The pious benefactor

Maximilian III, the Teutonic Grand Master

Whom does the monastery have to thank for the possession of the crown? Archduke Maximilian III was a younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II. Like him he was appreciative of art and interested in natural sciences and historical research.

As an avid devotee of Saint Leopold, Maximilian donated a silver bust and arm reliquary along with the Austrian archducal hat at the Feast of Saint Leopold in 1616. The bust and arm reliquary had to be melted down during the Napoleonic Wars.

Maximilian kissed the saint’s skull relic and crowned it with the archducal hat at the handing over. With this gesture the relic’s healing powers were symbolically transferred to the crown and subsequently to each new ruler.

From 1590 Maximilian was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and from 1602 until his death in 1618 Regent of Tyrol with his seat of rule in Innsbruck. It has not been established which goldsmith Maximilian appointed to his court to produce the archducal hat. The 8-part pointed crown and half-arch with sapphire combined with a cross recall the crown of Rudolf II, later the Austrian Imperial Crown, which was also created in the early 17th century.