The name of the square (meaning “by the Courtâ€) refers to the medieval princes’ residence nearby. It later housed the mint, and then the royal military chancery. Today it is a bank. The main architectural gem of present-day Am Hof is the chapel of the Nine Angel Choirs, built in the late 14th century by the Carmelite Friars and rebuilt after the fire of 1607. It was adorned with a Baroque fa?ade crowned with a triangular pediment featuring Our Lady, the queen of the nine angel choirs. The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was proclaimed from the chapel’s terrace on 6 August 1806. There are a number of other interesting houses in the square. The building with a magnificent fa?ade incorporating sculptures by Mattielli, is the former citizens’ armoury, today housing the headquarters of the city’s fire services. The Collalto Palace, where, in 1762, the six-year-old Mozart gave his first performance. In front of the church stands the Mariensaule (Column of Our Lady), a monument commissioned by Ferdinand III to commemorate the end of the threat of the Swedish invasion, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War.
