Kufstein Fortress

The Festung Kufstein sits on a limestone rock over the Inn where the valley narrows, which is why it was fought over between Bavaria and Tyrol repeatedly from the thirteenth century; Maximilian I took it in 1504 using heavy artillery and rebuilt it, and the Kaiserturm, a round tower with walls up to seven metres thick, dates from then. It later served as a prison, holding political prisoners of the Habsburg state. The Heldenorgel, installed in 1931 in the Bürgerturm as a memorial to the dead of the First World War, has over four thousand pipes and is one of the largest outdoor organs in the world; it is played at noon each day and the sound carries across the whole town and valley. A funicular runs up from the old town.

History

The fortress is first named, as Castrum Caofstein, in a document of 1205, held by the Bavarian duke Ludwig and the bishop of Regensburg, and it was long fought over between Bavaria and Tyrol; Margaret of Tyrol received Kufstein in 1342 as a wedding present from Louis of Brandenburg, bringing it into Tyrol for the first time, but the Bavarians took it back after she handed Tyrol to the Habsburgs in 1363. Emperor Maximilian I besieged and took town and fortress in 1504 and built the massive round tower between 1518 and 1522, it was Bavarian again from 1703 to 1805 and returned to Austria in 1814, and under the Habsburgs it held many political prisoners, among them Hungarian writers and reformers such as Ferenc Kazinczy (Wikipedia, Kufstein Fortress).

The main sights

• The Heldenorgel - over four thousand pipes, played daily at noon across the town.
• The Kaiserturm - Maximilian's round tower with walls up to seven metres thick.
• A prison history - cells that held political prisoners of the Habsburg state.
• A funicular up the rock - the lift from the old town to the fortress.

When to go

April to October; noon for the organ. Half a day.

Before you go

The organ plays once a day and the recital is short. The fortress closes or reduces hours in winter. There are many steps inside beyond the funicular. The Inn valley motorway is audible.

Nearby

The Wilder Kaiser is east; Innsbruck is up the Inn valley.

Key facts