Innsbruck

History

Antiquity

The earliest traces suggest initial inhabitation in the early Stone Age. Surviving pre-Roman place names show that the area has been populated continuously. In the 4th century the Romans established the army station Veldidena (the name survives in today's urban district Wilten) at Oenipons (Innsbruck), to protect the economically important commercial road from Verona-Brenner-Augsburg in their province of Raetia.

The first mention of Innsbruck dates back to the name Oeni Pontum or Oeni Pons which is Latin for bridge (pons) over the Inn (Oenus), which was an important crossing point over the Inn river. The Counts of Andechs acquired the town in 1180. In 1248, the town passed into the hands of the Counts of Tyrol. The city's arms show a bird's-eye view of the Inn bridge, a design used since 1267. The route over the Brenner Pass was then a major transport and communications link between the north and the south of Europe, and the easiest route across the Alps. It was part of the Via Imperii, a medieval imperial road under special protection of the king. The revenues generated by serving as a transit station on this route enabled the city to flourish.

Early history

Innsbruck became the capital of all Tyrol in 1429 and in the 15th century the city became a centre of European politics and culture as Emperor Maximilian I also resided in Innsbruck in the 1490s. The city benefited from the emperor's presence as can be seen for example in the Hofkirche. Here a funeral monument for Maximilian was planned and erected partly by his successors. The ensemble with a cenotaph and the bronze statues of real and mythical ancestors of the Habsburg emperor are one of the main artistic monuments of Innsbruck. A regular postal service between Innsbruck and Mechelen was established in 1490 by the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post.

In 1564, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria received the rulership over Tyrol and other Further Austrian possessions administered from Innsbruck up to the 18th century. He had Schloss Ambras built and arranged there his unique Renaissance collections nowadays mainly part of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum. Up to 1665 a stirps of the Habsburg dynasty ruled in Innsbruck with an independent court. In the 1620s, the first opera house north of the Alps was erected in Innsbruck (Dogana).

The university was founded in 1669. Also as a compensation for the court as Emperor Leopold I again reigned from Vienna and the Tyrolean stirps of the Habsburg dynasty had ended in 1665.

During the Napoleonic Wars Tyrol was ceded to Bavaria, ally of France. Andreas Hofer led a Tyrolean peasant army to victory in the Battles of Bergisel against the combined Bavarian and French forces, and then made Innsbruck the centre of his administration. The combined army later overran the Tyrolean militia army, Hofer was fusilladed for his role and became a martyr for the locals, his remains were returned to Innsbruck in 1823 and interred in the Franciscan church.

Afterwards, until 1814 Innsbruck was part of Bavaria. The Vienna Congress restored the Austrian rule over the city. Innsbruck played a part during the revolution of 1848 in Austria. In May of that year, riots in Vienna made Emperor Ferdinand to move the seat of government temporarily to the city. It remained part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867) as one of the 4 autonomous towns in Tyrol, the centre of the identically named district, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften.

Annexation and World War II

In 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the Anschluss. During World War II, Innsbruck was the location of two subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp, including a special camp for prominent people from 16 countries and their families, who were held as hostages, including former Prime Minister of France Léon Blum, former regent of Hungary Miklós Horthy, former Chancellor of Austria Kurt Schuschnigg, Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi II and a nephew of Winston Churchill. Between 1943 and April 1945, Innsbruck experienced twenty-two air raids and suffered heavy damage.

Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino

In 1996, the European Union approved further cultural and economic integration between the Austrian province of Tyrol and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino by recognising the creation of the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.

Geography

Climate

Innsbruck has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) since it has at least one month with a mean temperature below 0°C (32°F). Innsbruck has a larger annual temperature differences than most of Central Europe due to its location in the centre of the Continent and its position around mountainous terrains. Winters are often cold or very cold (colder than those of all major Western European cities, as well as most Central European cities) and snowy, although the foehn wind sometimes brings pronounced thaws, despite the warming effect not being as extreme as is common in Salzburg. Spring is brief; days start to get warm, often over 15 °C (59 °F), but nights remain cool or even freezing.

Summer is highly variable and unpredictable. Days can be cool 17 °C (63 °F) and rainy, or sunny and extremely hot, sometimes hitting 34 °C (93 °F). In summer, as expected for an alpine-influenced climate, the diurnal temperature variation is often very high as nights usually remain cool, being 12 °C (54 °F) on average, but sometimes dipping as low as 6 °C (43 °F).

The average annual temperature is 10 °C (50 °F).

Boroughs and statistical divisions

Innsbruck is divided into nine boroughs (cadastral settlements) that were formed from previously independent municipalities or villages. These nine boroughs are further divided into twenty wards (cadastral districts). All wards are within one borough, except for the ward of Hungerburg (Upper Innsbruck), which is divided between two. For statistical purposes, Innsbruck is further divided into forty-two statistical units (Statistischer Bezirk) and 178 numbered blocks (Zählsprengel).

The nine boroughs of Innsbruck and their population as of 2024:

Amras (5,610) (consisting of Roßau)

Arzl (11,281) (consisting of Neuarzl and the Olympic Village)

Hötting (34,958) (consisting of Allerheiligen, parts of Hungerburg, Höttinger Au, Hötting West, Kranebitten, Sadrach)

Igls (2,631)

Innsbruck - inner city (20,250) (consisting of Dreiheiligen-Schlachthof, Oldtown, Saggen)

Mühlau (5,655) (consisting of parts of Hungerburg)

Pradl (33,554) (consisting of Pradler-Saggen, Reichenau, Tivoli)

Vill (525)

Wilten (17,724) (consisting of Mentlberg, Sieglanger, Wilten West)

Places of interest

Nordkette

Patscherkofel

Old Inn Bridge (Alte Innbrücke)

Ambras Castle

Andreas Hofer's tomb

St. Anne's Column (Annasäule)

Bergisel Ski Jump

Büchsenhausen Castle

Canisianum

Casino

City Hall (Stadtsaal)

Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl)

Helbling House (Helblinghaus)

Imperial Palace (Hofburg)

Hungerburgbahn

Leopold Fountain (Leopoldsbrunnen)

Maria-Theresien-Straße

Maximilian's Cenotaph and the Black Men (Schwarzen Männer)

Old Federal State Parliament (Altes Landhaus)

Old Town (Altstadt)

Silver Chapel (Silberne Kapelle)

City Tower (Stadtturm)

Triumphal Arch (Triumphpforte)

Tyrolean State Theatre

Alpine Club Museum

Demographics

As of 2024, Innsbruck had a population of 132,188; 68.6% of whom held Austrian citizenship and 65.2% of whom were born in Austria.

The age group under 20 years old accounted for 15.8% of the population, those aged between 20 and 64 made up 65.2%, and individuals aged 65 and over comprised the remaining 19.0%. Women accounted for 50.7% of the population.

54.4% of foreign citizens held citizenship from another EU member state. When looking at individual countries, Germany accounts for the largest share of foreign nationals.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal council (Gemeinderat) consists of 40 members. Since the 2024 local elections, it is made up of the following parties:

The Greens - The Green Alternative (GRÜNE): 8 seats

Now Innsbruck - Johannes Anzengruber (JA): 8 seats

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 7 seats

Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 6 seats

Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 4 seats

Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ): 3 seats

List Fritz - Citizen's Forum Tyrol (FRITZ): 2 seats

Alternative List Innsbruck (ALI): 2 seats

The current mayor, Johannes Anzengruber, was elected in 2024, defeating incumbent Georg Willi.

City's senate

The City's senate (Stadtsenat) consists of 7 members. It is chaired by the mayor. The other members—one vice-mayor and five town councillors—are appointed by the municipal council, with party affiliations according to the election results.

Mayor Johannes Anzengruber (JA)

Deputy Mayor Georg Willi (GRÜNE)

Councillor Janine Bex (GRÜNE)

Councillor Mariella Lutz (JA)

Councillor Markus Lassenberger (FPÖ)

Councillor Elisabeth Mayr (SPÖ)

Councillor Markus Stoll (ÖVP)

Culture

Cultural events

Innsbruck is a very popular tourist destination, organising the following events every year:

Innsbrucker Tanzsommer

Bergsilvester (New Year's Eve)

Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik (Innsbruck Festival of Early Music)

Los Gurkos Short Film Festival

Christkindlmarkt (Christmas fair)

In 1971, author Douglas Adams was inspired to write the internationally successful The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series while lying intoxicated in a field in Innsbruck. From 2003 onwards each year, Towel Day is celebrated worldwide on 25 May.

Sports

Due to its location between high mountains, Innsbruck serves as an ideal place for skiing in winter, ski-jumping and mountaineering in summer. There are several ski resorts around Innsbruck, with the Nordkette served by a cable car and additional chair lifts further up. Other ski resorts nearby include Axamer Lizum, Muttereralm, Patscherkofel, Igls, Seefeld, Tulfes and Stubai Valley. The glaciated terrain in the latter makes skiing possible even in summer months.

The Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck twice, first in 1964, then again in 1976, when Colorado voters rejected a bond referendum in 1972 to finance the Denver games, originally awarded in 1970. The 1976 Winter Olympics were the last games held in the German-speaking Alps (Austria, Germany, or Switzerland).

Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland, Lake Placid, United States, and Cortina, Italy, it is one of four places which have twice hosted the Winter Games. It also hosted the 1984 and 1988 Winter Paralympics.

Innsbruck hosted the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.

Other notable events held in Innsbruck include the Air & Style Snowboard Contest from 1994 to 1999 and 2008 and the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2005. Together with the city of Seefeld, Innsbruck organised the Winter Universiade in 2005. Innsbruck's Bergiselschanze is one of the hills of the famous Four Hills Tournament.

Innsbruck is home to football clubs WSG Tirol and FC Wacker Innsbruck, who play in the Austrian Bundesliga and the Austrian Landesliga respectively. Former teams include the FC Swarovski Tirol and FC Tirol Innsbruck. The teams' stadium, Tivoli Neu, is one of eight stadiums which hosted Euro 2008, which took place in Switzerland and Austria in June 2008.

The city is home to the American football team Raiders Tirol. Innsbruck hosted an American football final, Eurobowl XXII between the Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna.

The city hosted opening round games in the 2011 IFAF World Championship, the official international American football championship.

Language

Innsbruck is part of the Austro-Bavarian region of dialects and, more specifically, Southern Bavarian (Südbairisch). Irina Windhaber, professor for linguistics at the Universität Innsbruck, has observed a trend among young people to choose more often Standard German language structures and pronunciation.

Economy and infrastructure

Innsbruck is a substantial tourist centre, with more than a million overnight stays.

In Innsbruck, there are 86,186 employees and about 12,038 employers. 7,598 people are self-employed. Nearly 35,000 people commute every day into Innsbruck from the surrounding communities in the area. The unemployment rate for the year 2012 was 4.2%.

The national statistics office, Statistik Austria, does not produce economic data for the City of Innsbruck alone, but on aggregate level with the Innsbruck-Land District summarised as NUTS 3-region Innsbruck. In 2013, GDP per capita in the NUTS 3-region Innsbruck was €41,400 which is around 60% above the EU average.

The headquarters of Tiroler Wasserkraft (Tiwag, energy production), Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg (financial services), Tiroler Versicherung (insurance) and MED-EL (medical devices) are located in Innsbruck. The headquarters of Swarovski (glass), Felder Group (mechanical engineering) and Swarco (traffic technology) are located within 20 km (12 mi) from the city.

Residential property is very expensive by national standards. The average price per square metre in Innsbruck is €4,430 (2015), which is the second highest per square meter price among Austrian cities surpassed only by Salzburg (€4,823), but followed by Vienna (€3,980).

Transport

Innsbruck is located along the A12/A13 highway corridor (Inn Valley Autobahn and Brenner Autobahn respectively), providing freeway access to Verona, Italy and Munich, Germany. The A12 and A13 converge near Innsbruck, at which point the A13 terminates.

Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof, the most important railway station of Innsbruck and Tyrol, is one of the busiest railway stations in Austria. It is served by the Lower Inn Valley line to Germany and eastern Austria, the Arlberg line to the west and the Brenner line, which connects northern Italy with southern Germany via the Brenner Pass. Since December 2007, suburban services have been operated as the Innsbruck S-Bahn. Innsbruck is the northern end of a major tunnel through the Alps for freight and passenger railway service, called the Brenner Base Tunnel. The tunnel project is expected to be complete by 2032. It will provide a less steep railway route that can also shorten travel time dramatically.

Innsbruck Airport is located in the suburb of Kranebitten, which is located in the west of the city. It provides services to airports including Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Vienna. It also handles regional flights around the Alps, as well as seasonal flights to other destinations. During the winter, activity increases significantly, due to the high number of skiers travelling to the region. The airport is approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the centre of Innsbruck.

Local public transport is provided by Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe (IVB), a public authority operating a network of bus and tram routes. The metre-gauge tram network consists of four city lines, 1, 2, 3 and 5, and two lines serving the surrounding area: line 6, the Innsbrucker Mittelgebirgsbahn to Igls, and line STB, the Stubaitalbahn running through the Stubai Valley to Fulpmes. The network is planned to be enlarged during the coming years to reach the neighboring village Rum in the east and Völs in the west. Numerous bus lines serve the inner city and connect it with surrounding areas. Until 2007, the bus network included two trolleybus routes; they were abandoned in preparation for planned expansion of the tram network, but reinstatement of trolleybuses is planned for 2029.

In December 2007, the Hungerburgbahn, a funicular service to the district of Hungerburg, was reopened after a two-year closure for extensive rebuilding, with partial realignment and a new extension under the Inn River and into central Innsbruck. The line was also equipped with new vehicles. Because of the unique design of the stations, drafted by the famous architect Zaha Hadid, the funicular evolves immediately to a new emblem of the city. The line was rebuilt by the Italian company Leitner, and can now carry up to 1,200 persons per hour. It is operated by a private company, the 'Innsbrucker Nordkettenbahnen'.

Education

Innsbruck is a university city, with several locally based colleges and universities.

Innsbruck is home to the oldest grammar school (Gymnasium) of Western Austria, the "Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck". The school was founded in 1562 by the Jesuit order and was the precursor of the university, founded in 1669.

Innsbruck hosts several universities. The most well-known are the University of Innsbruck (Leopold-Franzens-Universität), the Innsbruck Medical University, and the university of applied sciences MCI Management Center Innsbruck.

Organisations

The international headquarters of SOS Children's Villages, one of the world's largest charities, is located in Innsbruck.

The internationally active NGO Austrian Service Abroad was founded in Innsbruck in 1992 by Andreas Maislinger and Andreas Hörtnagl. Its central office is located at Hutterweg, Innsbruck.

Innsbruck has two universities, the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck and the Innsbruck Medical University. The Innsbruck Medical University has one of Europe's premier ski injury clinics.

The international headquarters of MED-EL, one of the largest producers of cochlear implants, is located in Innsbruck.

The Aouda.X space suit simulator is being developed by the OeWF in Innsbruck. Also, the Mission Support Centre for many of the OeWF Mars analogue missions is situated in the city. This MSC used time delayed communication with Camp Weyprecht in the desert near Erfoud, Morocco for the MARS2013 expedition during February 2013.

Notable residents

Monarchy and aristocracy

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (1415–1493), Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death, the first emperor of the House of Habsburg.

Margaret of Austria, Electress of Saxony (c. 1416–1486), member of the House of Habsburg, was Electress of Saxony 1431–1464 by her marriage with the Wettin elector Frederick II. She was a sister of Emperor Frederick III.

Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1427–1496), Habsburg archduke of Austria and ruler of Tyrol from 1446 to 1490

Elisabeth of Brandenburg (1510–1558), princess of the House of Hohenzollern and a Margravine of Brandenburg

Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517–1586), Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, Burgundian statesman, followed his father as a leading minister of the Spanish Habsburgs.

Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland (1533–1572), one of the fifteen children of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

Anna of Tyrol (1585–1618), by birth Archduchess of Austria and member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Holy Roman Empress

Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria (1629–1685), by birth Archduchess of Austria as a member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg

Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria (1630–1665), ruler of Further Austria including Tyrol

Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol (1632–1649), by birth Archduchess of Austria and member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage the second spouse of her first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III

Public service

Eusebio Kino (1645–1711), Jesuit missionary and explorer of Northwest Mexico and Southwest US, student and later teacher at Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck.

Josef Speckbacher (1767–1820), a leading figure in the rebellion of the Tyrol against Napoleon

Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg (1781/2–1848) statesman and historian.

Hermann von Gilm (1812–1864), lawyer and poet

Vinzenz Maria Gredler (1823 in Telfs – 1912), a Dominican friar, classicist, philosopher theologian and naturalist

Ignatius Klotz (1843–1911), American farmer and politician in Wisconsin

Oswald Redlich (1858–1944), historian and archivist of auxiliary sciences of history

Heinrich Schenkl (1859–1919), classical philologist, son of Karl Schenkl

Diana Budisavljević (1891–1978), humanitarian who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II

Blessed Jakob Gapp (1897–1943), Roman Catholic priest and a Marianist.

Karl Gruber (1909–1995), an Austrian politician and diplomat

Reinhold Stecher (1921–2013), Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of the Diocese of Innsbruck, 1980 to 1997.

Professor Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling (born 1930), a German politician, entrepreneur, philanthropist and media and telecommunications innovator.

War figures

Raoul Stojsavljevic (1887–1930), World War I flying ace

Otto Hofmann (1896–1982), SS-Obergruppenführer director of Nazi Germany's "Race and Settlement Main Office", sentenced to 25 years for war crimes in 1948, pardoned 1954

Robert Bernardis (1908–1944), resistance fighter, part of the attempt to kill Adolf Hitler in the 20 July Plot in 1944.

Josefine Brunner (1909–1943), socialist, resistance member and victim of the Nazi regime

Anton Malloth (1912–2002), a supervisor in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Constanze Manziarly (1920–1945), cook/dietitian to Adolf Hitler until her final days in 1945

Arts

Jacob Regnart (1540s–1599), Flemish Renaissance composer of sacred and secular music

William Young (died 1662), English viol player and composer of the Baroque era, who worked at the court of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck

Johann Paul Schor (1615–1674), artist known in Rome as "Giovanni Paolo Tedesco"

Michael Ignaz Mildorfer (1690–1747), painter, painted primarily religious themed works

Josef Ignaz Mildorfer (1719–1775), painter of frescoes

Franz Edmund Weirotter (1733–1771), painter, draughtsman and etcher of landscapes and maritime scenes

Georg Mader (1824–1881), Austrian painter

Edgar Meyer (1853–1925), painter, built himself a castle and engaged in politics

Karl Schönherr (1867–1943), Austrian writer of Austrian Heimat themes

Mimi Gstöttner-Auer (1886–1977), Austrian stage and film actress

Clemens Holzmeister (1886–1983), architect and stage designer

Erwin Faber (1891–1989), actor in Munich, in the late-1970s he performed at the Residenz Theatre

Igo Sym (1896–1941), Austrian-born Polish actor and collaborator with Nazi Germany

Carl-Heinz Schroth (1902–1989), actor and film director, appeared in 60 films

Science

Adam Tanner (1572–1632) Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy, eponym of the Moon crater Tannerus

Ferdinand Johann Adam von Pernau Count of Rosenau (1660–1731), Austrian ornithologist

Johann Nepomuk von Laicharting (1754–1797), entomologist and Professor of Natural Science

Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (1784–1842), Austrian-born botanist, worked in Western Ukraine

Philipp Sarlay (1826–1908), principal of telegraph office, technological and scientific pioneer

Leopold Pfaundler (1839–1920), physicist and chemist, wrote the kinetic theory of gases

Georg Luger (1849–1923), Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol

Erwin Payr (1871–1946), surgeon, eponym of Splenic-flexure syndrome or "Payr's disease"

Meinhard von Pfaundler (1872–1947), pediatrician, interest in the diathetic aspects of disease

Arnold Durig (1872–1961), Austrian physiologist, investigated organisms at high altitude

Otto E. Neugebauer (1899–1990), Austrian-American mathematician and historian of science

Bruno de Finetti (1906–1985), Italian probabilist, statistician and actuary, noted for the conception of probability

Meinhard Michael Moser (1924–2002), mycologist of the taxonomy, chemistry and toxicity of the gilled mushrooms

Sport

Hady Pfeiffer (1906–2002), Austrian/German alpine skier, competed 1936 Winter Olympics

Roderich Menzel (1907–1987), amateur tennis player and, after his active career, an author

Lotte Scheimpflug (1908–1997), Austrian/Italian luger, competed 1920s to the 1950s

Gustav Lantschner (1910–2011), alpine skier & actor, competed 1936 Winter Olympics

Erich Eliskases (1913–1997), chess grandmaster in the 1950s, represented Austria, Germany and Argentina

Hermann Buhl (1924–1957), mountaineer, considered one of the best climbers of all time

Egon Schöpf (born 1925), alpine skier, competed in the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics

Dagmar Rom (1928–2022), former alpine ski racer, won two gold medals at the 1950 World Championships

Walter Steinegger (1928-2022), former ski jumper who competed in the 1952 Winter Olympics

Fritz Dinkhauser (born 1940), hammer thrower and bobsleigher at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Gert Elsässer (born 1949), skeleton racer who competed in the early 1980s

Franz Marx (born 1963), sport wrestler, qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona

Markus Prock (born 1964), luger who competed between 1983 and 2002

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg, Germany (since 1963)

Grenoble in Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (since 1963)

Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina (since 1980)

Aalborg in Denmark (since 1982)

Tbilisi in Georgia (since 1982)

Ōmachi in Japan, (since 1985)

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (since 1995)

Partnerships

Kraków in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland (since 1998)

Austrian Service Abroad

The Austrian Service Abroad is a NGO, which provides positions for an alternative Austrian national service at 85 organizations in 35 countries worldwide in the sectors Holocaust Memorial Service, Social Service and Peace Service. It was founded by Andreas Maislinger and Andreas Hörtnagl in 1998 and is based in Innsbruck.