(Bergisel, Austria)
The same day we visited the ski jump (see Olympic Training at the Bergisel Ski Jump) we also stopped in at the Tirol Panorama Museum. This museum is located on the Bergisel hill and is just a short walk from the base of the ski jump. The museum is connected to the Kaiserjäger Museum by way of an underground passageway. The passageway is also full of displays, so it really feels like one large facility.
Sadly, we arrived late in the afternoon and only had a couple of hours to tour around. We saw about half of the displays on the panorama museum side and did not make it to the Kaiserjäger Museum at all. We will have to plan another visit the next time we are in Innsbruck to get the full experience.
The namesake of the Tirol Panorama Museum is a giant 360-degree painting covering 1,000 square meters (more than 10,000 square feet). This allows you to sit in the center and be completely surrounded by the amazing art. Panorama paintings were most popular around the beginning of the 19th century and only a small percentage survive. I could only imagine how impressive these realistic paintings were back in the day before the invention of motion picture.
This painting depicts a battle between Napoleonic troops and the victorious Tyrolean rebels that took place in 1809 on Bergisel. One can pick out certain landmarks in the paintings that still remain today. It is an extremely impressive view of history, and placing the museum on the hill featured in the painting only adds to the experience.
The museum offers an audio guide which discusses many of the objects within the museum, offered in several languages. Most of the displayed items are relate to the Austrian millitaries, local traditions and lore, religion, nature, politics, and more.
If you do not purchase an Innsbruck Card (discussed in some of our earlier posts), you can also opt for a Combi-ticket, available at several of the museums. It is good for one year and allows you to see 5 facilities each once, at the cost of going to less than two individually. The Panorama Museum is on this list, along with the Ferdinandeum (Tyrolean State Museum), Zeughaus (armory), Volkskunstmuseum (folk/regional heritage museum), and Hofkirche (court church).
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That is a really interesting place. Were the props on the floor part of the original installation?
We aren’t really certain. The audio guide didn’t mention the props specifically, mainly just talked about the painting and the popularity of these panoramas. It definitely added to the experience and was a nice touch.