Page 251 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

T Y ROL AND VOR ARLBERG  249

Tyrol; and finally the Habsburg
Hall, with the family tree of
Emperor Maximilian I and 148
portraits. The room has a red
marble column at its centre and
is covered by a coffered ceiling.
The emperor’s room on the
second floor retains its original
intricately carved wooden
ceiling, and the bedroom is
decorated with a series of 16th­
century paintings of a knightly
tournament created by Hans
Schäufelein. The Fugger family
room still boasts its original
The imposing Renaissance Schloss Tratzberg Renaissance decor. Its best
feature is the richly inlaid door
copper­shingled tower and 6 Schloss Tratzberg dating from 1515.
beautiful, crenellated gables. Road map C4. £ @ Tel (05242) 63
The most striking elements inside 566. Open Apr–Oct: 10am–4pm daily.
are the stone balustrade of the 8 9 - & 7 Achensee
gallery with intricate lacework ∑ schloss-tratzberg.at Road map C4. £ @ n (5246)
(c.1520) and an impressive 530 00. ∑ achensee.at
Baroque organ enclosure. A short way from Schwaz, in
The figures of St Anne, St Ursula the Inn river valley, stands the Situated between the Inn and
and St Elizabeth on the impressive Renaissance Schloss the Isar river basins is Achensee,
altarpiece are original Gothic Tratzberg. This castle was once the largest lake in Tyrol, about
decorations. The statues of a frontier fortress which guarded 9 km (6 miles) long. Surround­
St George and St Florian, the Andechs county against the ing ski slopes provide great
patron saints of Austria, were Bavarians. It changed hands views of the lake. The town
added at a later date. many times and is now the also promotes a range of
The double cemetery private property of the Enzenberg alternative winter sports,
chapel (1504–7) has a lovely family, with a small museum. including snowshoeing, cross­
covered staircase leading to the The castle is entered from the country trails and tobogganing.
upper chapel, which has a carved west side through a Renaissance Achensee can be reached
wooden altar. The lower chapel portal. The inner courtyard, with by cog­wheel train from
has original 16th­century frescoes its heavily decorated low Jenbach. Worth seeing in
depicting the Crucifixion and the arcades, was built in two stages: this village is the church of
Mount of Olives. the first around 1500 and the St Wolfgang, a late­Gothic
The Franziskanerkirche, the second in the late 16th century. structure built in 1487–1500 by
Franciscan church and monas­ The most interesting parts of Gilg Mitterhofer from Schwaz;
tery, has retained its original the castle are the armoury, with its Baroque tower is a later
late­Gothic interior, clearly its tremen dous collection of addition. Although repeatedly
visible despite Baroque early arms; the Royal Room, rebuilt, it still has its late­Gothic
additions made in the 18th with its exposed­beam ceiling, side portals and ogival windows.
century. The cloister along the once used by Anna of Bohemia, One of the side altars has a late­
south wall of the church was the widow of Duke Henry of Gothic statue of the Madonna.
built in 1509–12 by Christoph
Reichartinger; it shows a series
of 16th­century paintings with
Passion scenes.
Schwaz was once a major
centre for the production of
silver, and one of the mines,
the Silberbergwerk, is now
open to the public and can
be explored by train and a
guided tour on foot.

E Silberbergwerk
Alte Landstrasse 3a. Tel (05242) 72
372. Open May–Sep: 9am–5pm daily,
Oct–Apr: 10am–4pm Wed–Sun. &
∑ silberbergwerk.at Sailing yachts on Achensee, Tyrol’s largest lake

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