page_title: Ambras Castle
section_title: Armouries
hierarchical_section_title: Ambras Castle / Collections / Armouries
caption_attribution_description: Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck, Austria. Armor collection.
context_page_description: Ambras Castle is a Renaissance castle and palace located in the hills above Innsbruck, Austria. Ambras Castle is 587 metres above sea level. Considered one of the most popular tourist attractions of the Tyrol, Ambras Castle was built in the 16th century on the spot of an earlier 10th-century castle, which became the seat of power for the Counts of Andechs. The cultural and historical importance of the castle is closely connected with Archduke Ferdinand II and served as his family residence from 1567 to 1595. Ferdinand was one of history's most prominent collectors of art. The princely sovereign of Tyrol, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, ordered that the medieval fortress at Ambras be turned into a Renaissance castle as a gift for his wife Philippine Welser. The cultured humanist from the House of Habsburg accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum: The collections, still in the Lower Castle built specifically for that museum purpose, make Castle Ambras Innsbruck one the oldest museums in the world.
  The Lower Castle contains armouries that feature masterpieces of the European armourer's art from the time of Emperor Maximilian I to Emperor Leopold I.
context_section_description: Archduke Ferdinand II's idea of a museum was a novelty: he systematically collected armour from famous personalities of his time. He presented this armour "to the eternal memory" of that persons - mostly military commanders - in the "Heldenrüstkammer" (Heroes' Armoury); some on display today still in the original 16th century showcases.  His "Rüstkammern" (Armouries) contain very rare examples of arms and armour from the 15th century which originally came from the collections of Emperor Maximilian I and Archduke Sigismund. Armour for tournaments like the German joust or the German course, and the armour of the court's giant Bartlmä Bon, who took part in the tournament in Vienna in 1560, can be seen. The "Leibrüstkammer" (Court Armoury) includes the archduke's private armour and the armour of the court of Innsbruck. Ferdinand's collection of armour was one of the most important of its kind, not only because of the collection idea, but also because of the quality and quantity of his objects. Today, selected objects still illustrate the museum idea  in Innsbruck at Ambras Castle, whereas many of the armour is exhibited at the Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer (Imperial Armoury) of the Kusthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
caption: Armor in Schloss Ambras
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