Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum (Tyrolean Folk Art Museum), Innsbruck

The Tyrolean Folk Art Museum is one of the most important heritage museums in Europe. It is located next door to the Gothic Hofkirche (Court Church), built in 1553 for Ferdinand I. Directly across from the museum is the Hofburg, former Imperial Palace of the Habsburgs in Innsbruck. All in all, a class neighborhood.

The museum occupies three floors of the New Abbey, attached to the Court Church (Hofkirche). The galleries overflow with exhibits that show what it would be like to be an ordinary person in Tyrol between the 16th and 18th centuries.

The permanent exhibition is a generous collection of handicrafts, costumes, household items, glass, pottery, peasant furnishings, toys, tools, and folk art from the Tyrol region.

There are meticulously restored rooms from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras. The rooms in fact are taken from peasant and noble homes. The museum also has a large collection of mangers. The mangers are made from wood, wax, paper, and earthenware dating as far back as the 18th century.

The curators have created absorbing audio guides. The guides can be tuned to discuss in detail any articles to be examined. The audio guide also can give a tour of the Court Church itself.