line 6 from Innsbruck center to the Schloss Ambras stop. Allow 2 to 3 hours for both the Wunderkammer and the hall.
castle in Innsbruck
Schloss Ambras
Archduke Ferdinand II built Schloss Ambras in the 16th century to house one of the oldest surviving collections of curiosities in the world, a systematic attempt to gather the strange, the rare, and the beautiful under one roof before the word "museum" existed.
- Type
- castle
- Destination
- Innsbruck
- Cost
- Paid entry
- Founded
- 16th century
- Era
- Renaissance
- Address
- Schlossstrasse 20, 6020 Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck
- Coordinates
- 47.2566, 11.4352
- Official website
- Visit website