Schloss Mariastein

About the museum

Around 1360 the lords of Freundsberg built a defensive tower on a rock near Kufstein to secure their possessions on the old Roman road between Innsbruck and Rosenheim. Only a few years later the “castle on the Stayn” passed to the Bavarian dukes, then to the lords of Ebbs. They had the tower raised around 1470, set up a chapel in it and donated a carved figure of Mary, today's miraculous Madonna. When the road was later moved to the other bank of the Inn, the castle lost its military significance.

According to legend, the statue of Mary miraculously returned to the castle several times when an owner tried to take it away. Baron Karl von Schurff, who took over the complex in 1587, promoted the pilgrimage and had the horizontal residential and farm wing built. In the 18th century Mariastein became one of the best-known pilgrimage sites in Tyrol. After changes of ownership and threatened decay, the Archdiocese of Salzburg took over the ensemble in the 19th century and had it restored at great expense.

Several chapels lie one above the other in the tower, including the miraculous-image chapel with a Rococo altar, where the Tyrolean Archducal Hat and sceptre are also kept today; Archduke Maximilian the Grand Master donated the regalia of the land to the miraculous image in 1602. In 1960, for the castle's 600th anniversary, a small pilgrimage and castle museum was set up in the former Knights' Hall. It shows portraits of the castle lords, votive tablets, a book of miracles, liturgical gold and silver implements and a portative organ that can still be played.

Highlights

• Tyrolean Archducal Hat and sceptre of 1602 in the miraculous-image chapel
• Miraculous Madonna of lime wood c. 1450 with a Rococo altar
• Former Knights' Hall with coffered ceiling and Renaissance silver candelabra
• Votive tablets from 1608 and the book of miracles of the pilgrimage
• Stacked chapels in the medieval castle tower

Permanent exhibitions

• Schlossmuseum im Rittersaal – Small pilgrimage museum with portraits of the castle lords, votive paintings, a book of miracles, liturgical vestments, liturgical implements and a historic portative organ.
• Tiroler Landesinsignien in der Gnadenkapelle – The Tyrolean Archducal Hat and sceptre, donated to the miraculous image in 1602, are displayed in the freely accessible miraculous-image chapel.

Founded

1960

Operated by

Wallfahrtskirche Mariastein (Pfarrverband Angath, Erzdiözese Salzburg)

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