This cell has been in a sense a pilgrim place ever since, and has been visited at various times by many distinguished people. In 1765 the Empress Maria Theresa came to the Convent, and upon entering Maximilian's retreat sat herself in the wooden chair.
She was little used to so hard a resting-place, and after a minute or two she expressed her astonishment, exclaiming, "Heavens! What men of iron our forefathers were!"
There are (so far as we know) no relics of the Empress Maria Theresa's visit, not even an autograph; but another illustrious visitor, St. Lorenzo of Brindisi, who came to Innsbruck on his way to found a religious house in Austria, somewhat strangely one is forced to think, left behind him his staff, breviary, and copy of the Hebrew Bible, which are treasured as carefully as the relics of the Archduke Maximilian himself. During the reign of the latter the religious houses and Churches of Innsbruck all benefited by his generosity and prospered from his devotion to the Church. The effect of his example upon the townsfolk themselves was so marked that after the terrible plague of the year 1611 the burghers founded and built the Dreiheiligen Kirche (Holy Trinity) for the Jesuits as a thank-offering that the ravages of the plague were stayed. It was probably owing to the fact that, during this particular outbreak of the scourge of the Middle Ages, when the old hospital or Siechenhaus was all too small to hold all the victims, two Jesuits, Kaspar von Kostlan of Brixen, and the Professor of Theology at the University, assisted by a lay brother, tended the sick with indefatigable self-sacrifice, that the Jesuits were destined to chiefly benefit by the Innsbruckers' desire to commemorate their gratitude to God, that the pestilence at last had been overcome. They readily subscribed the necessary funds (we are told), and the then Burgomaster took a vow to see that the building was erected. From the time of which vow, tradition tells us, "the pestilence at once began to abate."
An altar-piece, the artist of which was Stötzl, was given by Maximilian himself. It represented the three patron saints against sickness: St. Sebastian, who stayed a plague in Rome by his intercession; St. Martha, who according to tradition founded a hospital and spent the rest of her life attending to the sick; and St. Rocchus, who devoted his life and strength to the care of those suffering from the pestilence.
THE NEWER TOWN
Some of the most beautiful roads and modern houses of the newer Innsbruck, which is increasing in area year by year, lie close at hand to this votive church, and to the northward, in the part of the town which is best reached by the Universitats-strasse and Saggengasse, alongside of which is the vast Exercier Platz, and at the back of that and nearer the river the beautiful Hofgarten. These never fail to charm the rambler on the outskirts of the town.
MUSEUM TREASURES
But there yet remain many other interesting objects, which the lover of Innsbruck and the visitor who stays for any considerable period of time are sure to gradually discover and enjoy. One of these is the National Museum, known as the Ferdinandeum, in which are gathered together objects, pictures, and relics forming, so it is claimed for them, an almost complete historical record of Tyrol, its people and its products.
The Museum, which is the resort of students from all parts of Europe, and is for even the casual visitor an object of the greatest interest, bears the name of its founder and patron Ferdinand I. Originally intended to illustrate in a vivid and practical way the history and national customs of the country in the various domains of art, science, and industry, the collections have gradually been enlarged and expanded so as to contain examples of art by members of well known foreign schools. The present museum is a comparatively modern building, with a façade in the Italian Renaissance style. The ground floor was commenced in 1842, and the upper story added in 1886.
On the ground floor are some most interesting archæological remains, including several ancient Roman milestones from the Brenner road and elsewhere; burial urns from Matrei; bronze statuettes of Roman days from Brixen and Innicherberg; many ornaments of the Roman period from Meran, Moritzing, Zedlach and other places. From Salurn, in the valley of the Eisack, there are some Roman tombs, with the ornaments of the dead, and household and toilet utensils and articles of great value and interest. One of the most important objects in the archæological section of the Museum is the sarcophagus, arms and ornaments of a Lombardian prince disinterred at Civezzano, near Trent. The coffin was richly ornamented by gold bands, and in it was found a gold cross.