Innsbruck

Innsbruck (ĭns`brk), city (1991 pop. 118,112), capital of Tyrol prov., SW Austria, on the Inn River. A famous summer and winter tourist center, it is also an industrial, commercial, and transport center. Manufactures include textiles, shoes, musical instruments, metal products, processed food, and beer. Strategically located in the Eastern Alps, Innsbruck grew to early prominence as a transalpine trading post. It was established as a fortified town by 1180 and received city rights in the early 13th cent. It supplanted Merano as the capital of the Tyrol in 1420. The Tyrolese peasants, led by Andreas Hofer, made their heroic stand (1809) against French and Bavarian troops near Innsbruck; a monument in the city commemorates the event. The Hofkirche (built 1553–63), a Franciscan church, is an architectural gem; it contains a large monument to Emperor Maximilian I (d.1519), who often resided in Innsbruck. Equally famous is the Fürstenburg, a 15th-century castle, which has a balcony with a gilded copper roof (Goldenes Dachl). The Column of St. Anne (1706) is a landmark in Innsbruck's main thoroughfare, the Maria Theresienstrasse. The city has several museums, notably the Ferdinandeum; a botanical garden, which has a large collection of Alpine plants; and a university (founded 1677). The winter Olympic games were held in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976.

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Innsbruck

City (pop., 2001: 113,392), on the Inn River in western Austria, southwest of Salzburg. A small market town in the 12th century, it was located beside a bridge (Brücke) over the Inn. It was chartered in 1239, passed to the Habsburgs in 1363, and in 1420 became the capital of Tirol. Napoleon gave the city to Bavaria in 1806, and in 1809 it was the site of an uprising of Tirolian patriots against the Bavarians and the French. The old town has narrow streets lined with medieval houses and arcades. A winter sports centre, Innsbruck was the site of the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976.

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Innsbruck

a city in W Austria, on the River Inn at the foot of the Brenner Pass: tourist centre. Pop.: 113 392 (2001)

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Innsbruck 

a city in western Austria; administrative center of the province of Tirol. Situated in the picturesque eastern Alps on the Inn River, 574 m above sea level. Population, 113,500 (1968). Innsbruck is a major junction of trade routes from Italy, through the Brenner Pass, to Switzerland and the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the site of textile (wool, cotton, and silk), metalworking, chemical, and food-processing industries. Its crafts include the production of mosaics and glassware. The university in Innsbruck was founded in the 17th century. The city, which is a well-known tourist center and winter sports resort, has ethnographical, natural history, and historical museums and a botanical garden.

Tall houses with arcades and loggias (for example, “Goldenes Dachl,” 1500) line the narrow streets of the old city on the right bank of the Inn. Innsbruck’s architectural monuments include the city tower (14th-16th century), the Hofburg (14th—18th century), the Hofkirche (1553–63), and the Column of St. Anne (1706). A stadium with an indoor skating rink, built by the architect H. Buchrainer, and eight multistory buildings were constructed for the Winter Olympic Games in 1964.

Originally a small-crafts and trading settlement, Innsbruck became a chartered city in 1234. Owing to its advantageous geographical location, it became a major trade center. In 1363 the city came under the rule of the Austrian Hapsburgs, serving as the residence of the Tirolese line of the Hapsburgs from 1420 to 1665. Innsbruck later became the administrative center of Tirol. In 1805, Napoleon I gave Innsbruck, along with the rest of Tirol, to Bavaria. In 1809 the Tirolese peasants, under the leadership of A. Hofer, rebelled against the foreign rulers, destroying the French and Bavarian forces near Innsbruck. In 1814 the city was returned to Austria. In 1938, Innsbruck and the rest of Austria was occupied by fascist Germany, and from 1945 to 1955 the city was occupied by French forces.

REFERENCE

Hammer, H. Kunstgeschichte der Stadt Innsbruck. Innsbruck-Vienna-Munich, 1952.