The caesura of the First World War not only changed Innsbruck economically and socially, but also gave the city a new appearance. The visual arts reinvented themselves after the horrors of war. The classicism of the turn of the century was the architecture of a bourgeoisie that had tried to imitate the nobility. After the war, many citizens blamed this aristocracy for the horrors on the battlefields of Europe. Even before the war, sport and the phenomenon of leisure had become the expression of a new bourgeois self-image in contrast to the old order determined by the aristocracy. From now on, buildings and infrastructure were to serve every citizen equally. Aristocratic virtues and interest in classical antiquity had lost their lustre within a very short space of time.

The architects of the post-war period wanted to distinguish themselves from previous generations in terms of appearance, while at the same time maximising the functionality of the buildings. The end of the monarchy is reflected in the simplicity of the architecture. Lois Welzenbacher wrote about the architectural aberrations of this period in an article in the magazine Tiroler Hochland in 1920:

"As far as we can judge today, it is clear that the 19th century lacked the strength to create its own distinct style. It is the age of stillness... Thus details were reproduced with historical accuracy, mostly without any particular meaning or purpose, and without a harmonious overall picture that would have arisen from factual or artistic necessity."

New forms of design such as the Bauhaus style from Weimar, high-rise buildings from the USA and the Soviet modernity from the revolutionary USSR found their way into design, construction and craftsmanship. The best-known Tyrolean representatives of this new way of designing public spaces were Siegfried Mazagg, Theodor Prachensky, Clemens Holzmeister and Lois Welzenbacher. Each of these architects had their own specialities, making it difficult to clearly define Tyrolean Modernism. Buildings such as the Innsbruck power station in Salurnerstrasse, the Adambräu and the former Hotel Mariabrunn on the Hungerburg were striking buildings, not only of unimaginable height but also in a completely new style. Despite all the enthusiasm for the dawn of a new era, there was also a current of thought that is problematic for those of us born later. The Futurism of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti not only exerted a great attraction on Italian fascism, but also on many representatives of modernist art and architecture.

The best-known and most impressive representative of the so-called Tiroler Moderne was Franz Baumann (1892 - 1974). Baumann was born in Innsbruck in 1892, the son of a postal clerk. The theologian, publicist and war propagandist Anton Müllner, alias Brother Willram, became aware of Franz Baumann's talent as a draughtsman and at the age of 14 enabled the young man to attend the Staatsgewerbeschule, today's HTL. It was here that he met his future brother-in-law Theodor Prachensky. Together with Baumann's sister Maria, the two young men went on excursions in the area around Innsbruck to paint pictures of the mountains and nature. During his school years, he gained his first professional experience as a bricklayer at the construction company Huter & Söhne, which was responsible for major projects in Innsbruck such as the Monastery of Perpetual Adoration and the Church of St Nicholas. In 1910, Baumann followed his friend Prachensky to Merano to work for the company Musch & Lun. At the time, Merano was Tyrol's most important tourist resort with international spa guests. The predominant styles were Art Nouveau and Historicism. Under the architect Adalbert Erlebach, he gained his first experience in the planning of large-scale projects such as hotels and cable cars.

Like the majority of his generation, the First World War tore Baumann from his professional and everyday life. On the Italian front, he was shot in the stomach while fighting, from which he recovered in a military hospital in Prague. During this otherwise idle time, he painted cityscapes of buildings in and around Prague. These pictures, which would later help him to visualise his plans, were presented in his only exhibition in 1919.

After returning home from the war, Baumann worked at Grissemann & Walch and completed his professional qualification. Unlike Holzmeister or Welzenbacher, he had no academic training. In his spare time, he regularly took part in public tenders for public projects.

His big breakthrough came in the second half of the 1920s. Baumann was able to win the tenders for the remodelling of the Weinhaus Happ in the old town and the Nordkettenbahn railway. In addition to his creativity and ability to think holistically, he was also able to harmonise his approach with the legal situation and the requirements of the tenders of the 1920s. According to the federal constitution of the Republic of Austria, construction was a state matter. Since the previous year, the Tyrolean Heritage Protection Association Together with the district authority, it was the final authority responsible for the assessment and approval of construction projects. Kunibert Zimmeter had already founded the association in 1908 together with Gotthard Graf Trapp. Zimmeter wrote in his book "Our Tyrol. A heritage book":

"Let us look at the flattening of our private lives, our amusements, at the centre of which, significantly, is the cinema, at the literary ephemera of our newspaper reading, at the hopeless and costly excesses of fashion in the field of women's clothing, let us take a look at our homes with the miserable factory furniture and all the dreadful products of our so-called gallantry goods industry, Things that thousands of people work to produce, creating worthless bric-a-brac in the process, or let us look at our apartment blocks and villas with their cement façades simulating palaces, countless superfluous towers and gables, our hotels with their pompous façades, what a waste of the people's wealth, what an abundance of tastelessness we must find there."

Nature and townscape should be protected from overly fashionable trends, excessive tourism and ugly industrial buildings. Building projects were to be integrated harmoniously, attractively and appropriately into the environment. Despite the social and artistic innovations of the time, architects had to bear in mind the typical character of the region.

After the First World War, a new class of customers and guests emerged that placed new demands on buildings and therefore on the construction industry. In many Tyrolean villages, hotels had replaced churches as the largest building in the townscape. Mountain villages such as Igls, Seefeld and St. Anton were completely remodelled by tourism, and in Innsbruck a new district was created with the Hungerburg. The aristocratic distance from the mountains had given way to a bourgeois enthusiasm for sport. This called for new solutions at new heights. No more grand hotels were built at 1500 m for spa holidays, but a complete infrastructure for skiers in high alpine terrain such as the Nordkette. During his time in Merano, Baumann had already come into contact with the local heritage organisation. This is precisely where the strengths of his approach to holistic construction in the Tyrolean sense lay. All technical functions and details, the embedding of the buildings in the landscape, taking into account the topography and sunlight, played a role for him, who was not officially allowed to use the title of architect. He thus followed the "Rules for those who build in the mountains" by the architect Adolf Loos from 1913:

Don't build picturesquely. Leave such effects to the walls, the mountains and the sun. The man who dresses picturesquely is not picturesque, but a buffoon. The farmer does not dress picturesquely. But he is...

Pay attention to the forms in which the farmer builds. For they are ancestral wisdom, congealed substance. But seek out the reason for the mould. If advances in technology have made it possible to improve the mould, then this improvement should always be used. The flail will be replaced by the threshing machine."

Baumann designed even the smallest details, from the exterior lighting to the furniture, and integrated them into his overall concept of the Tiroler Moderne in.

From 1927, Baumann worked independently in his studio in Schöpfstraße in Wilten. He repeatedly came into contact with his brother-in-law and employee of the building authority, Theodor Prachensky. From 1929, the two of them worked together to design the building for the new Hötting secondary school on Fürstenweg. Although boys and girls were still to be planned separately in the traditional way, the building was otherwise completely in keeping with the New Objectivity style in terms of form and furnishings, based on the principle of light, air and sun. In 1935 he managed the project Hörtnaglsiedlung in the west of the city.

In his heyday, he employed 14 people in his office. Thanks to his modern approach, which combined function, aesthetics and economical construction, he survived the economic crisis well. The 1,000-mark freeze that Hitler imposed on Austria in 1934 in order to put the Republic in financial difficulties heralded the slow decline of his architectural practice. Not only did the unemployment rate in tourism triple within a very short space of time, but the construction industry also ran into difficulties.

In 1935, Baumann became the shooting star of the Tyrolean architecture scene and was appointed head of the Central Association of Architects after he was finally allowed to use this professional title with a special licence. After the Anschluss in 1938, he quickly joined the NSDAP. On the one hand, he was probably not averse to the ideas of National Socialism, but on the other he was able to further his career as chairman of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts in Tyrol. In this position, he courageously opposed the destructive furore with which those in power wanted to change Innsbruck's cityscape, which did not correspond to his idea of urban planning. The mayor of Innsbruck, Egon Denz, wanted to remove the Triumphal Gate and St Anne's Column in order to make more room for traffic in Maria-Theresienstraße. The city centre was still a transit area from the Brenner Pass in the south to reach the main road to the east and west on today's Innrain. At the request of Gauleiter Franz Hofer, a statue of Adolf Hitler as a German herald was to be erected in place of St Anne's Column. Hofer also wanted to have the church towers of the collegiate church blown up. Baumann's opinion on these plans was negative. When the matter made it to Albert Speer's desk, he agreed with him. From this point onwards, Baumann was no longer awarded any public projects by Gauleiter Hofer.

After being questioned as part of the denazification process, Baumann began working at the city building authority, probably on the recommendation of his brother-in-law Prachensky. Baumann was fully exonerated, among other things by a statement from the Abbot of Wilten, but his reputation as an architect could no longer be repaired. Moreover, his studio in Schöpfstraße had been destroyed by a bomb in 1944. In his post-war career, he was responsible for the renovation of buildings damaged by the war. Under his leadership, Boznerplatz with the Rudolfsbrunnen fountain was rebuilt as well as Burggraben and the new Stadtsäle (Note: today House of Music).

Franz Baumann died in 1974 and his paintings, sketches and drawings are highly sought-after and highly traded. The diverse public and private buildings and projects of the ever-smoking architect still characterise Innsbruck today.

The Tyrolean State Theatre opposite the Hofburg with its neoclassical façade is still the most striking monument to bourgeois, urban evening entertainment. Since its inception, however, this centre of high culture has largely eked out a dreary existence in terms of audience numbers. From Baroque plays about the Passion of Christ in the 16th century to daring productions that were often met with little applause from the audience almost 500 years later, the goings-on at the Landestheater were always the hobbyhorse of a small elite. The majority of Innsbruck's inhabitants passed the time with profane amusements.

Showmen and travelling folk have always been welcome guests in cities. Just like today, there was strict censorship of public performances in the past. What today are age restrictions on cinema films, in the past were restrictions on performances that were not pleasing to God and even complete bans on theatre and drama under particularly pious sovereigns. However, with increasing bourgeoisie and more enlightened moral concepts, the rules gradually became more relaxed.

The Pradler BauerntheaterThe first venue was an open-air stage in the Höttinger Au and, in addition to farmers, craftsmen and students were also part of the ensemble, but this should not detract from the honour of its name and origins. While the state theatre often played to half-empty seats, the amateur actors enjoyed great popularity with their comedies. Employees and labourers made the pilgrimage from the city to the venues in the surrounding villages at the weekend or enjoyed the evening entertainment in pubs. The so-called knight plays with kidnapped princesses, heroic saviours and clumsy villains were particularly popular. Unlike the serious plays in bourgeois theatres, the actors in the peasant theatres interacted with the audience. Interjections from the audience were not stopped, but spontaneously incorporated into the play. It could even happen that the audience, who were not always sober, intervened in the action with their hands.

With increasing success, the company gradually began to professionalise. In 1870, the Pradler Bauerntheater in a hay barn converted into a stage at the Lodronischen Hof In 1898, the Pradler were guest performers at the Ronacher in Vienna. A few years later, the young and ambitious Ferdinand Exl (1875 - 1942) broke new ground with part of the troupe. For a long time, the saying went: "If you want to go to a farmer's theatre, you won't get your money's worth in the theatre, and if you're not just looking for entertainment in the theatre, but literary stimulation, you won't go to a farmer's theatre." Exl recognised the trend of the time. Employees and workers could not afford the horrendous ticket prices of the state theatre and did not want to see Wagner operas or plays like The Sorrows of Young Werther However, a certain quality of content and presentation was expected. With the so-called literary folk plays by renowned local authors such as Ludwig Anzengruber, Franz Kranewitter and Karl Schönherr, Exl combined entertainment and quality. Anzengruber summarised the development:

„Anzengruber's Tyroleans not only sing Schnaderhüpfel, platteln d'Schuh, swear like Croats and scuffle, but they are also people with a subtle psyche who have their own thoughts about various problems and develop their own philosophy.“

The first play staged by Exl The priest of Kirchfeld from the pen of Anzengruber was published in 1902 in the Österreichischen Hof on the stage in Wilten. The troupe consisted mainly of members of the Exl and Auer families. In 1903, the company known as Exl stage well-known theatre company Adambräu in Adamgasse, from 1904 to 1915 played popular hits such as Kranewitter's pieces Michael Gaismair und Andre Hofer im Lion house at the Hofgarten. In addition to the plays, tourists were also treated to typical local entertainment such as zither recitals and "genuine, smart Tyrolean Schuhplattler dance" was offered. The first international tour to Switzerland and Germany began in 1904. The press and audiences were enthusiastic about the German-national flavoured pieces performed by pithy Tyrolean lads and pretty girls. In 1910, Exl bid farewell to its existence as an amateur troupe and, in addition to a few veterans, mainly hired "Townspeople" and professional actors.

However, the First World War and the associated travel restrictions put the brakes on further tours. The troupe became part of the Innsbruck City Theatrewhose audience was also receptive to lighter fare during the hard times. Ernst Nepo, an artist who was characterised by his Germanism and early membership of the NSDAP, was responsible for the stage sets.

After the toughest post-war years, things started to look up again. From 1924, the Exl stage In addition to the Stadttheater, Exl also regularly performed at the Raimundtheater and the Wiener Komödienhaus in winter. The political developments of the 1930s greatly favoured the German folk spirit that was inherent in many of the plays that Exl brought to the stage. Like Nepo, he also joined the NSDAP, which was banned in Austria, in 1933. A year later, he planned his first tour of the German Reich. The Austrian government, led by Dollfuß, banned the performances in a last stand against the National Socialists. It was not until 1935 that the Exl Bühne in Berlin was able to stage Karl Schönherr's play Faith and home perform. The Berliner Morgenpost of 4 April 1935 described the piece as "...Art that flows from the depths of the German nation and flows back into the hearts of moved and grateful listeners". After 1938, Exl also received media support in Vienna and became known as "...the antithesis of the completely Judaised, artistically Bolshevised... theatre business" was celebrated. The founder of Exl Bühne died in 1942. His wife and son took over the business and became part of the Tyrolean State Theatre after the war. In the 1950s, the theatre group once again toured successfully in West and East Germany before disbanding in 1956.

Times had changed, Cinema killed the Theatre Star. Moving pictures in cinemas were competing with the stage. The enterprising Ferdinand Exl had also foreseen this development early on. In 1912, his ensemble appeared in the French film Speckbacher which heroically portrayed the Tyrolean uprising. The first cinema film flickered across the screen in the Stadtsaal in Innsbruck in 1896, just one year after the world's first ever cinema, in front of a fascinated audience. The cinema quickly became part of everyday life for many people. In addition to silent films, audiences were shown propaganda messages, especially during the war. Cinemas sprang up like mushrooms in the following decades. In 1909, a cinema opened at Maria-Theresien-Straße 10, which was later known as the Central moved to Maria-Theresien-Straße 37. After the war, it became the Nonstop cinemawhere you paid your ticket for a run of news, cartoons, adverts and feature films that was constantly repeated. In 1928, the Red Cross opened the Kammer Lichtspiele in Wilhelm-Greilstraße to finance the new clubhouse. The Triumph was located at Maria-Theresien-Straße 17 and remained a central cinema until the 1990s. Dreiheiligen was home to the Forum cinema, which is now the Z6 youth centre. In 1933, the Höttinger Gasse opened the Lion cinemawhich was built in 1959 as the Metropol in the listed Malfatti house opposite the Inn bridge, where it still exists today. In the final phase of the Second World War, the Laurin light shows Innsbruck's largest cinema in the middle of the South Tyrolean settlement in Gumppstraße opened its doors. Robert and Walter Kinigadner, two South Tyrolean optants who had already gained experience in the cinema industry in Brixen, took over the running of the 800-seat cinema. Harmless local films alternated with Nazi propaganda. The Exl stage used the Laurin, which functioned as a cinema until the 1970s, for theatre performances. Today, a supermarket is located behind the pillars at the formerly grand entrance. On the wall above the cash desk area, you can still see the murals depicting the legend of the legendary dwarf king Laurin and the German hero Dietrich von Bern in the typical look of National Socialist art. In 1958, on the premises of the former Innsbruck Catholic Workers' Association, the Leocinemawhich is still in operation today and is an integral part of the Innsbruck film scene.

For a short time, cinema and theatre coexisted before cinema took the upper hand. At its peak in 1958, Innsbruck's cinemas sold an incredible 3.5 million tickets. Then the television in the living room gradually took over information and evening entertainment. When the Austrian Broadcasting When the new radio went on air in 1955, hardly anyone had a terminal to receive the meagre programme. That was soon to change. In Innsbruck, the Metropol at the Inn bridge and the new bridge built at the turn of the millennium Cineplexx There are still two big players in Wilten. Cinematograph und Leocinema are aimed at an alternative audience away from the blockbusters. The open-air cinema takes place in the Zeughaus in August. The Pradl theatre troupe has survived to this day, albeit under a new name. In 1958, they found a new home in the Bierstindl cultural pub. The amateur theatre troupe Innsbruck Knights' Games enjoys great popularity and full ranks to this day. The play The rogue Kuno von Drachenfels revives the tradition of past centuries every year, including a repeat of the beheading scene and humorous interaction with the audience. A street in the Höttinger Au neighbourhood commemorates Ferdinand Exl.

It was almost not Gavrilo Princip, but a student from Innsbruck who changed the fate of the world. It was thanks to chance that the 20-year-old Serb was stopped in 1913 because he bragged to a waitress that he was planning to assassinate the heir to the throne. It was only when the world-changing shooting in Sarajevo actually took place that an article about it appeared in the media. After the actual assassination of Franz Ferdinand on 28 June, it was impossible to foresee what impact the First World War that broke out as a result would have on the world and people's everyday lives. However, two days after the assassination of the Habsburg in Sarajevo, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten already prophetic: "We have reached a turning point - perhaps the "turning point" - in the fortunes of this empire".

Enthusiasm for the war in 1914 was also high in Innsbruck. From the "Gott, Kaiser und VaterlandDriven by the "spirit of the times", most people unanimously welcomed the attack on Serbia. Politicians, the clergy and the press joined in the general rejoicing. In addition to the imperial appeal "To my peoples", which appeared in all the media of the empire, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten On 29 July, the day after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the media published an article about the capture of Belgrade by Prince Eugene in 1717. The tone in the media was celebratory, although not entirely without foreboding of what was to come.

"The Emperor's appeal to his people will be deeply felt. The internal strife has been silenced and the speculations of our enemies about unrest and similar things have been miserably put to shame. Above all, the Germans stand by the Emperor and the Empire in their old and well-tried loyalty: this time, too, they are ready to stand up for dynasty and fatherland with their blood. We are facing difficult days; no one can even guess what fate will bring us, what it will bring to Europe, what it will bring to the world. We can only trust with our old Emperor in our strength and in God and cherish the confidence that, if we find unity and stick together, we must be granted victory, for we did not want war and our cause is that of justice!"

Theologians such as Joseph Seeber (1856 - 1919) and Anton Müllner alias Bruder Willram (1870 - 1919) who, with her sermons and writings such as "Das blutige Jahr" elevated the war to a crusade against France and Italy.

Many Innsbruckers volunteered for the campaign against Serbia, which was thought to be a matter of a few weeks or months. Such a large number of volunteers came from outside the city to join the military commissions that Innsbruck was almost bursting at the seams. Nobody could have guessed how different things would turn out. Even after the first battles in distant Galicia, it was clear that it would not be a matter of months.

In 1915, the Kingdom of Italy entered the war on the side of France and England. This meant that the front went right through what was then Tyrol. From the Ortler in the west across northern Lake Garda to the Sextener Dolomiten the battles of the mountain war took place. Innsbruck was not directly affected by the fighting. However, the war could at least be heard as far as the provincial capital, as was reported in the newspaper of 7 July 1915:

„Bald nach Beginn der Feindseligkeiten der Italiener konnte man in der Gegend der Serlesspitze deutlich Kanonendonner wahrnehmen, der von einem der Kampfplätze im Süden Tirols kam, wahrscheinlich von der Vielgereuter Hochebene. In den letzten Tagen ist nun in Innsbruck selbst und im Nordosten der Stadt unzweifelhaft der Schall von Geschützdonner festgestellt worden, einzelne starke Schläge, die dumpf, nicht rollend und tönend über den Brenner herüberklangen. Eine Täuschung ist ausgeschlossen. In Innsbruck selbst ist der Donner der Kanonen schwerer festzustellen, weil hier der Lärm zu groß ist, es wurde aber doch einmal abends ungefähr um 9 Uhr, als einigermaßen Ruhe herrschte, dieser unzweifelhafte von unseren Mörsern herrührender Donner gehört.“

Until the transfer of regular troops from the eastern front to the Tyrolean borders, the national defence depended on the Standschützen, a troop consisting of men under 21, over 42 or unfit for regular military service.

Although the front was relatively far away from Innsbruck, the war also penetrated civilian life. This experience of the total involvement of society as a whole was new to the people. Barracks were erected in the Höttinger Au to house prisoners of war. Transports of wounded brought such a large number of horribly injured soldiers that many civilian buildings such as the university library, which was currently under construction, or Ambras Castle were converted into military hospitals. The Pradl military cemetery was established to cope with the large number of fallen soldiers. A predecessor to tram line 3 was set up to transport the wounded from the railway station to the new garrison hospital, today's Conrad barracks in Pradl.

As the war drew to a close, so did the front. In February 1918, the Italian air force managed to drop three bombs on Innsbruck. The biggest damage was caused by the hit on the Adambräu cold store. The leaking ammonia caused the people of Innsbruck to believe that there had been a major gas attack and to panic.

This winter, which is known as Hunger winter When the war went down in European history, the shortages also made themselves felt. In the final years of the war, food was supplied via ration coupons. 500 g of meat, 60 g of butter and 2 kg of potatoes were the basic diet per person - per week, mind you. Archive photos show the long queues of desperate and hungry people outside the food shops. There were repeated protests and strikes. Politicians, trade unionists, workers and war returnees saw their chance for change. Under the motto Peace, bread and the right to vote a wide variety of parties united in resistance to the war. At this time, most people were already aware that the war was lost and what fate awaited Tyrol, as this article from 6 October 1918 shows:

 „Aeußere und innere Feinde würfeln heute um das Land Andreas Hofers. Der letzte Wurf ist noch grausamer; schändlicher ist noch nie ein freies Land geschachert worden. Das Blut unserer Väter, Söhne und Brüder ist umsonst geflossen, wenn dieser schändliche Plan Wirklichkeit werden soll. Der letzte Wurf ist noch nicht getan. Darum auf Tiroler, zum Tiroler Volkstag in Brixen am 13. Oktober 1918 (nächsten Sonntag). Deutscher Boden muß deutsch bleiben, Tiroler Boden muß tirolisch bleiben. Tiroler entscheidet selbst über Eure Zukunft!“

On 4 November, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy finally agreed an armistice. This gave the Allies the right to occupy areas of the monarchy. The very next day, Bavarian troops entered Innsbruck. Austria's ally Germany was still at war with Italy and was afraid that the front could be moved closer to the German Reich in North Tyrol. Fortunately for Innsbruck and the surrounding area, however, Germany also surrendered a week later on 11 November. This meant that the major battles between regular armies did not take place.

Nevertheless, Innsbruck was in danger. Huge columns of military vehicles, trains full of soldiers and thousands of emaciated soldiers making their way home from the front on foot passed through the city. The city not only had to keep its own citizens in check and guarantee rations, but also protect itself from looting. In order to maintain public order, on 5 November the Tyrolean National Council formed a People's Army made up of schoolchildren, students, workers and citizens. On 23 November 1918, Italian troops occupied the city and the surrounding area. Mayor Greil's appeals to the people of Innsbruck to surrender the city without rioting were successful. Although there were isolated riots, hunger riots and looting, there were no armed clashes with the occupying troops or even a Bolshevik revolution as in Munich.

Over 1200 Innsbruck residents lost their lives on the battlefields and in military hospitals, over 600 were wounded. Memorials to the First World War and its victims can be found in Innsbruck, particularly at churches and cemeteries. The Kaiserjägermuseum on Mount Isel displays uniforms, weapons and pictures of the battle. Streets in Innsbruck are dedicated to the two theologians Anton Müllner and Josef Seeber. A street was also named after the commander-in-chief of the Imperial and Royal Army on the Southern Front, Archduke Eugene. There is a memorial to the unsuccessful commander in front of the Hofgarten. The eastern part of the Amras military cemetery commemorates the Italian occupation.

In the 15th century, the first early form of industrialisation began to develop in Innsbruck. Bell and weapon founders such as the Löfflers built factories in Hötting, Mühlau and Dreiheiligen, which were among the leading factories of their time. Between the Sill gorge and Dreiheiligen, a number of mills and businesses utilised the energy provided by the Sill Canal. There was a munitions factory in what is now Adamgasse, which exploded in 1636, and a hammer mill was located in Jahnstraße. Work and money attracted a new class of people. 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. 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. The new citizens brought with them new fashions 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 main building with its Gothic vaults. Franz Josef Adam came from the Vinschgau Valley to found the city's largest brewery to date in a former aristocratic residence. 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. Around 1900, over 20 businesses were still using the Sill Canal. The Haidmühle The power plant in Salurnerstraße existed from 1315 to 1907 and supplied a textile factory in Dreiheiligenstraße with energy from the Sill Canal. 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…“

Aristocrats who rested too long on their birth earnings while the economic and social rules of the game changed had to sell their estates to the new moneyed aristocracy. Skilful individuals took advantage of their opportunities and invested family property and income from the 1848 land relief in industry and business. The growing 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 no social security or 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 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.