Museumstrasse 15
Tel. 0512 59489
Open: Tue- Sun
The Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck, also known as the Ferdinandeum after the then Crown Prince Ferdinand (since 1835 Emperor Ferdinand I), who took over the protectorate, was founded in 1823 as an association under the name Tirolisches Nationalmuseum. One of the initiators was Archduke Johann. The first, original museum building was created between 1842 and 1846 by the Innsbruck city architect Anton Mutschlechner (1785–1846). This was expanded and rebuilt in 1884-1886. It is one of the five houses of the Tyrolean State Museums.
The Tyrolean State Museum was founded in 1823 as an association with the purpose of "promotion and sustainable development of art, culture, science and research" in Tyrol. In 2007, the newly founded Tiroler Landesmuseen-Betriebsgesellschaft m.b.H. the operative business, which includes the Ferdinandeum and the Arsenal, the folk art museum, the Hofkirche, the Tyrol Panorama with the Kaiserjägermuseum and the Tyrolean folk song archive. Since then, the association, which has around 2700 members (2014), together with the state of Tyrol, has been a shareholder and owner of the seven collections of the Ferdinandeum and the museum building. The society is managed by Peter Assmann, who is also the director of the museum.
The idea of establishing a "patriotic museum for Tyrol" goes
back to Archduke Johann, who wanted to give his private collections
to the University of Innsbruck for teaching purposes, which was
thwarted by the separation of Tyrol in the Peace of Pressburg in
1805. From 1821, state governor Karl Graf Chotek followed the museum
plans. On March 2, 1823, Emperor Franz I approved the founding of a
national museum, and on May 13 the provisional constitutive general
meeting of the museum association took place. Archduke Ferdinand
took over the protectorate and agreed to the name "Ferdinandeum".
The collections were initially housed in rented rooms in Wilten
Abbey and in the university building. In 1833 the museum holdings
already included a library with 2,331 works and 600 documents, 280
oil paintings, 660 engravings and sculptural works, 1,300
copperplate engravings and 2,200 hand drawings, mostly by Tyrolean
artists. The increasing lack of space led to the first plans for a
new museum building in 1838. The governor's garden (small courtyard
garden) was initially considered as the location. In 1842, the
General Assembly decided to build the museum based on a design by
Anton Mutschlechner in the previously undeveloped area of
Angerzell. It was one of the first buildings in the newly created
street, today's Museumstrasse. Archduke Johann opened the new
building on May 15, 1845.
In 1867 there were first
considerations for an enlargement, which was finally realized with
the help of donations and subsidies from the Innsbrucker Sparkasse,
the city of Innsbruck, the state parliament and Emperor Franz Joseph
from 1882. The plans for the one-story addition came from the city
engineer, Natale Tommasi. The first celebration was celebrated in
1883, and in 1884 the conversion was largely completed. The
vestibule was built in 1886/88. The initially unplastered facade was
only completed in 1900. In 1909/10 the east wing was added according
to plans by Eduard Klingler, and in 1927/28 the three-story west
wing was added, which was expanded again in 1957/58.
After
the separation of South Tyrol in 1919, Italy claimed parts of the
collections. Since the Ferdinandeum was organized as a private
association, this was prevented by the Treaty of Saint Germain. Only
a few items on loan from South Tyrol and Trentino had to be handed
in.
In 1939 the museum escaped nationalization. It continued
to exist as a club museum, but now under the supervision and
administration of the Gauleiter. In 1940, however, the
administration and building were taken over by the Gau
Tirol-Vorarlberg, and the collections remained with the museum
association because of possible Italian claims. During the Second
World War, the collections initially remained in the museum, but
after the first bombing of German cities in 1942, plans were made to
relocate them. The most valuable pieces first came to Ambras Castle
and in 1944 to the abandoned Stams Abbey. Other collections were
housed in Tratzberg Castle, Sigmundsried Castle, Schneeberg Castle,
Lichtenwerth Castle, Friedberg Castle, Matzen Castle and Fügen
Castle. The geological and zoological collections remained in the
museum. During an air raid on April 10, 1945, the entire roof, all
halls and cabinets on the second floor east of the dome, as well as
parts of the first floor and the ground floor were destroyed.
Reconstruction began in 1946 and was completed in 1949. In the
course of 1946, all the stocks that had been removed were returned.
There had been considerations for a long time to accommodate the
natural history collections in the armory. In 1959, the federal
government, as the previous owner, handed it over to the state and
then adapted it. In 1969 there was a large exhibition about Emperor
Maximilian I. In 1973 it was finally opened as a regional museum.
On the occasion of the 175th anniversary in 1998, the
Ferdinandeum was expanded and renovated. A new two-storey
underground storage facility was built in the courtyard area, which
was put into operation in 1999, and an extension building that
connects the side wings on the courtyard side with a transverse wing
and was completed in 2003. The old building has been renovated
inside and out.
In September 2017, the collection and
research center (SFZ) of the Tyrolean State Museums in Hall in Tirol
was opened with a floor area of 14,000 square meters. Since then,
this has served as a depot for collection objects and as a workplace
for carpentry and restoration work.
The 1842-1845 and 1882-1884 increased storey building is a monumental
building in the neo-Renaissance style with a flat central projection
with a dome and a three-axis portal. The two sphinxes on the side of the
vestibule are by the sculptor Franz Baumgartner (1903). The three-storey
main wing encloses a rectangular courtyard with the transverse wings
that were built later. The central part of the main wing protrudes in a
semicircle towards the courtyard and is covered with a dome.
The
facade has a strongly sculptural window structure, horizontal frieze and
cornice bands and a balustrade cornice. A terracotta frieze with
medallions with portrait heads of famous Tyrolean artists (Paul Dax,
Gregor Löffler, Alessandro Vittoria, Alexander Colin, Martin Knoller,
Joseph Schöpf, Angelika Kauffmann, Michelangelo Unterberger, Franz
Zauner, Johann Baptist Lampi, Joseph Anton) runs between the first and
second floors Koch and Dominikus Mahlknecht) created by Antonio
Spagnoli. The corresponding medallions on the side facades remained
empty. In 2011, a bust of Max Weiler created by Johannes Schlögl and
Markus Jestl was placed on the east facade. The portrait heads of famous
Tyrolean poets and scientists (Oswald von Wolkenstein, Girolamo
Tartarotti, Joseph Resch, Johann Anton Scopoli, Peter Anich, Jakob
Philipp Fallmerayer, Josef von Bergmann, Antonio Rosmini, Pius Zingerle
and Hermann von Gilm).
The facade is crowned by a 3 meter high
statue of Tyrolia, flanked by Minerva on the left and the Allegory of
the Arts on the right. The sculptural group was designed by Joseph
Gasser von Valhorn and executed by Antonio Spagnoli.
The listed
building is a typical example of the representative architectural style
of the second half of the 19th century and is considered one of the
highest quality museum buildings in Austria outside of Vienna.
The Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum comprises seven collections; In
addition to the actual Ferdinandeum on Museumstrasse, there is also the
Museum in the Arsenal (historical and technical collections on the
cultural history of Tyrol) and the branch on Feldstrasse (scientific
collections).
In terms of content, the Tyrolean State Museum
offers above all:
in the prehistoric and provincial Roman
collections: an overview of prehistory through Roman times to the early
Middle Ages in Tyrol
in the older art history collections: art and
handicrafts from the Romanesque period to the Gothic period up to the
19th century with a Dutch collection; by Michael Pacher, Lucas Cranach
d. Ä., Rembrandt van Rijn, Joseph Anton Koch, Angelika Kauffmann, Franz
Defregger
in the modern gallery: art of the 20th and 21st centuries
with selected works by Albin Egger-Lienz, Max Weiler and contemporary
Tyrolean artists, among others
in the Graphics Collection: drawings
and prints from the 15th century to the present day, as well as
contemporary photography
in the historical collections: an overview
of Tyrol from the Middle Ages to the present, with focal points such as
Andreas Hofer, Schwaz silver mining, cartography of Tyrol (Blasius
Hueber, Peter Anich) and objects from everyday culture
in the music
collections: valuable instruments, Jakob Stainer violins and precious
historical keyboard and wind instruments and a listening room with
examples of the rich Tyrolean musical creativity
in the library: a
selected Tyrolean collection (including the Oswald von Wolkenstein
manuscript c) or the rich private library of Andreas Alois Baron di
Paulis von Treuheim
publications
The scientific and humanities
research activities of the house have been documented since 2008 in the
scientific yearbook of the Tyrolean state museums. It continues the
older publications of the Museumsverein:
Contributions to the
history, statistics, natural history and art of Tyrol and Vorarlberg.
Volumes 1 (1825) – 8 (1834)
New journal of the Ferdinandeum for Tyrol
and Vorarlberg. Volumes 1 (1835) – 12 (1846)
Journal of the
Ferdinandeum for Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Episode 3/1 (1853) – 3/60 (1920)
Publications of the Museum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck. Volumes 1 (1922) -
87 (2007; most recently under the title: Publications of the Tyrolean
State Museum Ferdinandeum)
The Historical Commission (technical
committee for history) founded in 1907 and based in the Ferdinandeum is
the leading publisher of the Tiroler Urkundenbuch, a text-critical
edition of the oldest historical historical sources in the historic
Tyrolean region.
Directors
Since the foundation of the museum association in 1823,
a so-called custodian has managed the day-to-day operations of the
museum. The growth of the collections necessitated the appointment of
individual collection managers, who are also referred to as custodians.
All business is managed by a director.
Essential custodians were
1824-1833: Joseph Heinrich von Glausen
1833-1837: Franz Karl Karpe
1837-1843: Alois Flir
1844-1850: Franz Wiedemann
1853-1884:
Balthasar Hunold
1886-1912: Konrad Fischnaler
1912-1937: Kaspar
Schwarz
1938-1955: Vincent Oberhammer
1955-1960: Erich Egg
board members / directors
1881-1887: Alphonse Huber
1887-1919:
Franz von Wieser
1946-1965: Ernst Durig
1960–1985: Erich Egg
(Director from 1960, President from 1965)
1985-2005: Gert Ammann
2007-2019: Wolfgang Meighorner
2019–: Peter Assmann