!!!Imst
Imst, Tirol, town in the district of Imst, alt. 827 m, pop. 7,509
(1981: 6,677), area 113.68 km%%sup 2/%; principal town of the
middle section of the Upper Inn Valley; located on the southwestern
slope of the Gurgl Valley, west of Tschirgant Mountain (2,370 m).
- District commission, district court, forestry inspectorate, chamber
of agriculture, chamber of labour, chamber of commerce, building
authority, surveyor´s office, office for housing and hydraulic
engineering, district headquarters of rural police, Verdross barracks,
federal research institute of forestry, local building authority for
avalanche and torrent control, psychological school service, local
health and insurance agency, schools: Bundesrealgymnasium secondary
school, commercial academy, senior school of engineering, commercial
school, school of agriculture, vocational school of commerce; adult
education centre; Hauptschule secondary school; first Austrian
childrens´ village (founded in 1948); Muslim centre; Capuchin
monastery; Imst run-of-river power station (founded in 1956, capacity
81.5 megawatts); Forestry enterprise of the Austrian Federal
Forestry Commission. Approximately 65 % of a total of 4,355
employed persons are engaged in the public service sector (1991;
particularly in private, social and public services); commerce (e.g.
tyre production); haulage firm; manufacturing industry (predominantly
building and construction industry; industrial estate in the western
part of the town); wood processing (saw mill, manufacturing of
plates); metal working and synthetics processing industries; brick
works; fabrication of tiles; rubber factory; manufacturing of
leatherware and loden coats. Summer tourism (overnight stays 224,232).
- First documented mention in 763 ("opido Humiste"); important iron
ore mining area in the 15%%sup th/% and 17%%sup th/% centuries; fire
in 1822; chartered in 1898; consists of Oberstadt (with parish church)
and Unterstadt (featuring houses built in late Classicist style);
late-Gothic parish church of the Assumption (hall church with nave and
two aisles, masterpiece of the stonemasons´ s lodge of Imst);
consecrated in 1350 and 1493; altered in the 19%%sup th/% and
20%%sup th/% centuries; remains of frescoes (around 1500);
stained-glass windows (1889-1912); chapel of St. Michael (1470);
interior dating from 1829; wall paintings (1480 and 1956); subsidiary
church of St. John (1467 and 1822); Capuchin church (1682,
destroyed by fire and rebuilt between 1822 and 1925); Romanesque
church of St. Laurence with round apse built on the former site
of an early Christian church dating from the 5%%sup th/% century;
Gothic frescoes (1380); 7 Calvary chapels (dating from the
17%%sup th/% and 18%%sup th/% centuries); former pilgrimage chapel
in Gunglgruen (1732/33); Rofenstein Palace (first documented mention
in 1296; façade dating from the 19%%sup th/% century; at
present houses the district commission); the former Ballhaus serves as
museum. Carnival Schemenlaufen (takes place every three to four
years). Rosengarten Gorge with waterfall. Near Putze waterfall and
Lake Starkenberger See.
!Literature
E. Egg (ed.), Stadtbuch Imst, 1976; Oesterreichisches
Staedtebuch, vol. V, part 1, Die Staedte Tirols, 1980; B.
Koell, Der Imster Schemenlauf, master´s thesis, Salzburg 1986;
P. Baeck, Imster Stadtbuch, 1997.
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