Ferdinand II of Tyrol
Archduke of Austria; governor of Bohemia (1547–1567); from 1564 to his death in 1595 ruler of Tyrol and the Austrian Forelands
Born in Linz on 14 June 1529
Died in Innsbruck on 24 January 1595
Founder of the Ambras art collection
Appointed regent of Bohemia by his father, Ferdinand I, after the latter’s death in 1564 he ruled over Tyrol and the Swabian territories, where he drove forward the Counter-Reformation. Cultivated and highly educated, Ferdinand married the commoner Philippine Welser (1527–1580). The marriage was permitted only under an oath of secrecy, and the children born to the union were not entitled to inherit. He extended Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck which housed his famous Chamber of Art and Wonders.
