Zeughaus, Military history museum in Innsbruck, Austria

The Zeughaus is a former military arsenal built from 1500 to 1505, now a branch of the Tyrolean State Museum. It consists of two two-storey wings, each 80 by 10 metres, and two narrow gatehouses enclosing a large inner courtyard. The original collar-beam roof structure from 1500 survives.

Maximilian I had the armoury built between 1500 and 1505 on the Sill, then outside Innsbruck's town gates. The site was chosen because the city was a transport hub and Tyrol's copper mining had created a flourishing arms industry around Innsbruck; a brass foundry followed in Mühlau in 1503, when the arsenal held about 150 guns. It served as the Zeughauskaserne until the end of the monarchy in 1918, was restored from 1964 to 1969 and reopened in 1973 as the Tiroler Landeskundliches Museum.

The building once served as the arsenal for Tyrolean rulers and still reflects the region's strategic importance in its design and layout. Visitors can observe how the spaces were originally used for storing weapons and military equipment before being converted into exhibition areas.

The complex is entered through the gatehouses into a large inner courtyard, with the two 80-metre wings on either side. The upper floor is column-free thanks to the 1960s concrete ribs, but the historic facade and the original 1500 collar-beam roof truss remain. In summer the courtyard is used for open-air cinema, concerts and a theatre festival, so check the programme before planning a visit.

The upper floor is column-free because the 1964–1969 restoration by Robert Schuller replaced the ground-floor timber beam ceiling with a slim exposed-concrete ribbed ceiling, keeping the original 1500 collar-beam roof truss above. In August 1985 the flooding Sill inundated the cellar, badly damaging the natural history collections stored there.