Innsbruck - Innsbruck Austria

Innsbruck (German: [ˈÊ"ɪnsbʁʊk], local pronunciation: [ˈÊ"ɪnʃprÊŠk]) is the capital city of Tyrol in western Austria. It is located in the Inn valley, at its junction with the Wipp valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass some 30 km (18.6 mi) to the south.

Innsbruck lies about halfway between Munich in Germany and Verona in Italy. Located in the broad valley between high mountains, the so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps (Hafelekarspitze, 2,334 metres or 7,657 feet) to the north, and the Patscherkofel (2,246 m or 7,369 ft) and Serles (2,718 m or 8,917 ft) to the south.

Innsbruck is an internationally renowned winter sports centre, and hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics as well as the 1984 and 1988 Winter Paralympics. Innsbruck also hosted the first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012. The name translates as "Inn bridge".

History

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, and the easiest route across the Alps. The revenues generated by serving as a transit station enabled the city to flourish.

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 Habsburgian 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 Tirol and other Further Austrian possessions administrated 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 Habsburgian dynasty ruled in Innsbruck with an independent court. In the 1620s the first opera house north of the Alps was erected in Innsbruck (Dogana).

In 1669 the university was founded. 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 and until 1814 Innsbruck was part of Bavaria. After the Vienna Congress Austrian rule was restored. Until 1918, the town (one of the 4 autonomous towns in Tyrol) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), head of the district of the same name, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Tyrol province.

The Tyrolean hero Andreas Hofer was executed in Mantua; his remains were returned to Innsbruck in 1823 and interred in the Franciscan church.

During World War I, the only recorded action taking place in Innsbruck was near the end of the war. On February 20, 1918, Allied planes flying out of Italy raided Innsbruck, causing casualties among the Austrian troops there. No damage to the town is recorded.

In 1929, the first official Austrian Chess Championship was held in Innsbruck.

In 1938 Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the Anschluss. Between 1943 and April 1945, Innsbruck experienced twenty-two air raids and suffered heavy damage.

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 following are the nine boroughs with the population as of 31 October 2011:

• Innsbruck (inner city) (18.524), consisting of Oldtown (Altstadt), Dreiheiligen-Schlachthof, and Saggen
• Wilten (15.772), consisting of Mentlberg, Sieglanger, and Wilten West
• Pradl (30.890), consisting of Pradler-Saggen, Reichenau, and Tivoli
• Hötting (31.246), consisting of Höttinger Au, Hötting West, Sadrach, Allerheiligen, Kranebitten, and part of Hungerburg
• Mühlau (4.750), consisting of part of Hungerburg
• Amras (5.403), consisting of Roßau
• Arzl (10.293), consisting of Neuarzl and Olympisches Dorf
• Vill (535)
• Igls (2.204)

Population

Climate

As with the rest of Central Europe, Innsbruck has an continental climate (Köppen classification: Dfb), although with boreal influences (especially in winter) since it has larger annual temperature differences due to its location in the centre of the Continent and its position around mountainous terrains. Winters are often very cold (colder than those of most major European cities) and snowy, although the foehn wind sometimes brings pronounced thaws.

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 9 °C (48 °F).

Main sights

Buildings and monuments

• Alte Innbrücke (Old Inn Bridge)
• Ambras Castle
• Andreas Hofer's tomb
• Annasäule (Anna Pillar)
• Bergiselschanze (Bergisel Tower)
• Büchsenhausen Castle
• Canisianum
• Casino Innsbruck
• City Hall (Stadtsaal)
• Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof)
• Helblinghaus
• Hofburg (Imperial Palace)
• Hungerburgbahn
• Leopold Brunnen (Leopold's Fountain)
• Maria-Theresien-Straße
• Maximilian's Cenotaph and the Black Men (Schwarzen Männer)
• Old Federal State Parliament (Altes Landhaus)
• Old Town (Altstadt)
• Silberne Kapelle (Silver Chapel)
• Stadtturm (City Tower)
• Triumphal Arch (Triumphpforte)
• Tyrolean State Theatre

Museums

• Alpine Club Museum
• Ambras Castle
• Armoury
• City Archives
• Grassmayr Bell Foundry and Museum
• Innsbruck Stubaital station
• Kaiserjäger Museum
• Riesenrundgemälde
• Tyrolean Folk Art Museum (Tiroler Volkunstmuseum)
• Tyrolean State Museum (Tiroler Landesmuseum or Ferdinandeum)
• Tyrolean Museum Railways (Tiroler Museumsbahnen)

Churches

• Hofkirche (Court Church)
• Innsbruck Cathedral (Dom zu St. Jakob)
• Jesuit Church
• Liebfrauenkirche
• Mariahilfkirche
• Servitenkirche
• Spitalskirche
• Ursulinenkirche
• Wilten Abbey (Stift Wilten)
• Wilten Basilica (Wiltener Basilika)

Parks and gardens

• Alpine Zoo (Alpenzoo)
• Innsbruck University Botanic Garden
• Hofgarten (Court Garden)
• Rapoldipark
• Schlosspark Ambras

Gallery

Cultural events

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

• Innsbrucker Tanzsommer
• Bergsilvester (New Year's Eve)
• Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik (Innsbruck Festival of Early Music)
• Christkindlmarkt (Christmas fair)

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 and Lake Placid, New York in the United States, it is one of three 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.

Innsbbruck also hosts one of the 4 ski-jumping competitions of the 4 Hills Tournament every year.

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 organized the Winter Universiade in 2005. Innsbruck's Bergiselschanze is one of the hills of the famous Four Hills Tournament.

Innsbruck is home to the football club FC Wacker Innsbruck, which plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga (first tier) in 2010â€"11. Former teams include the FC Swarovski Tirol and FC Tirol Innsbruck. FC Wacker Innsbruck's stadium, Tivoli Neu, is one of eight stadiums which hosted Euro 2008 which took place in Switzerland and Austria in June 2008.

The city also 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.

Economy and education

Innsbruck is the cultural and economic centre of western Austria. It is also a substantial tourist centre, with more than a million overnight stays. Innsbruck is a university city, with several locally based colleges and universities.

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 summarized 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 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 metre 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, 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 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. It is the main base of Welcome Air and Austrian Airlines' regional carrier Tyrolean Airways. 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 two city lines, 1 and 3, 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 Hall in Tirol in the east and Völs in the west (thus restoring a former tram line [closed in the late 1960s] from Innsbruck to Solbad Hall, as Hall in Tirol was then known). Numerous bus lines serve the inner city and connect it with surrounding areas. Until 2007 the bus network included two trolleybus routes, but these were abandoned in preparation for planned expansion of the tram network.

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 across 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 funiclar evolves immediately to a new emblem of the city. The rebuilt was conducted by the Italian company Leitner, the system can now carry up to 1,200 persons per hour. The line is operated by a private company, the 'Innsbrucker Nordkettenbahnen'.

Education

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.

Politics

The results of the 2012 local elections were:

• Für Innsbruck 21% (conservative)
• Social Democratic Party of Austria 14.5% (left)
• Austrian Green Party 19.1% (left)
• Austrian People's Party 21.9% (conservative)
• Freie Liste Rudi Federspiel 7.9% (right)
• Freedom Party of Austria 7.7% (right)
• Pirate Party Tyrol 3.8%

Organizations

• 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 sons and daughters

early times to 1675

• Margaret of Austria, Electress of Saxony (c. 1416â€"1486), a 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 (1427â€"1496) was a Habsburg archduke of Austria and ruler of Tirol from 1446 to 1490
• Adam Tanner (1572â€"1632) was an Austrian Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy. The crater Tannerus on the moon is named after him
• Anna of Tyrol (1585â€"1618), was by birth Archduchess of Austria and member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Holy Roman Empress
• Johann Paul Schor (1615â€"1674), artist, known in Rome as "Giovanni Paolo Tedesco"
• Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria (1629â€"1685), was by birth Archduchess of Austria as a member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg
• Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Further Austria (1630â€"1665) was the ruler of Further Austria including Tyrol
• Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol (1632â€"1649) was 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
• Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria (1653â€"1676) was by birth Archduchess of Austria and by marriage Holy Roman Empress and the second wife of Leopold I

1675 to 1870

• Michael Ignaz Mildorfer (1690â€"1747) was an Austrian painter, painted primarily religious themed works
• Josef Ignaz Mildorfer (1719â€"1775), painter, son of Michael Ignaz Mildorfer
• Johann Nepomuk von Laicharting (1754-1797) entomologist and Professor of Natural Science (Naturgeschichte) in Innsbruck
• Franz Edmund Weirotter (1773â€"1771) painter, draughtsman and etcher primarily of landscapes and maritime scenes
• Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg (1781/2â€"1848) was an Austrian and German statesman and historian.
• Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (1784â€"1842) was an Austrian-born botanist who worked most of his life within the territory of western Ukraine
• Hermann von Gilm (1812â€"1864) lawyer and poet
• Leopold Pfaundler von Hadermur (1839â€"1920) physicist and chemist. Remembered today for his kinetic-molecular explanation of gas reactions under the condition of equilibrium
• Ignatius Klotz, Sr. (1843â€"1911) was an American farmer and politician in Wisconsin
• Edgar Meyer (painter) (1853â€"1925) painter who built himself a castle and engaged in politics

1870 to 1900

• Erwin Payr (1871â€"1946) surgeon. Splenic-flexure syndrome or "Payr's disease" is named after a condition he described.
• Meinhard von Pfaundler (1872â€"1947) pediatrician. He was particularly interested in the diathetic aspects of disease
• Henry Taaffe, 12th Viscount Taaffe (1872â€"1928) was an Austrian landowner who until 1919 held hereditary titles from both Austria and Ireland
• Clemens Holzmeister (1886â€"1983) architect and stage designer
• Erwin Faber (1891â€"1989) leading actor in Munich and Germany, in the late-1970s he performed at the Residenz Theatre
• Diana Budisavljević (1891â€"1978) was a humanitarian who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II
• Otto Hofmann (1896â€"1982) was an SS-Obergruppenführer and director of Nazi Germany's "Race and Settlement Main Office". He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes in 1948 and pardoned on 7 April 1954
• Karol Juliusz "Igo" Sym (1896â€"1941) was an Austrian-born Polish actor and collaborator with Nazi Germany
• Otto Eduard Neugebauer (1899â€"1990) was an Austrian American mathematician and historian of science

1900 to 1918

• Carl-Heinz Schroth (1902â€"1989) actor and film director. He appeared in 60 films between 1931 and 1989
• Hady Pfeiffer, (1906â€"2002) was an Austrian and later German alpine skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics
• Bruno de Finetti (1906â€"1985) was an Italian probabilist, statistician and actuary, noted for the "operational subjective" conception of probability
• Roderich Ferdinand Ottomar Menzel (1907â€"1987) was an amateur tennis player and, after his active career, an author
• Lotte Scheimpflug, (née Embacher) (1908- ??) an Austrian and later Italian luger, competed from the 1920s to the 1950s.
• Gustav "Guzzi" Lantschner (1910â€"2011) alpine skier turned actor. He competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics
• Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (1913â€"1997) was a chess Grandmaster of the 1930s and 1940s, who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition

1918 to 1930

• Constanze Manziarly (1920-1945) cook/dietitian to Adolf Hitler until his final days in Berlin in 1945
• Judith Holzmeister (1920â€"2008) actress, married to the actor Curd Jürgens 1947â€"1955
• Reinhold Stecher (1921â€"2013) prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop of the Diocese of Innsbruck 1980 to 1997.
• Otmar Suitner (1922â€"2010) conductor who spent most of his professional career in East Germany. He was Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1960 to 1964
• Hermann Buhl (1924â€"1957) mountaineer, and is considered one of the best climbers of all time
• Egon Schöpf (born 1925) alpine skier who competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics and in the 1952 Winter Olympics
• Dietmar Schönherr (1926â€"2014) was an Austrian film actor
• Ilse von Alpenheim (born 1927) pianist
• Dagmar Rom (born 1928) is a former alpine ski racer, won two gold medals at the 1950 World Championships
• Walter Steinegger (born 1928) former ski jumper who competed from 1952 to 1963 and in the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo

1930 to modern times

• Friedrich Josef Lienhard "Fritz" Dinkhauser (born 1940) politician, hammer thrower and bobsleigher at the 1968 Winter Olympics
• Marcello Spatafora (born 1941) is an Italian diplomat, former Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations.
• Radu Malfatti (born 1946) trombone player and composer
• Gert Elsässer (born 1949) skeleton racer who competed in the early 1980s
• Gabriele Sima (1955â€"2016) opera singer
• Wolfgang Scheffler (born 1956) is the inventor/promoter of large, flexible, parabolic reflecting dishes that concentrate sunlight for solar cooking in community kitchens, bakeries, and in the world's first solar-powered crematorium
• Franz Marx (born 1963) sport wrestler, qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona
• Christian Spielmann (born 1963) physicist and a professor at the University of Jena
• Markus Prock (born 1964) luger who competed between 1983 and 2002
• Armin Wolf (born 1966) journalist and television anchor
• Eva Lind (born 1966) operatic soprano
• Bernhard Landauer (born 1970) countertenor
• Gabriel Kuhn (born 1972) is a political writer and translator based in Sweden
• René Benko (born 1977) real estate investor and founder of Signa Holding
• Alice Tumler (born 1978) television presenter.
• Manu Delago (born 1984) Hang player, percussionist and composer based in London.
• Fritz Dopfer (born 1987) world Cup alpine ski racer, specializing in the giant slalom and slalom.
• Susanna Kurzthaler (born 1995) biathlete
• Vanessa Herzog (née Bittner) (born 1995) speed skater.

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)
• ÅŒmachi in Japan, (since 1985)
• New Orleans in 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.