Tiroler Landestheater & Kongresshaus

Rennweg 3

Worth knowing

Where the large and very modern congress centre now stands opposite the Hofgarten, the building designed by Alberto Lucchese has stood since 1581. Comdedihauswhich Prince Ferdinand II had built for the Innsbruck court. The name Comedihaus is misleading. The plays that were performed were usually plays that lasted for hours and related to a biblical theme or, in the spirit of the Renaissance, to antiquity. Theatre was intended to prepare the audience for confessional resistance against the threat of brutalisation by Protestantism and to keep spirits high against the Ottoman threat. For the wedding of Emperor Ferdinand in 1622, a play with the catchy title "Action of Ovinio Gallicono, who once defeats the Scythians after becoming a Christian and thus acquiring the hand of Constantine's daughter" for performance by the Jesuits and their students. For a long time, the majority of plays were in Latin; it was only later that the German vernacular became the language of theatre for plays aimed at an educated audience. In addition to plays, it was also possible to stage elaborate performances such as dressage riding and water games.

Prince Leopold V had the ballroom converted into a court theatre in 1630. His wife Claudia de Medici and he, as educated contemporaries of the Renaissance and the 17th century, appreciated art and culture. Their city of residence was to be at the cutting edge. Until then, it had been customary for theatres to be travelling institutions that moved from city to city; now a fixed team was to entertain the court and the citizens as required. The Dogana war eines der ersten Opern- und Theaterhäuser im Heiligen Römischen Reich überhaupt. Highlights waren das Ross- und das Damenballett, das vom Fürstenpaar bis an den Hof in Wien exportiert wurde. Innsbruck allerdings war eine kleine Stadt mit etwa 5000 Einwohnern. Das Theater war zu groß geraten und auf Dauer nicht rentabel zu erhalten.

In 1653, the municipal theatre moved to the site of today's Tiroler Landestheater on the opposite square next to the Hofgarten. Christoph Gumpp planned to convert one of the former ballrooms into a more modern theatre. Comedihaus in Venetian style, which could seat around 1000 spectators.

um. Das Landestheater in seinem aktuellen Aussehen wurde im 19. Jahrhundert vom italienischen Architekten Giuseppe Segusini geplant. Die kunstsinnigen Bürger Innsbrucks gierten nach Unterhaltung, wie sie international üblich war. Dafür musste das alte Nationaltheater modern extension and remodelling. A large part of the costs were borne by the city's theatre association, in keeping with the spirit of social bourgeoisie. The reopening in its current appearance took place on 19 April 1846, the birthday of Emperor Ferdinand I, a monarch who was particularly fond of the city of Innsbruck.  

The classicist building was constructed against a similar social background to the Ferdinandeum. The shape of the building resembles a Roman triumphal arch. The imposing entrance area with stairs is supported by mighty columns. Today, the venerable Landestheater seems almost somewhat lost next to the massive and modern Haus der Musik.

Auch in Innsbruck war die Hochkultur und deren Deutung immer auch ein Zeichen der Macht und Herrschaftsverhältnisse. Die Namen des Theaterhauses spiegeln die Geschichte Innsbrucks, Tirols und Österreichs wider. 1765 unter Maria Theresia wurde das „Hoftheater" and under their son Josef, a supporter of the modern nation state, it was renovated into the Nationaltheater.. In 1805, under Bavarian foreign rule, it was the "Königlich-Bayrische Hof-Nationaltheater". In the age of nationalism, it was again austrianised and relaunched in 1844 under the name "Nationaltheater" closed due to dilapidation. From 1938 - 1945 it was used as a "Reichsgautheater“ bekannt, der Platz davor wurde in Adolf Hitler Square renamed. After the war, it was given its current name Tiroler Landestheater.

The former ballroom on the opposite side of the street, today's Kongresshaus, was first used as a riding school and from 1776 as a toll house. The centralisation under Maria Theresa required new infrastructure to accommodate the civil servants for taxation. The name Dogana, italienisch für Zoll, rührt von dieser Verwendung. Im 2. Weltkrieg erlitt die Dogana erheblichen Schaden. Von 1970-1973 wurde sie zu einem Teil des heutigen Kongresszentrums umgebaut. Seit 2007 ist die erste Station der Hungerburgbahn neben dem Kongresshaus zu finden. 2018 befand sich vor dem Kongresshaus das Ziel der Radweltmeisterschaften. 

Ferdinand II: Innsbruck's Principe and Renaissance Prince

Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (1529 - 1595) is one of the most colourful figures in Tyrolean history. His father, Emperor Ferdinand I, gave him an excellent education. He grew up at the Spanish court of his uncle Emperor Charles V. The years in which Ferdinand received his schooling were the early years of Jesuit influence at the Habsburg courts. The young statesman was brought up entirely in the spirit of pious humanism. This was complemented by the customs of the Renaissance aristocracy. At a young age, he travelled through Italy and Burgundy and had become acquainted with a lifestyle at the wealthy courts there that had not yet established itself among the German aristocracy. Ferdinand was what today would be described as a globetrotter, a member of the educated elite or a cosmopolitan. He was considered intelligent, charming and artistic. Among his less eccentric contemporaries, Ferdinand enjoyed a reputation as an immoral and hedonistic libertine. Even during his lifetime, he was rumoured to have organised debauched and immoral orgies.

Ferdinand's father divided his realm between his sons. Maximilian II, who was rightly suspected of heresy and adherence to Protestant doctrines by his parents, inherited Upper and Lower Austria as well as Bohemia and Hungary. Ferdinand's younger brother Charles ruled in Inner Austria, i.e. Carinthia, Styria and Carniola. The middle child received Tyrol, which at the time extended as far as the Engadine, and the fragmented Habsburg Forelands in the west of the central European possessions.

Ferdinand took over the province of Tyrol as sovereign in turbulent times. He had already spent several years in Innsbruck in his youth. The mines in Schwaz began to become unprofitable due to the cheap silver from America. The flood of silver from the Habsburg possessions in New Spain on the other side of the Atlantic led to inflation. However, these financial problems did not stop Ferdinand from commissioning personal and public infrastructure. Innsbruck benefited enormously culturally from the fact that, after years without a sovereign ruler, it was now once again the centre of a ruler. The Italian cities of Florence, Venice and Milan were influential in terms of culture, art and architecture. Ferdinand's Tyrolean court was to be in no way inferior to them. Gone were the days when Germans were considered uncivilised in the more beautiful cities south of the Alps, barbaric or even as Pigs were labelled. To this end, he had Innsbruck remodelled in the spirit of the Renaissance. In keeping with the trend of the time, he imitated the Italian aristocratic courts. Court architect Giovanni Lucchese assisted him in this endeavour.

He spent a considerable part of his life at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck, where he amassed one of the most valuable collections of works of art and armour in the world. Ferdinand transformed the castle above the village of Amras into a modern court. His parties, masked balls and parades were legendary. During the wedding of a nephew, he had 1800 calves and 130 oxen roasted. Wine is said to have flowed from the wells instead of water for 10 days.

But Ambras Castle was not the end of Innsbruck's transformation. To the west of the city, an archway still reminds us of the Tiergartena hunting ground for Ferdinand, including a summer house also designed by Lucchese. In order for the prince to reach his weekend residence, a road was laid in the marshy Höttinger Au, which formed the basis for today's Kranebitter Allee. The Lusthaus was replaced in 1786 by what is now known as the Pulverturm The new building, which houses part of the sports science faculty of the University of Innsbruck, replaced the well-known building. The princely sport of hunting was followed in the former Lusthauswhich was the Powder Tower. In the city centre, he had the princely Comedihaus on today's Rennweg. In order to improve Innsbruck's drinking water supply, the Mühlauerbrücke bridge was built under Ferdinand to lay a water pipeline from the Mühlaubach stream into the city centre. The Jesuits, who had arrived in Innsbruck shortly before Ferdinand took office to make life difficult for troublesome reformers and church critics and to reorganise the education system, were given a new church in Silbergasse.

He paid particular attention to the confessional orientation of his flock. Fleecing the population, living in splendour, tolerating Protestantism among his important advisors and at the same time fighting Protestantism among the people was no contradiction for the trained Renaissance prince. Already at the age of 15, he marched under his uncle Charles V in the Schmalkaldic War into battle against the enemies of the Roman Church. As a sovereign, he saw himself as Advocatus Ecclesiae (note: representative of the church) in a confessional absolutist sense, who was responsible for the salvation of his subjects. Coercive measures, the foundation of churches and monasteries such as the Franciscans and the Capuchins in Innsbruck, improved pastoral care and the staging of Jesuit theatre plays such as "The beheading of John" were the weapons of choice against Protestantism. Ferdinand's piety was not artificial, but like most of his contemporaries, he managed to adapt flexibly to the situation.

Ferdinand's politics were suitably influenced by the Italian avant-garde of the time. Machiavelli wrote his work "Il Principe", which stated that rulers were allowed to do whatever was necessary for their success, even if they were incapable of being deposed. Ferdinand II attempted to do justice to this early absolutist style of leadership and issued his Tyrolean Provincial Code A modern set of legal rules by the standards of the time. For his subjects, this meant higher taxes on their earnings as well as extensive restrictions on mountain pastures, fishing and hunting rights. The miners, mining entrepreneurs and foreign trading companies with their offices in Innsbruck also drove up food prices. It could be summarised that Ferdinand enjoyed the exclusive pleasure of hunting on his estates, while his subjects lived at subsistence level due to increasing burdens, prices and game damage.

His relationship life was eccentric for a member of the high aristocracy. Ferdinand's first "semi-wild marriage" was to the commoner Philippine Welser. The sovereign is said to have been downright infatuated with his beautiful wife, which is why he disregarded all the conventions of the time. Their children were excluded from the succession due to the strict social order of the 16th century. After Philippine Welser died, Ferdinand married the devout Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a 16-year-old princess of Mantua, at the age of 53. However, it seems that the two did not feel much affection for each other, especially as Anna Caterina was a niece of Ferdinand. The Habsburgs were less squeamish about marriages between relatives than they were about the marriage of a nobleman to a commoner. However, he was also "only" able to father three daughters with her. Ferdinand's final resting place was in the Silver Chapel with his first wife Philippine Welser.

Leopold V & Claudia de Medici: Glamour and splendour in Innsbruck

Das für das barocke Gesicht Innsbrucks bedeutendste Fürstenpaar regierte Tirol während der Zeit, in der der Dreißigjährige Krieg Europa verheerte. Der Habsburger Leopold (1586 – 1632) um die landesfürstlichen Regierungsgeschäfte im oberösterreichischen Regiment in Tirol und den Vorlanden zu führen. Er hatte die klassische Erziehung unter den Fittichen der Jesuiten genossen. In Graz und Judenburg studierte er Philosophie und Theologie, um sich für den machtpolitischen Bereich des Klerus vorzubereiten, eine übliche Karriere nachgeborener Söhne, die kaum Chancen auf weltliche Throne hatten. Leopolds frühe Karriere im Machtapparat der Kirche steht für all das, was Protestanten und Kirchenreformer an der katholischen Kirche ablehnten. Mit 12 Jahren wurde er zum Bischof von Passau gewählt, mit dreizehn wurde er zum Koadjutor des Bistums Straßburg in Lothringen ernannt. Kirchliche Weihen hingegen erhielt er nie. Für die geistlichen Pflichten war sein Fürstbischof zuständig. Er war leidenschaftlicher Politiker, reiste viel zwischen seinen Bistümern und beteiligte sich auf kaiserlicher Seite am Konflikt zwischen Rudolf II. und Matthias, der Vorlage für Franz Grillparzers „Bruderzwist im Hause Habsburg“. Diese Agenden, die einem Kirchenmann nicht unbedingt zur Ehre gereichten, sollten Leopolds Chance auf weltliche Fürstenwürden am Leben halten.

Diese Chance kam, als der unverheiratete Maximilian III. 1618 kinderlos verstarb. Leopold fungierte auf Geheiß seines Bruders als habsburgischer Gubernator und Regierer dieser Ober- und Vorderösterreichischen, auch Mitincorpierter Leuth und Lannde. In seinen ersten Jahren als Regent musste er weiterhin zwischen seinen von den Wirren des Dreißigjährigen Krieges bedrohten Bistümern in Süd- und Westdeutschland pendeln. Der ambitionierte Machtpolitiker war zwar wohl mit dem aufregenden Leben inmitten der hohen Politik zufrieden, nicht aber mit seinem Status als Gubernator. Er wollte den Titel des Landesfürsten samt Huldigung und dynastischem Erbrecht. Für den Fürstentitel und um einen Hofstaat einzurichten, fehlten eine passende Braut, Zeit und Geld. Die kostspieligen Auseinandersetzungen, an denen er beteiligt war, hatten Leopolds Säckel geleert.

Das Geld kam mit der Braut und mit ihr auch die Zeit. Claudia de Medici (1604 – 1648) aus dem reichen toskanischen Kaufmanns- und Fürstengeschlecht wurde dazu auserkoren, den mittlerweile schon auf die 40 zugehenden Landesfürsten in Spe mit dynastischen Freuden zu beglücken. Claudia war bereits im Kindesalter dem Herzog von Urbino versprochen worden, den sie mit 17 Jahren trotz eines Antrags Kaiser Ferdinands II. heiratete. Nach zwei Jahren Ehe verstarb ihr Gatte. Die Bande mit den Habsburgern waren noch vorhanden. Spätestens seit der Hochzeit Francesco de Medici mit Johanna von Habsburg, einer Tochter Ferdinands I. waren die beiden Dynastien gut verzahnt. Auch Leopold und Claudia waren ein Perfect Match aus Titel, Macht und Geld. 1625 verzichtete der mittlerweile zum Herzog Erhobene auf seine kirchlichen Besitztümer und Würden, um heiraten und eine neue Tiroler Linie des Hauses Habsburg gründen zu können.

Die Medici hatten mit Baumwoll- und Textilhandel, vor allem aber mit Finanzgeschäften ein Vermögen verdient und waren zu politischer Macht gekommen. 1570 wurde Cosimo de Medici vom Papst zum ersten Großherzog der Toskana ernannt. Aus dem toskanischen Geldadel wurde dank großzügiger Kredite und Spenden europäischer Hochadel. Unter den Medici war Florenz das kulturelle und finanzwirtschaftliche Zentrum Europas geworden, vergleichbar mit dem New York des 20. Jahrhunderts. Galileo Galilei war Erster Mathematiker Herzog Cosimos II. Im 17. Jahrhundert hatte die Stadt am Arno zwar an politischem Gewicht eingebüßt, in kultureller Hinsicht war Florenz aber noch immer die Benchmark. Leopold setzte alles daran, um seine Residenzstadt in diese Liga zu katapultieren.

Im Februar 1622 hatten die Hochzeitsfeierlichkeiten zwischen Kaiser Ferdinand II. und Eleonore von Mantua in Innsbruck stattgefunden. Für den norditalienischen Brautanhang war Innsbruck leichter zu erreichen als Wien. Tirol war auch konfessionell geeint und war von den ersten Jahren des Dreißigjährigen Krieges verschont geblieben. Während die kaiserliche Hochzeit fünf Tage dauerte, zog sich die Party von Leopold und Claudia über 2 Wochen. Die offizielle Hochzeit hatte ohne Beisein des Bräutigams im Florentiner Dom stattgefunden, das Fest zu Ehren der Verbindung von Habsburg und Medici ging als eines der prächtigsten in Geschichte Innsbrucks ein und hielt die Stadt zwei Wochen lang in Atem. Das Brautpaar zog wie zuvor der Kaiser in einem langen Zug durch zwei eigens errichtete Pforten in der Stadt ein. Ein breites Unterhaltungsprogramm, darunter „Bears, Turks and Moors" left guests and townspeople enraptured and amazed.

Weniger glorreich waren Leopolds frühe Regierungsjahre für seine Untertanen. Seine Politik wurde von vielen Auseinandersetzungen mit den Landständen geprägt. Er war als Hardliner der Gegenreformation ein Unterstützer der kaiserlichen Truppen. Das Unterengadin, über das Leopold die Gerichtsgewalt hatte, war ein steter Unruheherd. Unter dem Vorwand, die dort ansässigen katholischen Untertanen vor protestantischen Übergriffen zu schützen, ließ Leopold das Gebiet besetzen. Er konnte Aufstände zwar immer wieder erfolgreich unterdrücken, die Ressourcen, die dafür nötig waren, brachten Bevölkerung und Landstände aber in Rage. Auch an der Nordgrenze zu Bayern war die Lage unruhig und erforderte Leopold als Kriegsherrn. Herzog Bernhard von Weimar hatte Füssen eingenommen und stand bei der Ehrenberger Klause vor den Landesgrenzen. Innsbruck blieb zwar von direkten Kriegshandlungen verschont, war aber dank den nahen Fronten trotzdem Teil des Dreißigjährigen Krieges.

He provided the financial means for this through a comprehensive tax reform to the detriment of the middle class. The inflation that was common during wars due to the stagnation of trade, which was important for Innsbruck, worsened the lives of the subjects. In 1622, a bad harvest due to bad weather exacerbated the situation, which was already strained by the interest burden on the state budget caused by old debts. His insistence on enforcing modern Roman law across the board as opposed to traditional customary law did not win him any favour with many of his subjects.

All this did not stop Leopold and Claudia from holding court in a splendid absolutist manner. Innsbruck was extensively remodelled in Baroque style during Leopold's reign. Spectacular festivities took place at court in the presence of the European aristocracy. Shows such as lion fights with animals from the princely herd, which Ferdinand II had established in the court gardens, theatre and concerts served to entertain court society. The manners of the harsh alpine farmers were also to improve. Swearing, shouting and the use of firearms in the streets were banned, as was the free movement of farm animals within the city limits. Waste, which was a particular problem when there was no rain and no water flowing through the canal system, was regularly cleaned up by princely decree.

Nach dem frühen Tod Leopolds regierte Claudia an Stelle ihres minderjährigen Sohnes das Land mit Hilfe ihres Hofkanzlers Wilhelm Biener (1590 – 1651) mit moderner, frühabsolutistischer Politik und strenger Hand. Sie konnte sich dabei auf eine gut funktionierende Verwaltung stützen. Die junge Witwe umgab sich mit Italienern und italienischsprachigen Tirolern, die frische Ideen ins Land brachten. Die Seidenraupenzucht im Trentino und erste, zarte Überlegungen rund um eine Tiroler Universität gediehen unter Claudias Regentschaft. Kanzler Biener zentralisierte Teile der Verwaltung. Vor allem das fragmentierte Rechtsystem innerhalb der Tiroler Territorien sollte durch einen allgemeingültigen Kodex ersetzt werden. Dafür musste der oft willkürlich agierende lokale Kleinadel zu Gunsten des Landesfürsten weiter entmachtet werden. Dieses einheitliche System sollte auch den Ausbau der Verteidigungsanlagen an den Tiroler Grenzen in den unruhigen Kriegszeiten finanzieren. Die für ihre Brutalität berüchtigten Schweden bedrohten das Land, konnten durch diese Maßnahmen aber abgewehrt werden. Bei Scharnitz an der heutigen deutschen Grenze wurden Verteidigungsanlagen errichtet und nach der Landesfürstin Porta Claudia genannt. Als Claudia de Medici 1648 starb, kam es wie fast zur gleichen Zeit in England unter Cromwell zu einem Aufstand der Stände gegen die Zentralregierung. Claudia, die nie die deutsche Landessprache gelernt hatte und auch sonst auch nach über 20 Jahren noch mit lokalen Bräuchen fremdelte, war nie besonders beliebt in der Bevölkerung gewesen. An eine Absetzung war aber nicht zu denken. Der Schierlingsbecher wurde an ihren Kanzler weitergereicht. Der unbequeme Biener wurde vom Nachfolger Claudias, Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl, und den Landständen als Persona non grata was imprisoned and, like Charles I, beheaded two years after a show trial in 1651.

A touch of Florence and Medici still characterises Innsbruck today: both the Jesuit church, where Claudia and Leopold found their final resting place, and the Mariahilf parish church still bear the coat of arms of their family with the red balls and lilies. The Old Town Hall in the old town centre is also known as Claudiana known. Remains of the Porta Claudia near Scharnitz still stand today. The theatre in Innsbruck is particularly associated with Leopold's name. A fountain on the forecourt commemorates him. A street name in Saggen was dedicated to Chancellor Wilhelm Biener.

The master builders Gumpp and the baroqueisation of Innsbruck

Die Werke der Familie Gumpp bestimmen bis heute sehr stark das Aussehen Innsbrucks. Vor allem die barocken Teile der Stadt sind auf die Hofbaumeister zurückzuführen. Der Begründer der Dynastie in Tirol, Christoph Gumpp (1600-1672) war eigentlich Tischler. Sein Talent allerdings hatte ihn für höhere Weihen auserkoren. Den Beruf des Architekten gab es zu dieser Zeit noch nicht. Michelangelo und Leonardo Da Vinci galten in ihrer Zeit als Handwerker, nicht als Künstler. Der Ruhm ihrer Kunstwerke allerdings hatte den Wert italienischer Baumeister innerhalb der Aristokratie immens nach oben getrieben. Wer auf sich hielt, beschäftigte jemand aus dem Süden am Hof. Christoph Gumpp, obwohl aus dem Schwabenland nach Innsbruck gekommen, trat nach seiner Mitarbeit an der Dreifaltigkeitskirche in die Fußstapfen der von Ferdinand II. hochgeschätzten Renaissance-Architekten aus Italien. Auf Geheiß Ferdinands Nachfolger Leopold V. reiste Gumpp nach Italien, um dort Theaterbauten zu studieren- Er sollte bei den kulturell den Ton angebenden Nachbarn südlich des Brenners sein Wissen für das geplante landesfürstliche Comedihaus aufzupolieren. Gumpps offizielle Tätigkeit als Hofbaumeister begann 1633 und er sollte diesen Titel an die nächsten beiden Generationen weitervererben. Über die folgenden Jahrzehnte sollte Innsbruck einer kompletten Renovierung unterzogen werden. Neue Zeiten bedurften eines neuen Designs, abseits des düsteren, von der Gotik geprägten Mittelalters. Die Gumpps traten nicht nur als Baumeister in Erscheinung. Sie waren Tischler, Maler, Kupferstecher und Architekten, was ihnen erlaubte, ähnlich der Bewegung der Tiroler Moderne rund um Franz Baumann und Clemens Holzmeister Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, Projekte ganzheitlich umzusetzen. Johann Martin Gumpp der Ältere, Georg Anton Gumpp und Johann Martin Gumpp der Jüngere waren für viele der bis heute prägendsten Gebäude zuständig. So stammen die Wiltener Stiftskirche, die Mariahilfkirche, die Johanneskirche und die Spitalskirche von den Gumpps.  Neben Kirchen und ihrer Arbeit als Hofbaumeister machten sie sich auch als Planer von Profanbauten einen Namen. Viele der Bürgerhäuser und Stadtpaläste Innsbrucks wie das Taxispalais oder das Alte Landhaus in der Maria-Theresien-Straße wurden von Ihnen entworfen. Das Meisterstück aber war das Comedihaus, das Christoph Gumpp für Leopold V. und Claudia de Medici im ehemaligen Ballhaus plante. Die überdimensionierten Maße des damals richtungsweisenden Theaters, das in Europa zu den ersten seiner Art überhaupt gehörte, erlaubte nicht nur die Aufführung von Theaterstücken, sondern auch Wasserspiele mit echten Schiffen und aufwändige Pferdeballettaufführungen. Das Comedihaus war ein Gesamtkunstwerk an und für sich, das in seiner damaligen Bedeutung wohl mit dem Festspielhaus in Bayreuth des 19. Jahrhunderts oder der Elbphilharmonie heute verglichen werden muss. Das ehemalige Wohnhaus der Familie Gumpp kann heute noch begutachtet werden, es beherbergt heute die Konditorei Munding, eines der traditionsreichsten Cafés der Stadt.

Innsbruck and National Socialism

In the 1920s and 30s, the NSDAP also grew and prospered in Tyrol. The first local branch of the NSDAP in Innsbruck was founded in 1923. With "Der Nationalsozialist - Combat Gazette for Tyrol and Vorarlberg" published its own weekly newspaper. In 1933, the NSDAP also experienced a meteoric rise in Innsbruck. The general dissatisfaction and disenchantment with politics among the citizens and theatrically staged torchlight processions through the city, including swastika-shaped bonfires on the Nordkette mountain range during the election campaign, helped the party to make huge gains. Over 1800 Innsbruck residents were members of the SA, which had its headquarters at Bürgerstraße 10. While the National Socialists were only able to win 2.8% of the vote in their first municipal council election in 1921, this figure had already risen to 41% by the 1933 elections. Nine mandataries, including the later mayor Egon Denz and the Gauleiter of Tyrol Franz Hofer, were elected to the municipal council. It was not only Hitler's election as Reich Chancellor in Germany, but also campaigns and manifestations in Innsbruck that helped the party, which had been banned in Austria since 1934, to achieve this result. As everywhere else, it was mainly young people in Innsbruck who were enthusiastic about National Socialism. They were attracted by the new, the clearing away of old hierarchies and structures such as the Catholic Church, the upheaval and the unprecedented style. National Socialism was particularly popular among the big German-minded lads in the student fraternities and often also among professors.

When the annexation of Austria to Germany took place in March 1938, civil war-like scenes ensued. Already in the run-up to the invasion, there had been repeated marches and rallies by the National Socialists after the ban on the party had been lifted. Even before Federal Chancellor Schuschnigg gave his last speech to the people before handing over power to the National Socialists with the words "God bless Austria" had closed on 11 March 1938, the National Socialists were already gathering in the city centre to celebrate the invasion of the German troops. The police of the corporative state were partly sympathetic to the riots of the organised manifestations and partly powerless in the face of the goings-on. Although the Landhaus and Maria-Theresien-Straße were cordoned off and secured with machine-gun posts, there was no question of any crackdown by the executive. "One people - one empire - one leader" echoed through the city. The threat of the German military and the deployment of SA troops dispelled the last doubts. More and more of the enthusiastic population joined in. At the Tiroler Landhaus, then still in Maria-Theresienstraße, and at the provisional headquarters of the National Socialists in the Gasthaus Old Innspruggthe swastika flag was hoisted.

On 12 March, the people of Innsbruck gave the German military a frenetic welcome. On 5 April, Adolf Hitler visited Innsbruck in person to be celebrated by the crowd. Archive photos show a euphoric crowd awaiting the Führer, the promise of salvation. Mountain fires in the shape of swastikas were lit on the Nordkette. The referendum on 10 April resulted in a vote of over 99% in favour of Austria's annexation to Germany. After the economic hardship of the interwar period, the economic crisis and the governments under Dollfuß and Schuschnigg, people were tired and wanted change. What kind of change was initially less important than the change itself. "Showing them up there", that was Hitler's promise. The Wehrmacht and industry offered young people a perspective, even those who had little to do with the ideology of National Socialism in and of itself. The fact that there were repeated outbreaks of violence was not unusual for the interwar period in Austria anyway. Unlike today, democracy was not something that anyone could have got used to in the short period between the monarchy in 1918 and the elimination of parliament under Dollfuß in 1933, which was characterised by political extremes. There is no need to abolish something that does not actually exist in the minds of the population.

Tyrol and Vorarlberg were combined into a Reichsgau with Innsbruck as its capital. There was no armed resistance, as the left in Tyrol was not strong enough. There were isolated instances of unorganised subversive behaviour by the Catholic population, especially in some rural communities around Innsbruck. Even though National Socialism was viewed sceptically by a large part of the population, there was hardly any organised resistance. The apparatus of power dominated people's everyday lives too comprehensively. Many jobs and other comforts of life were tied to an at least outwardly loyal attitude to the party. The majority of the population was spared imprisonment, but the fear of it was omnipresent.

The regime under Hofer and Gestapo chief Werner Hilliges also did a great job of suppression. In Tyrol, the church was the biggest obstacle. During National Socialism, the Catholic Church was systematically combated. Catholic schools were converted, youth organisations and associations were banned, monasteries were closed, religious education was abolished and a church tax was introduced. Particularly stubborn priests such as Otto Neururer were sent to concentration camps. Local politicians such as the later Innsbruck mayors Anton Melzer and Franz Greiter also had to flee or were arrested. To summarise the violence and crimes committed against the Jewish population, the clergy, political suspects, civilians and prisoners of war would go beyond the scope of this book.

The Gestapo headquarters were located at Herrengasse 1, where suspects were severely abused and sometimes beaten to death with fists. In 1941, the Reichenau labour camp was set up in Rossau near the Innsbruck building yard. Suspects of all kinds were kept here for forced labour in shabby barracks. Over 130 people died in this camp consisting of 20 barracks due to illness, the poor conditions, labour accidents or executions.

Prisoners were also forced to work at the Messerschmitt factory in the village of Kematen, 10 kilometres from Innsbruck. These included political prisoners, Russian prisoners of war and Jews. The forced labour included, among other things, the construction of the South Tyrolean settlements in the final phase or the tunnels to protect against air raids in the south of Innsbruck. In the Innsbruck clinic, disabled people and those deemed unacceptable by the system, such as homosexuals, were forcibly sterilised.

The memorials to the National Socialist era are few and far between. The Tiroler Landhaus with the Liberation Monument and the building of the Old University are the two most striking memorials. The forecourt of the university and a small column at the southern entrance to the hospital were also designed to commemorate what was probably the darkest chapter in Austria's history.

Baroque: art movement and art of living

Anyone travelling in Austria will be familiar with the domes and onion domes of churches in villages and towns. This form of church tower originated during the Counter-Reformation and is a typical feature of the Baroque architectural style. They are also predominant in Innsbruck's cityscape. Innsbruck's most famous places of worship, such as the cathedral, St John's Church and the Jesuit Church, are in the Baroque style. Places of worship were meant to be magnificent and splendid, a symbol of the victory of true faith. Religiousness was reflected in art and culture: grand drama, pathos, suffering, splendour and glory combined to create the Baroque style, which had a lasting impact on the entire Catholic-oriented sphere of influence of the Habsburgs and their allies between Spain and Hungary.

The cityscape of Innsbruck changed enormously. The Gumpps and Johann Georg Fischer as master builders as well as Franz Altmutter's paintings have had a lasting impact on Innsbruck to this day. The Old Country House in the historic city centre, the New Country House in Maria-Theresien-Straße, the countless palazzi, paintings, figures - the Baroque was the style-defining element of the House of Habsburg in the 17th and 18th centuries and became an integral part of everyday life. The bourgeoisie did not want to be inferior to the nobles and princes and had their private houses built in the Baroque style. Pictures of saints, depictions of the Mother of God and the heart of Jesus adorned farmhouses.

Baroque was not just an architectural style, it was an attitude to life that began after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The Turkish threat from the east, which culminated in the two sieges of Vienna, determined the foreign policy of the empire, while the Reformation dominated domestic politics. Baroque culture was a central element of Catholicism and its political representation in public, the counter-model to Calvin's and Luther's brittle and austere approach to life. Holidays with a Christian background were introduced to brighten up people's everyday lives. Architecture, music and painting were rich, opulent and lavish. In theatres such as the Comedihaus dramas with a religious background were performed in Innsbruck. Stations of the cross with chapels and depictions of the crucified Jesus dotted the landscape. Popular piety in the form of pilgrimages and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints found its way into everyday church life.

The Baroque piety was also used to educate the subjects. Even though the sale of indulgences was no longer a common practice in the Catholic Church after the 16th century, there was still a lively concept of heaven and hell. Through a virtuous life, i.e. a life in accordance with Catholic values and good behaviour as a subject towards the divine order, one could come a big step closer to paradise. The so-called Christian edification literature was popular among the population after the school reformation of the 18th century and showed how life should be lived. The suffering of the crucified Christ for humanity was seen as a symbol of the hardship of the subjects on earth within the feudal system. People used votive images to ask for help in difficult times or to thank the Mother of God for dangers and illnesses they had overcome. Great examples of this can be found on the eastern façade of the basilica in Wilten.

The historian Ernst Hanisch described the Baroque and the influence it had on the Austrian way of life as follows:

Österreich entstand in seiner modernen Form als Kreuzzugsimperialismus gegen die Türken und im Inneren gegen die Reformatoren. Das brachte Bürokratie und Militär, im Äußeren aber Multiethnien. Staat und Kirche probierten den intimen Lebensbereich der Bürger zu kontrollieren. Jeder musste sich durch den Beichtstuhl reformieren, die Sexualität wurde eingeschränkt, die normengerechte Sexualität wurden erzwungen. Menschen wurden systematisch zum Heucheln angeleitet.

The rituals and submissive behaviour towards the authorities left their mark on everyday culture, which still distinguishes Catholic countries such as Austria and Italy from Protestant regions such as Germany, England or Scandinavia. The Austrians' passion for academic titles has its origins in the Baroque hierarchies. The expression Baroque prince describes a particularly patriarchal and patronising politician who knows how to charm his audience with grand gestures. While political objectivity is valued in Germany, the style of Austrian politicians is theatrical, in keeping with the Austrian bon mot of "Schaumamal".