Location: Innsbruck, Tyrol
Goldenes Dachl or Golden Roof in German is a historic residential building in the historic center of the Tyrolean town of Innsbruck. Construction of the building of Goldenes Dachl was concluded in the early 15th century. However exquisite decorations of its frontal facade were added in 1494 upon orders of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian I to celebrate his wedding to Bianca Sforza. Today it covers Museum Maximilianeum. Despite its name Golden Roof is actually covered by 2738 gol- plated copper tiles. Golden roof of Goldenes Dachl covers a balcony that was used by the member of the royal court to observe events in the square below.
The building was built in 1420 as the residence ("Neuhof") of the
Tyrolean sovereigns. On the occasion of the turn of the century (1500),
Niklas Türing the Elder added the magnificent dungeon on behalf of the
German king and later Emperor Maximilian I 1497/98-1500.
Jakob
Hutter, preacher of the Anabaptists, was publicly burned alive in front
of the Golden Roof on February 25, 1536 (during the reign of Archduke
Ferdinand, a grandson of Maximilian I).
In 1996, the
Maximilianeum Museum was set up in the building, which was reopened in
2007 as the Goldenes Dachl Museum after extensive expansion and
renovation work.
The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine
Convention has been located in the same building since 2003.
Miscellaneous
On February 1, 1960, the Austrian postal service issued
a definitive stamp of the Austrian Architectural Monuments stamp series
with a value of 6.40 Schilling.
The Golden Roof is the namesake
of the International Golden Roof Challenge, an annual athletics event
that has been held on the street leading to the bay window since 2005,
and indirectly also of the Golden Fly Series event series, whose logo
contains the Golden Roof graphic.
The Goldenes Dachl Museum in
Innsbruck was closed from the beginning of August 2018 to mid-January
2019. The reason was a conversion of the museum, which was made
barrier-free. Among other things, the spiral staircase was removed and
replaced by a lifting system.
Reliefs on the bay window show Maximilian I with his two wives,
chancellor, court jester, morris dancers and coat of arms (original
reliefs in the Tyrolean State Museum). In the background of the reliefs
runs a banner with characters that were partially deciphered only in
2006 (4th "word" = Chryst..., 10th "word" = nihil). It is also u. a.
around Latin, Greek and Hebrew letters, possibly also around Egyptian
hieroglyphs.
In September 2020, Erhard Maroschek from Lermoos
announced that he had completely deciphered the inscription. According
to the hobby historian, “Ego sum lux mundi” (Latin for “I am the light
of the world”) should be written on the tape. It is the beginning of a
Bible verse from the Gospel of John.
Temporarily falling shingles
In October 2007, as part of a month-long Transfair cultural project, one
of the gilded shingles was alternately exchanged for one of the wooden
ones on a hay barn in Vals im Wipptal (district of Innsbruck-Land). The
gold plated clapboard, valued at €1,500, was stolen but was recovered in
June 2009.
On April 12, 2012, 8 of the gilded clapboards were
stolen while scaffolding was being erected for restoration work. The
thieves had also climbed a 3 m high protective wall made of smooth
formwork panels. The perpetrator and motive remained unknown. All of
them turned up again within a few days: 5 were placed in public places
in Schwaz and Innsbruck in such a way that they should be found. Two
more were deposited in a mailbox in Hall in Tirol on April 16, the last
one was sent by post to the Federal Monuments Office.