Diocesan Museum at the Bishop’s Palace

The Bishop's Palace in the small town of Bressanone harkens back on a long history. Constructed as residence for the Prince-Bishops of Bressanone in 1250 AD, it used to be the seat of the bishops up to 1964. The inner courtyard with the yard gate, the Renaissance loggias and the Baroque façade alone are worth a visit. Today it also houses the Diocesan Museum - "Diözesanmuseum Hofburg Brixen" in German, "Museo Diocesano nel Palazzo Vescovile di Bressanone" in Italian -, the Cathedral Treasure and a Nativity Scene Collection. Actually the purpose of the museum, opened in 1901, was the collection of endangered pieces of art of the Romanesque and Gothic periods.

The exhibits are varied and comprise Romanesque ecclesiastical pieces of art and Gothic statuaries, wall paintings and panel paintings as well as late Gothic artworks of the master painter Leonhard from Bressanone and Hans Klocker. Moreover there are pieces of arts of the Baroque period, e.g. by Paul Troger, classicism and Romanesque period. Fitments, textiles, cards and documents illustrate the history of the Bressanone Bishop's Palace itself. Some years ago, the Diocesan Museum has been amplified by a collection of Tyrolean artists of the 19th century, the Siegfried Unterberger Collection. Part of the museum are also the Baroque Court Church, the Cathedral Treasure and the Nativity Scene Collection on the ground floor of the palace.

In the latter you can visit a comprehensive crib of about 5,000 figurines as well as Christmas cribs from Bressanone, Tyrol, Naples and Sicily. The Cathedral Treasure, however, comprises precious gold crosses and ivory artworks, e.g. the "Albuinkasel" dating back to 1000 AD, a Liturgical cloth of Byzantine silk, which was a present by Henry II or Conrad II, both Holy Roman Emperors, to the bishop Albuin of Bressanone. And how to reach the Diocesan Museum? It can be found at the Piazza Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop's Palace Square) in the centre of Bressanone, close to the Bressanone Cathedral where in Advent the famous Christmas Market takes place. From the Bressanone parking garage or the bus stop, the museum is a 5-10-minute walk away.