Ferrarischule

The Ferrarischule stands in Innsbruck, a town in the Austrian Alps. It occupies a historic palace built in 1692 for Hieronymus Bernhard Graf Ferrari by architect Johann Martin Gumpp. The palace was home to eight generations of the Ferrari family before the city took it over when the family fell on hard times in the 19th century. In 1921 the school opened as a training centre for women’s domestic and craft trades. It moved into the restored palace in 1926 and has grown with later additions, most recently a 2018 refurbishment that added 1 200 square metres of floor space. The school is now a federal upper-level college offering five specialist streams. Pupils can choose Humanökologie, Kreativ, Internationale Kommunikation in der Wirtschaft, Kommunikation und Mediendesign or Modedesign. Each five-year course ends with the Austrian Matura, the school-leaving examination that grants university entrance. A shorter three-year course in health and care is also available. All five-year pupils must pass a practical pre-diploma test at the end of fourth year, covering kitchen and restaurant management, which follows compulsory cookery lessons from the first year onwards. Inside the palace classrooms occupy the original staterooms and newer wings added in 1971. The building’s grand staircase and period details remain, while modern studios and workshops blend with the historic fabric. The school’s location in central Innsbruck places it within easy reach of the city’s shops, cafés and public transport.