Description of the attraction
The house with a golden roof is located in the historical center of the Tyrolean city of Innsbruck. This five-story old building is famous for its balcony covered with a gilded roof, which gave the building its name. Now this striking building is a kind of symbol of the city.
The house itself was erected at the beginning of the 15th century, and this unusual, but sophisticated decoration of its main facade was timed to coincide with the wedding of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I with Bianca Sforza in 1494. It is determined that this roof is covered with exactly 2,738 gilded copper tiles.
The portal of this building is decorated not only with a balcony with a golden awning. Its entire central part protrudes slightly forward like a bay window. The roofed balcony corresponds approximately to the third floor of the building. And on the lower tiers there is another balcony with an elegant balustrade. The entire façade is elaborately painted, and is also adorned with a variety of reliefs, wood paneling and miniature figurines. All of them, in their own way, either narrate about the life and deeds of Maximilian I, or depict the emperor himself and members of his family. Despite the fact that the building was erected on the occasion of Maximilian's wedding with Bianca Sforza, there is also a portrait of his first wife, Maria of Burgundy, on the facade, who died tragically in 1482. After her death, the emperor was never able to recover, and the second marriage was concluded solely because of the large dowry of Bianca Sforza.
The upper balcony, from where, according to the chronicles, the newlyweds greeted the jubilant crowd, is also decorated with a balustrade, stucco, and old frescoes. Interestingly, one wooden relief depicts the so-called "Moorish" dance, which came from Andalusia and was especially popular at that time. However, it should be noted that all the reliefs on the facade of this building are exact copies of the original reliefs created at the end of the 15th century. However, the authentic jewelry was preserved, and at the moment they are kept in the Tyrolean State Museum, known as Ferdinandeum, also located in Innsbruck.
