CASTLE MUSEUM (SCHLOSSMUSEUM)

This important historical building of the city is today a museum which shows the history of Linz and Upper Austria from the Neolithic Age to the present day. In summer, there are performances in the castle park. The date of its first construction is unknown, except that a fortress is mentioned as early as 799. The castle itself dates from the 8th century, but its history remains poorly known until 1477. At that time, Frederick III, the only Austrian emperor to have taken up residence in Linz, had a building rebuilt, of which the surrounding wall, the bastions, and the Frederick Gate to the west still remain. Above the gate are the famous letters A.E.I.O.U, which stand for the modest Habsburg motto Alles Erdreich ist Österreich untertan ("It belongs to Austria to rule the world"). The austere character of the complex has not escaped the attention of successive governments, since Linz Castle was used in turn as a military hospital, then in 1811 as a prison and finally as barracks from 1851 to 1945. From 1953 to 1960, the buildings were restored to house the provincial museum with its collections of antiquities, paintings, weapons, crafts and liturgical objects. The ground floor covers the period from prehistoric times to Rome; the^first floor covers the period from the Middle Ages to the Rococo period (including an impressive collection of period weapons). The^second floor is devoted to popular art and crafts.