Space and Wellness: Philippine Welser in Schloss Ambras

This paper focuses on Philippine Welser (1527-1580), the morganatic wife of the Governor of Tyrol, Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529-1595). Philippine was the owner of Schloss Ambras in her own right, legitimizing her own power and autonomy beyond her marriage. Having been largely erased from the historical narrative following her death, then reintroduced to the public memory in the Victorian era as a vapid beauty, this project seeks to examine Philippine’s medical knowledge and personhood within the contexts of Schloss Ambras’s spaces. The first chapter of this paper examines the domestic spaces of Schloss Ambras and compares them to the public spaces of Schloss Ambras and the Hofburg Innsbruck. Further, the structure is compared to similar sites. The second chapter examines the concepts of health and wellness and how they were integrated into Schloss Ambras, as well as Philippine’s possible impact on the famed Schloss Ambras kunstkammer. The final chapter investigates botany and religion and the role these two practices played in Philippine’s life. This paper reevaluates Philippine’s legacy within the context of Schloss Ambras from the Renaissance to the Victorian era to the contemporary day.