The Imperial Palace, also known as Hofburg, which was finished in 1465.
The Riesenhalle or Giants Hall.
We took a surprisingly entertaining tour of the Imperial Palace of Innsbruck. The tour was part of the kickoff for the Travel Bloggers Unite conference and our guide Isolde told lots of good stories while all of us writers got to know each other.
Even though we got to see just a handful of the 500 rooms in the palace, they were spectacular. In particular, the Giants or “family” Hall was amazing with its elaborate ceiling frescoes, carved wooden chandeliers and paintings of Archduchess of Austria/Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Empress Consort of the Holy Roman Empire Maria Theresa – the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty – and the 16 children she had in 20 years, including Queen Marie Antoinette. (It’s hard to imagine being pregnant that long!)
Isolde told us that even though 18,000 bombs were dropped on Innsbruck during World War II, only one dropped on just a small portion of the palace. Given how big this place is, that’s pretty amazing.
Maria Theresa's very pink dressing room. We decided it belonged in the Barbie dream house.
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