Innsbruck#

Innsbruck, Tirol, statutory town in the district of Innsbruck, alt. 575 m, pop. 118,112 (1981: pop. 117,287), area 104.89 km2, provincial capital of Tirol, situated at the confluence of the rivers Inn and Sill, surrounded by the Nordkette range (north chain) of the Karwendel Mountains (Hafelekarspitze 2,334 m, Rumer Spitze 2,454 m) in the north, by the foothills of the Zentralkette mountain chain (Patscherkofel 2,246 m, Glungezer 2,677 m) in the south; the Martinswand face situated in front divides the Inn Valley into the western Upper Inn Valley and the Lower Inn Valley to the east. Economic, administrative and cultural centre of Tirol, bi-seasonal tourist centre (1,347,789 overnight stays) and congress town; venue of the Olympic Winter Games of 1964 and 1976. Cadastral districts: Innsbruck, Wilten, Pradl, Hoetting, Muehlau, Arzl, Amras, Igls, Vill. - Seat of the provincial government, of the Landtag, all provincial (school inspectorate, police command, forestry headquarters, office for the disabled, etc.) and municipal authorities, district commission, Higher Regional Court, provincial court and prison, provincial supreme police and fiscal authorities, Regional Directorate of Post and Telekom Austria AG (Tirol and Vorarlberg), Federal Railways directorate and federal police headquarters, military command of Tirol, Conrad, Eugen and Standschuetzen Barracks, federal office for the protection of monuments, federal office for civil aviation and of weights, measures and surveying, federal building superintendence II, federal institutions for food analyses, physical education and veterinary medical examinations, federal forest research institute, federal institute for bacteriological-serological analyses, federal agency for quality control, federal asylum office, Regional Centre of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, customs office, provincial headquarters of the employment services, chamber of labour, economic chamber, chamber of agricultural and allied workers, provincial chamber of agriculture, and other chambers and representations of professional groups, old-age pension insurance institutions for workers, farmers, employees, and of industry and trade, social insurance agency for farmers and of industry and trade, Tirolean health and social insurance district office, Austrian skiing association, bishopric (episcopal diocesan authorities of Innsbruck, episcopal priest seminary), "Canisianum" theological convict, Jesuit college and numerous communities of Christian orders, various religious communities (Protestant pastorate, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, New-Apostolic Church, Buddhist centre, Jewish community), newspapers ("Tiroler Tageszeitung", "Tiroler Bauernzeitung", etc.), numerous consulting centres, Leopold Franz University, summer academy of fine arts, department of musical education of the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Biomedical Institute for research into ageing (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Fachhochschulen and other academic institutions; provincial hospital (university hospitals), military hospital, sanatorium, private clinic, homes for children, teenagers and girls, children's village, Caritas (Catholic welfare organisation) central diocesan office, 7 social welfare offices; consulates, Naturopazentrum centre (Council of Europe); congress hall, ORF Austrian broadcasting corporation (provincial studio Tirol), Tirolean Provincial Theatre/Landestheater, Innsbruck Symphony Orchestra, Tirolean Folk Theatre (Volksbuehne), Innsbruck basement theatre, Theater an der Sill, peasant theatre, Breinoesslbuehne theatre, Tirolean puppet theatre, Tirolean Provincial Museum, Ferdinandeum, Tiroler Landeskundliches Museum/Museum on Tirolean Area Studies (Armoury), Museum of Tirolean Folk Art, Maximilianeum, Glockenmuseum bell foundry, Alpenvereinsmuseum (Alpine museum), Kaiserschuetzen Museum (Museum of the Imperial Rifles), Bergisel Museum, Railway Museum, art hall Innsbruck, Tirolean art pavilion, several art galleries (Stadtturmgalerie, Theresiengalerie, Galerie im Palais Taxis), Ambras Castle (art history collection, gardens); libraries, fair ground (Innsbruck spring and autumn fairs), Innsbruck Cultural Summer, Music Fair, botanical garden of the University, Alpine Zoo, Tivoli Stadium on Bergisel mountain (746 m), Olympic jumping stadium (ski jump) and Olympic ice stadium (artificial ice hall, speed skating rink), Innsbruck aviation centre, casino; several types of secondary schools such as academic Gymnasium, Abendgymnasium (evening classes), 3 Bundes-Gymnasium and Bundes-Realgymnasium schools, Bundes-Gymnasium and Bundes-Realgymnasium for working people, Bundes-Oberstufen-Realgymnasium, Wirtschaftskundliches Realgymnasium (on economic sciences) of the Ursuline order for girls, schools of the Sisters of Charity (Oberstufen-Realgymnasium for girls, Bundesanstalt for kindergarten pedagogics - kindergarten teacher training institution, vocational school for occupations in social work, boarding school), Handelsakademie (commercial academy), Hoehere Bundeslehranstalt for economic professions, Hoehere Bundeslehranstalt for fashion and dressmaking, Hoehere Technische Bundeslehranstalt (for technology), Hoehere Lehranstalt for tourism, 10 vocational schools, Fachschule of the Caritas for occupations in social work, school for midwives, Waldorf school, school for the blind and visually handicapped, special school for seriously disabled persons, girls' boarding school of the Don Bosco Sisters, education centre West for occupations in the (public) health service, schools for medical technologists and nursing schools as part of university hospitals, Berufspaedagogische Akademie des Bundes/federal academy of vocational teacher training, Paedagogisches Institut des Bundes/federal pedagogical institute, Paedagogisches Institut des Landes Tirol/pedagogical institute of the Province of Tirol, Religionspaedagogisches Institut der Dioezese/diocesan institute of religious education, adult education centre, Tirolean Alpine mountaineering school, mountaineers' school of the Austrian Alpine Mountaineering Club (Alpenverein); municipal works with the run-of-river power stations of Muehlau (built 1951, 5.8 MW), Lower Sillwerk (built 1966, 28 MW), Upper Sillwerk (built 1903, 17.0 MW); main railway station and western railway station, Innsbruck - Kranebitten airport, Olympic village, Hungerburgbahn (funicular railway to Hungerburg, 868 m), Nordkettenbahn (gondola ropeway to Seegrube and Hafelekarspitze, mountain station 2,269 m), Muttereralmbahn (gondola ropeway up Mutterer Alm, 1,608 m).

Economy: 66,731 persons employed (1991), about 83 % of whom in the service sector (mainly personal, social and public services; trade; financial, credit and insurance businesses); in recent years numerous industrial enterprises have been transferred to the surrounding municipalities, the industrial area is now located at Rossau in the eastern part of town; main industries: breweries, metal processing, mechanical engineering, some chemical firms (laminates), production of building materials, soaps, food (flour, edible oil), soft drinks, textiles (shirts, loden), feed stuff; wood processing, electrical industry (sockets), printing shops, construction industry.

History: Archaeological finds from all epochs of prehistory since the New Stone Age in the urban district of Innsbruck. The Innsbruck Basin has been continuously settled for 3,000 years (Pre-Roman place names, urnfield graves in Wilten, Amras, Hoetting and Muehlau). 46/47 A.D. the Romans built the Via Claudia Augusta and erected the civil and military settlement Veldidena, which became the village and abbey of Wilten (1138 Premonstratensians) in the Middle Ages. Around 1165-1170 the Bavarian counts of Andechs erected a market settlement beyond Hoetting, had a bridge constructed across the River Inn (1167/83 name Inspruk), 1180 acquired the area south of it and laid out the original town there, which around 1187/1204 was granted a town charter. In 1263 Innsbruck became part of the county of Tirol, in 1363 it came into the possession of the Habsburgs and became ducal residence and centre of the province in 1420. Important buildings were erected under Maximilian I (Goldenes Dachl, balcony with gilded copper roof, Innsbruck's chief landmark), during the time of Ferdinand I (Hofkirche Court Church), Archduke Ferdinand II (Ambras Castle), Archduke Leopold V (Opera and Schauspielhaus theatre) and in the Baroque era (Hofburg Court Palace, Landhaus provincial government building, reconstruction of the Cathedral). During the Gothic era the Tuering family, and during the Baroque period the Gumpp family were responsible for most of the building activity which gave the town its characteristic appearance. University founded in 1669 (1810-1826 closed). Since the construction of a railway (1856-1858 from Munich, 1864-1867 via Brenner pass to Bozen/Bolzano (South Tyrol), 1882-1884 across Arlberg mountain) textile and food enterprises, and electric power stations have been built, as well as new town quarters on both sides of Maria-Theresien Street and north of the Hofgarten gardens with many hotels, public buildings and residential roads. Since the middle of the 19th century, systematic building activities in the town districts Saggen (north) and Pradl (east) as well as in the university quarter. In 1904 the suburbs Pradl and Wilten were incorporated into the town, in 1938 Hoetting, Muehlau and Amras, in 1940 Arzl and in 1942 Vill and Igls. From December 1943 to April 1945 the town suffered 21 bomb attacks and was heavily damaged. In the course of reconstruction from 1948, new town quarters have been created, and when the town was awarded the European Prize in 1964 these initiatives finally also won international recognition. In the 1960sand 1970s the town experienced a phase of expansion marked by the construction of the two Olympic villages. As Innsbruck is situated in a valley basin there is an extreme shortage of building ground, so that possibilities for further expansion became very limited quickly. The latest major housing project was the Peerhofsiedlung (about 500 flats, 1985-1990); nowadays hardly any low-cost publicly subsidised housing is available, strong suburbanisation tendencies, building activities mainly in the surrounding area (district of Innsbruck-Land, substantial population growth in the municipalities of Rum and Voels). As there are relatively few old buildings, there is only little need for redevelopment. The current trend in town planning is directed towards the development of densely built-up town centres by extending existing buildings. The basis of development planning is the urban expansion scheme of 1980 (updated in 1983/84) with special emphasis on measures for environmental protection, improving the quality of life and optimising town traffic (traffic plan of 1989/90).

Buildings: Despite several fires and the damage caused by World War II, Innsbruck has preserved its architectural monuments to a large extent. Next to the Innbruecke bridge, there is the so-called Ottoburg Castle (built around 1495), beside it the Old Governmental Building (Altes Regierungsgebaeude) with the Claudiasaal hall, opposite the former castle of the Andechs family and the inn "Goldener Adler" ("Golden Eagle"). On Herzog-Friedrich street several buildings with arcades, such as Goldenes Dachl (with Museum Maximilianeum), Helblinghaus, Katzunghaus with reliefs (16th century), Old Town Hall (built 1358, refashioned in 1543 and 1691) with the City Tower (Stadtturm), built 1442-1450, and Kohleggerhaus with frescoes (15th century). The Trautsonhaus (1541) together with the Deutschordenshaus (residential building of the Teutonic order, first documented mention 1453, rebuilt 1530-1534) is the most important secular building from the transitional period between Gothic and Renaissance. Archduke Sigmund had the Burgriesenhaus built from 1487-1490. The Cathedral Church (from 1643 parish church, since 1964 bishop's church) was built 1717-1724 by J. J. Herkommer on the site of Romanesque and Gothic buildings; frescoes by C. D. Asam and stucco by E. Qu. Asam, in the high altar, Mariahilf miraculous image by L. Cranach the Elder, tombs of Maximilian III (d. 1618) and Archduke Eugen (d. 1954). The cathedral, heavily damaged on December 16th , 1944, was reconstructed 1946-1950, the exterior renovated in 1974 and the interior between 1990 and 1993; next to it, the provincial government building and congress hall (former court theatre Dogana, University library); opposite, the Provincial Theatre (1844-1846) and municipal hall. On Rennweg street are located the Hofgarten gardens (since 1402), the provincial studio of the ORF (1969-1971) and the valley station of the funicular to Hungerburg mountain, near the top station Panoramahaus (1907) with Giant Panoramic Painting of the 3rd Battle (1809) on Bergisel mountain. Next to the Hofburg palace and the former Adeliges Damenstift (religious institution for ladies of rank) is the Hofkirche Church with the Maximilian, Tomb of, the former abbey (until 1775 Franciscans, then Theresianische Ritterakademie (Theresian Knights' Academy), theological seminary and until 1910 Gymnasium secondary school) houses the Museum of Tirolean Folk Art, in Universitaetsstrasse street are the Jesuit college (built 1562, enlarged 1643 and 1672/73), which has been a university since 1773, now housing the theological faculty, and the Akademisches Gymnasium secondary school. The Jesuit church was built 1627-1640, renovated 1946-1953; tomb of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia of Medici; beside it the Palais Tannenberg-Enzenberg (around 1720) and Palais Pfeiffersberg (now Jesuit convict). In Museumsstrasse street Tirolean Provincial Museum Ferdinandeum (department on area studies in the Armoury of Maximilian I); in Maria-Theresien-Strasse street town hall (built in the 18th century combining 3 Gothic buildings), Landhaus provincial government building (1725-1729, new part 1938/39) with Palais Fugger-Taxis (from 1679), Palais Trapp (around 1700) and Troyer-Spaur (1681-1683). Servite church with abbey (1620-1626) and hospital church (1700/01). Southwest towards the River Inn, public buildings (courts, provincial general hospital, university hospitals, schools, university). In the south of Innsbruck, the suburb of Wilten has a basilica (1751-1755) and Premonstratensian abbey; next to it Bergisel Mountain with ski jump (1976). In the quarter of Amras, Ambras Castle. In Hoetting Lichtenthurn Residence (1588), Buechsenhausen Palace, 1641 built from 2 Renaissance houses, late Gothic small palace of Weiherburg (first documented mention 1470).

Monuments: Triumphal Gate in commemoration of the wedding of Leopold II to Maria Ludovica of Spain (and the death of Franz I), Anna Column (1707) in memory of the resistance against the Bavarians in 1703, Leopold Fountain (1621), Rudolf Fountain (1877), Liberation Monument (Befreiungsdenkmal, 1948), Archduke Eugen Monument in Hofgarten gardens, Andreas Hofer Monument on Bergisel mountain.

Literature#