of the most notable Habsburg monuments. Like Maximilian's cenotaph, it is in an essentially Gothic idiom. The structure was built by Niclas Türing (Nikolaus Turing) while the paintings was done by Jörg Kölderer. The Innsbruck Hofburg was redesigned and expanded, chiefly under Niclas Türing. By the time Maximilian died in 1519, the palace was one of the most beautiful and renowned secular structures of the era (but would be rebuilt later in the Baroque style by Maria Theresa). The famous sculpture Schutzmantelmadonna (Virgin of Mercy), donated in 1510 by Maximilian to the Frauenstein Pilgrimage Church in Molln, was a work by Gregor Erhart. From 1498 onwards, Maximilian caused many castles and palaces in Vienna, Graz, Wiener Neustadt, Innsbruck and Linz to be renovated and modernized. Not only the facade was redesigned and glazed bricks were integrated, Maximilian also paid special attention to the sanitation aspect, issuing precise instructions concerning the "secret chamber", the deflection of waste into a cesspit through pipes and the purification of smells through the use of "herbal essences". In many towns, he caused streets and alleys to be cobbled and added gutters for rain water. He issued regulations that ordered open drains for waste water to be bricked up and forbade the keeping of animals in the towns. It was also ordained that no rubbish was allowed in the streets overnight. Directions related to fire prevention were also issued, leading to fire walls being constructed between the houses and tiled roofs in many towns. In the hereditary lands and Southern Germany, through his financial blessings, there were wooden cities that were transformed into stone ones. Modern postal system and printing Together with Franz von Taxis, in 1490, Maximilian developed the first modern postal service in the world. The system was originally built to improve communication between his scattered territories, connecting Burgundy, Austria, Spain and France and later developing to a Europe-wide, fee-based system. Fixed postal routes (the first in Europe) were developed, together with regular and reliable service. From the beginning of the sixteenth century, the system became open to private mail. The initiative was immediately emulated by France and England, although rulers there restricted the spread of private mails and private postal networks. Systematic improvement allowed communication to reach Maximilian, wherever he was, twice as fast as normal, to the point Wolfgang Behringer remarks that "perception of temporal and spatial dimensions was changed". The new