The rather unassuming facade of the Capuchin church in the center Innsbruck, the Kapuzinerkloster, might cause one to pass right by it, and yet I have been told that this is the first church of the Order in the German-speaking part of Europe. It was endowed by Archduke Ferdinand II and his second wife Anna Katharina Gonzaga in 1593. The hermitage of Archduke Maximilian III was built onto the north side of the church in 1615. Appropriated by the Nazis in 1940, the monastery was re-established after the War. (Notes adapted from the sign posted outside the monastery.) In keeping with Franciscan poverty combined with postconciliar austerity, the church is quite plain, but it houses a treasure: a second painting of Our Lady by Lucas Cranach the Elder, this one of the nursing Madonna.
 |
| The altar piece is unusual. |
 |
| Two Capuchin martyrs from the Missions |
