The Archbishop's Residence is located on the Residenzplatz square of the same name, in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral. It is home to two elegant buildings, the Old and New Residence, built in the early 17th century, when the city was almost completely rebuilt in the Renaissance style. Originally, the New Residence served as a guest house, and it was also the home of the archbishops during the renovations of their main residence. It now houses the government's governing bodies.
The New Residence itself was built in 1619 on the orders of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Reitenau, who had been deposed by the time the building was completed and power had already passed into the hands of Markus Zittikus. Lucas von Hildebrandt was entrusted with the decoration of the luxurious interiors and it was completed in 1727. The late Baroque and early Classicist state rooms are richly decorated with wall and ceiling paintings, mouldings and tapestries. On the third floor there is a gallery with a magnificent collection of European paintings from the 16th to 19th centuries, known as the Residence Gallery. It was opened in 1923 and is mainly represented by paintings by Dutch, Spanish and Italian artists, as well as 19th century Austrian painters. The most famous painting kept here is "Portrait of a Praying Woman" by Rembrandt, believed to be the painter's depiction of his mother.
In the outer courtyard of the residence is a baroque fountain decorated with horses and tritons. On the opposite side of the square stands the New Residence, built in 1602, which has housed the Sattler Museum since 2004. The main exhibit of this museum is a huge city panorama created between 1824 and 1828. The New Residence is also characterised by a fine antique clock from 1873, and is often played by a carillon consisting of 35 bells cast in 1705.
