Maximilian zählt zu den bedeutendsten Persönlichkeiten der europäischen und der Innsbrucker Stadtgeschichte. Über Tirol soll der passionierte Jäger gesagt haben: "Tirol ist ein grober Bauernkittel, der aber gut wärmt." Er machte Innsbruck in seiner Regierungszeit zu einem der wichtigsten Zentren des Heiligen Römischen Reichs. „Wer immer sich im Leben kein Gedächtnis macht, der hat nach seinem Tod kein Gedächtnis und derselbe Mensch wird mit dem Glockenton vergessen.“ Maximilian was highly successful in actively countering this fear. Under him, propaganda, images and the media played an increasingly important role, partly due to the burgeoning printing press. Maximilian used art and culture to maintain his presence. For example, he kept an imperial choir, a music band that was mainly used for public appearances and receptions of international envoys. He had a veritable cult of personality organised around himself with coins, books, printed matter and paintings.

For all the romanticism that this lover of courtly traditions and chivalry cultivated, he was a cool-headed power politician. Under him, political institutions such as the Imperial Diet, the Imperial Court of Justice and the Imperial Chamber Court were established, which strictly regulated the relationship between subjects, sovereigns and the monarchy. The laws passed centrally were implemented locally by the imperial districts. Salaried officials permeated the lives of individuals in a way that did not exist in the Middle Ages. Maximilian was unpopular with the Tyrolean peasants during his lifetime. In a veritable furore of new laws, he curtailed the peasants' rights to the commons. Logging, hunting and fishing were placed under the control of the sovereign and were no longer common property. This had a negative impact on peasant self-sufficiency. Meat and fish, which had long been part of the diet in the Middle Ages, now became a luxury. It was around 1500 that hunters became poachers.

Restrictions on self-sufficiency were joined by new taxes. It had always been customary for sovereigns to impose additional taxes on the population in the event of war. Maximilian's warfare differed from medieval conflicts. The auxiliary troops and their noble, chivalrous landlords were supplemented or completely replaced by mercenaries who knew how to use modern firearms.

This new way of taking to the field swallowed up huge sums of money. When the revenues from the princely possessions such as the coinage, market, mining and customs regalia were no longer sufficient, the individual population groups were taxed according to their status and wealth, but the tax was still a far cry from today's differentiated system and accordingly brought with it injustice and resentment.

One example of a levy was Maximilian's Common penny. The wealth tax amounted to between 0.1 and 0.5% of wealth, but was capped at 1 guilder. Jews had to pay a poll tax of 1 guilder regardless of their wealth. For the first time, princes were also asked to pay, but due to the cap, they paid a maximum of the same amount as a middle-class Jew. Prelates, priests and secular lords were responsible for announcing and enforcing the tax. Pastors had to announce the tax from the pulpit on three Sundays, collect the contributions together with representatives of the courts and enter them in the Imperial Tax Register.

Schnell begriff man, dass diese Art der Steuereinhebung nicht funktionierte. Es bedurfte eines modernen Systems und Steuermodells. Eine kollegiale Kammer, das Regiment, wachte zentral über die Länder Tirol und Vorderösterreich nach dem modernen Vorbild der Burgunder Finanzwirtschaft, die Maximilian in seiner Zeit in den Niederlanden kennengelernt hatte. Innsbruck wurde zum Finanz- und Buchhaltungszentrum für die österreichischen Länder. Die Rait chamber and the House chamber were located in the Neuhof, where today the Goldene Dachl resided over the historic city centre. In 1496, all the financial resources of the Austrian hereditary lands were pooled in the treasury in Innsbruck. The Bishop of Brixen, Melchior von Meckau, was chairman of the court chamber and increasingly involved the Fuggers as lenders. Officials such as Jakob Villinger (1480 - 1529) used the Italian-influenced form of double-entry bookkeeping to handle monetary transactions with banks from all over Europe and tried to keep the imperial financial budget in check. Talented petty nobles and burghers, trained lawyers and educated civil servants replaced the high nobility in the controlling role. Financial experts from Burgundy took over the commercial leadership of the regiment. The transitions between finance and other fields such as war planning and domestic policy were fluid, which gave the new class of civil servants great power.

While it had previously been customary for the balance between sovereigns, church, landlord and subject to consist of contribution and military protection, this system was now enforced by the authorities through coercion. Maximilian argued that it was the duty of every Christian, regardless of their rank, to defend the Holy Roman Empire against external enemies. Even before Maximilian, the records of the disputes between the king, nobility, clergy, peasants and towns over the payment of taxes were very reminiscent of today's political discussions on the subject of social redistribution. The major difference and break between the end of the 15th century and the preceding centuries was that, thanks to the modern civil service, these taxes could now also be enforced and collected. The comparison with compulsory cash registers, the taxation of tips in the catering trade and the discussion about the abolition of cash is obvious.

Das Kapital folgte der politischen Bedeutung ebenfalls nach Innsbruck. Während seiner Regentschaft beschäftigte Maximilian 350 Räte, die ihm zur Seite standen. Knapp ein Viertel dieser hochbezahlten Räte stammte aus Tirol. Gesandte und Politiker aus ganz Europa bis zum osmanischen Reich sowie Adelige ließen sich ihren Wohnsitz in Innsbruck bauen oder übernachteten in den Wirtshäusern der Stadt. Ähnlich wie Big Money aus Ölgeschäften heute Fachkräfte aller Art nach Dubai lockt, zogen das Schwazer Silber und die daran hängende Finanzwirtschaft damals Experten aller Art nach Innsbruck, einer kleinen Stadt inmitten der unwirtlichen Alpen.

Innsbruck veränderte sich unter Maximilian Regentschaft baulich und infrastrukturell wie nie zuvor. Neben dem repräsentativen Goldenen Dachl ließ er die Hofburg umgestalten, begann mit dem Bau der Hofkirche und erschuf mit dem Innsbrucker Zeughaus Europas führende Waffenschmiede. Die Straßen durch die Altstadt wurden für das feine Volk des Hofstaats befestigt und gepflastert. 1499 ließ Maximilian die SalvatorikapelleThe hospital was renovated and extended to accommodate needy Innsbruck residents who were not entitled to a place in the city hospital. A modern water pipeline from the Nordkette to the city improved the drinking water supply, hygiene and safety. Maximilian had the trade route in today's Mariahilf laid and improved the city's water supply. Fire regulations for the city of Innsbruck followed in 1510, and Maximilian also began to chip away at the privileges of Wilten Abbey, the largest landlord in today's city area. Infrastructure owned by the monastery, such as the mill, sawmill and Sill Canal, were to come under greater control of the prince.

The imperial court and the wealthy civil servants who resided in Innsbruck transformed Innsbruck's appearance and attitude. Maximilian had introduced the distinguished courtly culture of Burgundy of his first wife to Central Europe. Culturally, it was above all his second wife Bianca Maria Sforza who promoted Innsbruck. Not only did the royal wedding take place here, she also resided here for a long time, as the city was closer to her home in Milan than Maximilian's other residences. She brought her entire court with her from the Renaissance metropolis to the German lands north of the Alps. Art and entertainment in all its forms flourished.

Under Maximilian, Innsbruck not only became a cultural centre of the empire, the city also boomed economically. Among other things, Innsbruck was the centre of the postal service in the empire. The Thurn und Taxis family was granted a monopoly on this important service and chose Innsbruck as the centre of their private imperial postal service. Maximilian was able to build on the expertise of the gunsmiths who had already established themselves in the foundries in Hötting under his predecessor Siegmund. The most famous of them was Peter "Löffler“ Laiminger. Die Geschichte der Löfflers ist im Roman Der Meister des siebten Siegels worth reading. The Fuggers maintained an office in Innsbruck. In addition to his love of Tyrolean nature, which was often attributed to him, treasures such as salt from Hall and silver from Schwaz were at least as expensive and useful to him. Maximilian financed his lavish court, his election as king by the electors and the eight-year war against the Republic of Venice by, among other things, mortgaging the country's mineral resources.

Innsbruck's strategically favourable location close to the Italian theatres of war also made the city so interesting for the emperor. Many Tyroleans had to enforce the imperial will on the battlefields instead of tilling the fields at home. This only changed in the last years of his reign. In 1511, Maximilian conceded the Tyroleans in the Tiroler LandlibellIn a kind of constitution, they agreed that they could only be called up as soldiers for the defence of their own country. This document also regulated the levying of special taxes in the event of war.

It is difficult to summarise Maximilian's work in Innsbruck. Proclamations of love from an emperor naturally flatter the popular psyche to this day. His material legacy with its many magnificent buildings reinforces this positive image. He turned Innsbruck into an imperial residence city and pushed ahead with the modernisation of the infrastructure. Thanks to the armoury, Innsbruck became the centre of the armaments industry, the treasury of the empire and grew economically and spatially. The debts he incurred for this and the state assets he pledged to the Fuggers left their mark on Tyrol after his death, at least as much as the strict laws he imposed on the common people. He is said to have left behind 5 million guilders in debt, an amount that his Austrian possessions could earn in 20 years. The outstanding payments ruined many businesses and servants after his death, who were left sitting on the imperial promises. Early modern rulers were not bound by the debts of their predecessors. The agreements with the Fuggers were an exception, as liens were attached to them.

In the legends about the emperor, the hard times are not as present as the Goldene Dachl and the soft facts learnt at school. In 2019, the celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Innsbruck's most important Habsburg were held under the motto "Tyrolean at heart, European in spirit". The Viennese was naturalised benevolently. Salzburg has Mozart, Innsbruck Maximilian, an emperor whom Tyroleans have adapted to Innsbruck's desired identity as a rugged journeyman who prefers to be in the mountains. Today, his striking face is emblazoned on all kinds of consumer goods, from cheese to ski lifts, the emperor is the inspiration for all kinds of profane things. It is only for political agendas that he is less easy to harness than Andreas Hofer. It is probably easier for the average citizen to identify with a revolutionary landlord than with an emperor.

Es gibt wohl kaum eine ungekrönte Person, die größeren Einfluss auf die Geschichte Europas bis ins 20. Jahrhundert hatte als Jakob Fugger (1459 - 1525). Nicht nur deckt sich seine Lebenszeit mit der Kaiser Maximilians, die Schicksale der beiden Männer hingen eng aneinander. Auch die Geschichte Tirols wurde vom bedeutendsten Finanzmagnaten seiner Zeit bestimmt.

Jakob Fugger entstammte einer Augsburger Kaufmannsfamilie. Die Ankunft des Stammvaters der Familie wurde im Steuerbuch Augsburgs unter „Fucker advenit“ vermerkt. Im 15. Jahrhundert entstand nach und nach ein Fugger´sches Handelsnetzwerk aus Faktoreien. Die Kaufleute gründeten für ihr Textilunternehmen Faktoreien in Venedig, Bozen, Mailand, Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Brügge und Antwerpen. Faktoreien waren ein multifunktioneller Mix aus Verkaufsfläche, Finanzniederlassung, Pferdestation, Lagerhaus, Post- und Nachrichtenstelle und diplomatischer Vertretung. Dieses System war aus Norditalien über die Alpen geschwappt. In der Region zwischen Florenz, Venedig und Mailand war eine frühe Form des Finanzkapitalismus entstanden. Das Bankwesen begann im Spätmittelalter hier seinen Siegeszug durch Europa. Kaufleute, die nicht Unmengen an Bargeld mit sich führen wollten, benötigten sogenannte Wechsel, um ihre Transaktionen durchführen zu können. In den bedeutenden Handelsstädten begannen sie deshalb Kontoreien aufzubauen. Auch in Innsbruck hatten italienische Finanzinstitute seit dem Hochmittelalter Niederlassungen.

Jakob und seine Brüder handelten in guter Familientradition zuerst ebenfalls Baumwolle mit den wohlhabenden norditalienischen Städten. In Venedig, dem Finanzzentrum des östlichen Mittelmeerraumes, lernte Jakob Fugger die Kunst der doppelten Buchführung und die Feinheiten der fortschrittlichen italienischen Finanzwirtschaft kennen. Er erkannte, dass mit Geldgeschäften und Krediten mehr zu verdienen war als mit Baumwolle. Die Monarchen und Aristokraten Europas finanzierten ihren Hofstaat und Kriege im Mittelalter über den Zehnten. Diese Abgabe wurde von den Bauern innerhalb des Feudalsystems geleistet. Besonders die Kriegsführung war, angetrieben durch moderne Schusswaffen, im 15. Jahrhundert immer kostspieliger geworden. Deshalb reichte der Zehent oft nicht mehr aus. Die Legitimation als Stellvertreter Gottes auf Erden hatte für Monarchen bis hierher funktioniert, um 1500 begannen klingende Münze und Zinsen in Form des Finanzkapitalismus langsam, aber sicher Gott als letztgültige Instanz abzulösen.

Die Verbindung Jakob Fuggers mit dem Hause Habsburg und im Speziellen mit Tirol begann sich 1487 zu intensivieren. Der Tiroler Landesfürst Siegmund unterlag in einer kriegerischen Auseinandersetzung der Republik Venedig. Um seine Schulden gegenüber der Mittelmeermacht in Höhe von 100.000 Gulden zu bezahlen, lieh er sich Geld von den Fuggern. Dafür stellte er Schuldscheine aus, die er durch die Verpfändung der Schwazer Silbermine an seine Kreditgeber deckte. Schwaz war vor der Erschließung der amerikanischen Silberminen die größte der Welt. Die Fugger verkauften das Schwazer Silber an die Münze Hall, deren Betreiber sie ebenfalls waren, und liehen diese Münzen wiederum Herzog Siegmund. Ein Kreislauf der besonderen Art war geboren.

Damit endete der politische Einfluss der Fugger auf die Weltpolitik aber nicht. Als 1490 die Tiroler Landstände Siegmund wegen seines desaströsen Geschäftsgebarens absetzten, folgte ihm Maximilian I. als Landesfürst Tirols nach. Fugger war klug genug auf den neuen Landesfürsten zu setzen. Das Wort Kredit, zurückgehend auf das lateinische credere, also glauben, zeigt sich in dieser Wahl. Fugger glaubte an einen mächtigen Maximilian als sein bestes Asset. Er finanzierte 1493 die Wahl Maximilians zum Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches und sicherte sich damit seinen Einfluss und eine Erhebung in den Adelsstand. Fugger war es auch, der die Wiener Doppelhochzeit, Maximilians Meisterstück der Heiratspolitik, sponsorte, womit Ungarn ein Teil des Habsburgerreiches wurde. Als Maximilian 1519 starb, wiederholte Fugger dies und ließ über seine Finanzkraft Maximilians Enkel Karl V. zum Kaiser wählen. Ein Kredit von 540.000 Gulden ging von den Fuggern an die Habsburger, um damit Werbe- und Bestechungsgelder zu begleichen. Karl V. räumte Fugger dafür Rechte an Bergwerken in Spanien und Südamerika ein, auf denen Sklaven unter menschenverachtenden Bedingungen zu arbeiteten, um dieses Rad an Ausbeutung und Korruption am Laufen zu halten

Geschätzte zwei Millionen Gulden an Krediten räumten die Fugger den Habsburgern allein zwischen 1487 und 1525 ein. Ein Gulden entsprach 60 Kronen. Ein Tagelöhner verdiente zu dieser Zeit etwa 6 Kronen. Man hätte mit dieser Summe knapp 55.000 Menschen für ein Jahr täglich beschäftigen können. Ein großer Teil dieser Schulden wurde mit Nutzungsrechten an Tiroler Assets und erhöhten Steuern beglichen. Es wird geschätzt, dass das Finanzimperium Fuggers zum Zeitpunkt seines Todes etwa 50% des Staatshaushalt Tirols abwickelten und 10% der Vermögenswerte des Heiligen Römischen Reiches besaßen. Seine Beamten verwalteten Minen in Tirol, Tschechien, der Slowakei und Spanien, finanzierten Handelsexpeditionen in der gesamten damals bekannten Welt und zahlreiche Kriege in Europa. Manchem Historiker gilt Jakob Fugger als der reichste Mann der Weltgeschichte. Wie hoch sein Vermögen war, ist schwer in heutige Maßstäbe umzurechnen. Als die FAZ 2016 einen Versuch unternahm, kam sie auf 300 Milliarden Dollar. Jakob Fugger war wie Maximilian I. gleichzeitig Machtmensch und gebildeter, frommer Katholik. Korruption, Ausbeutung, die Finanzierung von Kriegen und aus Gottesfurcht und Angst vor dem Fegefeuer die Fuggerei, die erste Sozialsiedlung der Welt in Augsburg, zu gründen, schloss sich nicht aus.

In Innsbruck erinnern das Palais Fugger-Taxis sowie eine kleine Gasse zwischen Maria-Theresien-Straße und Landhausplatz an die Fugger. Auf die Art und Weise, wie die Kaufmannsdynastie zu Reichtum kam, wird nicht hingewiesen.

In the 15th century, the first early form of industrialisation began to develop in Innsbruck. Bell and weapon founders such as the Löfflers set up factories in Hötting, Mühlau and Dreiheiligen, which were among the leading factories of their time. Although entrepreneurs were not of noble blood, they often had more capital at their disposal than the aristocracy. The old hierarchies still existed, but were beginning to become at least somewhat fragile. Industry not only changed the rules of the social game with the influx of new workers and their families, it also had an impact on the appearance of Innsbruck. Unlike the farmers, the labourers were not the subjects of any master. They brought new fashions with them and dressed differently. Capital from outside came into the city. Houses and churches were built for the newly arrived subjects. The large workshops changed the smell and sound of the city. The smelting works were loud, the smoke from the furnaces polluted the air.

The second wave of industrialisation came late in Innsbruck compared to other European regions. The Small craftThe town's former craft businesses, which were organised in guilds, came under pressure from the achievements of modern goods production. In St. Nikolaus, Wilten, Mühlau and Pradl, modern factories were built along the Mühlbach stream and the Sill Canal. Many innovative company founders came from outside Innsbruck. Peter Walde, who moved to Innsbruck from Lusatia, founded his company in 1777 in what is now Innstrasse 23, producing products made from fat, such as tallow candles and soaps. Eight generations later, Walde is still one of the oldest family businesses in Austria. Today, you can buy the result of centuries of tradition in soap and candle form in the listed headquarters with its Gothic vaults. In 1838, the spinning machine arrived via the Dornbirn company Herrburger & Rhomberg over the Arlberg to Pradl. H&R had acquired a plot of land on the Sillgründe. Thanks to the river's water power, the site was ideal for the heavy machinery used in the textile industry. In addition to the traditional sheep's wool, cotton was now also processed.

Just like 400 years earlier, the Second Industrial Revolution changed the city forever. Neighbourhoods such as Mühlau, Pradl and Wilten grew rapidly. The factories were often located in the centre of residential areas. Over 20 factories used the Sill Canal around 1900, and the noise and exhaust fumes from the engines were hell for the neighbours, as a newspaper article from 1912 shows:

„Entrüstung ruft bei den Bewohnern des nächst dem Hauptbahnhofe gelegenen Stadtteiles der seit einiger Zeit in der hibler´schen Feigenkaffeefabrik aufgestellte Explosionsmotor hervor. Der Lärm, welchen diese Maschine fast den ganzen Tag ununterbrochen verbreitet, stört die ganz Umgebung in der empfindlichsten Weise und muß die umliegenden Wohnungen entwerten. In den am Bahnhofplatze liegenden Hotels sind die früher so gesuchten und beliebten Gartenzimmer kaum mehr zu vermieten. Noch schlimmer als der ruhestörende Lärm aber ist der Qualm und Gestank der neuen Maschine…“

Many members of the lesser nobility also invested the money from the 1848 land relief in industry and business. The increasing demand for labour was met by former farmhands and farmers without land. While the new wealthy entrepreneurial class had villas built in Wilten, Pradl and Saggen and middle-class employees lived in apartment buildings in the same neighbourhoods, the workers were housed in workers' hostels and mass accommodation. Some worked in businesses such as the gas works, the quarry or in one of the factories, while others consumed the wealth. Shifts of 12 hours in cramped, noisy and sooty conditions demanded everything from the workers. Child labour was not banned until the 1840s. Women earned only a fraction of what men were paid. Workers often lived in tenements built by their employers and were at their mercy due to the lack of labour laws. There was neither social security nor unemployment insurance. Those who were unable to work had to rely on the welfare organisations of their home town. It should be noted that this everyday life of the labourers, which we find terrifying, was no different from the working conditions in the villages, but developed from them. Child labour, inequality and precarious working conditions were also the norm in agriculture.

However, industrialisation did not only affect everyday material life. Innsbruck experienced the kind of gentrification that can be observed today in trendy urban neighbourhoods such as Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin. The change from the rural life of the village to the city involved more than just a change of location. In one of his texts, the Innsbruck writer Josef Leitgeb tells us how people experienced the urbanisation of what was once a rural area:

„…viel fremdes, billig gekleidetes Volk, in wachsenden Wohnblocks zusammengedrängt, morgens, mittags und abends die Straßen füllend, wenn es zur Arbeit ging oder von ihr kam, aus Werkstätten, Läden, Fabriken, vom Bahndienst, die Gesichter oft blaß und vorzeitig alternd, in Haltung, Sprache und Kleidung nichts Persönliches mehr, sondern ein Allgemeines, massenhaft Wiederholtes und Wiederholbares: städtischer Arbeitsmensch. Bahnhof und Gaswerk erschienen als Kern dieser neuen, unsäglich fremden Landschaft.“

For many Innsbruck residents, the revolutionary year of 1848 and the new economic circumstances led to bourgeoisie. There were always stories of people who rose through the ranks with hard work, luck, talent and a little financial start-up aid. Well-known Innsbruck examples outside the hotel and catering industry that still exist today are the Tyrolean stained glass business, the Hörtnagl grocery store and the Walde soap factory. Successful entrepreneurs took over the former role of the aristocratic landlords. Together with the numerous academics, they formed a new class that also gained more and more political influence. Beda Weber wrote about this in 1851:

„Their social circles are without constraint, and there is a distinctly metropolitan flavour that is not so easy to find elsewhere in Tyrol."

The workers also became bourgeois. While the landlord in the countryside was still master of the private lives of his farmhands and maidservants and was able to determine their lifestyle up to and including sexuality via the release for marriage, the labourers were now at least somewhat freer individually. They were poorly paid, but at least they now received their own wages instead of board and lodging and were able to organise their private affairs for themselves without the landlord's guardianship.

Innsbruck is not a traditional working-class city. Nevertheless, Tyrol never saw the formation of a significant labour movement as in Vienna. Innsbruck has always been predominantly a commercial and university city. Although there were social democrats and a handful of communists, the number of workers was always too small to really make a difference. May Day marches are only attended by the majority of people for cheap schnitzel and free beer. There are hardly any other memorials to industrialisation and the achievements of the working class. In St.-Nikolaus-Gasse and in many tenement houses in Wilten and Pradl, a few houses have been preserved that give an impression of the everyday life of Innsbruck's working class.