The last decades of the 19th century were characterised Wilhelminian style in the history of Austria. After an economic crisis in 1873, the city began to expand in a period of recovery. From 1880 to 1900, Innsbruck's population grew from 20,000 to 26,000. Wilten, which was incorporated in 1904, tripled from 4,000 to 12,000. The infrastructure also changed in the wake of technical innovations. Gas, water and electricity became part of everyday life for more and more people. The old town hospital gave way to the new hospital. The orphanage and Sieberer's old people's asylum were built in Saggen. Innsbruck's first telephone went into service in 1893. By the turn of the century, there were already over 300 lines in the city.

The buildings constructed in the new neighbourhoods were a reflection of this new society. Entrepreneurs, freelancers, employees and workers with political voting rights developed different needs than subjects without this right. Unlike in rural Tyrol, where farming families lived in farmhouses together with farmhands and maidservants as a clan, life in the city came close to the family life we know today. The living space had to correspond to this. The lifestyle of city dwellers demanded multi-room flats and open spaces for relaxation after work. The wealthy middle classes, consisting of entrepreneurs and freelancers, had not yet overtaken the aristocracy, but they had narrowed the gap. They were the ones who not only commissioned private building projects, but also decided on public buildings through their position on the local council.

The 40 years before the First World War were a kind of gold-rush period for construction companies, craftsmen, master builders and architects. The buildings reflected the world view of their clients. Master builders combined several roles and often replaced the architect. Most clients had very clear ideas about what they wanted. They were not to be breathtaking new creations, but copies and references to existing buildings. In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Innsbruck master builders designed buildings in the styles of historicism, classicism and Tyrolean Heimatstil in accordance with the wishes of their financially strong clients. Clear forms, statues and columns were style-defining elements in the construction of new buildings. The ideas that people had of classical Greece and ancient Rome were realised in a sometimes wild mix of styles. Not only railway stations and public buildings, but also large apartment blocks and entire streets, even churches and cemeteries were built along the old corridors in this design. The upper middle classes showed their penchant for antiquity with neoclassical façades. Catholic traditionalists had images of saints and depictions of Tyrol's regional history painted on the walls of their Heimatstil houses. While neoclassicism dominates in Saggen and Wilten, most of the buildings in Pradl are in the conservative Heimatstil style.

For a long time, many building experts turned up their noses at the buildings of the upstarts and nouveau riche. Heinrich Hammer wrote in his standard work "Art history of the city of Innsbruck":

"Of course, this first rapid expansion of the city took place in an era that was unfruitful in terms of architectural art, in which architecture, instead of developing an independent, contemporary style, repeated the architectural styles of the past one after the other."

The era of large villas, which imitated the aristocratic residences of days gone by with a bourgeois touch, came to an end after a few wild decades due to a lack of space. Further development of the urban area with individual houses was no longer possible, the space had become too narrow. In 1898, the municipal council decided to authorise only blocks of flats east of Claudiastrasse instead of the villas in the spacious cottage style. The Falkstrasse / Gänsbachstrasse / Bienerstrasse area is still regarded as the Villensaggenthe areas to the east as Blocksaggen. In Wilten and Pradl, this type of development did not even occur. Nevertheless, master builders sealed more and more ground in the gold rush. Albert Gruber gave a cautionary speech on this growth in 1907, in which he warned against uncontrolled growth in urban planning and land speculation.

"It is the most difficult and responsible task facing our city fathers. Up until the 1980s (note: 1880), let's say in view of our circumstances, a certain slow pace was maintained in urban expansion. Since the last 10 years, however, it can be said that cityscapes have been expanding at a tremendous pace. Old houses are being torn down and new ones erected in their place. Of course, if this demolition and construction is carried out haphazardly, without any thought, only for the benefit of the individual, then disasters, so-called architectural crimes, usually occur. In order to prevent such haphazard building, which does not benefit the general public, every city must ensure that individuals cannot do as they please: the city must set a limit to unrestricted speculation in the area of urban expansion. This includes above all land speculation."

A handful of master builders and the Innsbruck building authority accompanied this development in Innsbruck. If Wilhelm Greil is described as the mayor of the expansion, the Viennese-born Eduard Klingler (1861 - 1916) probably deserves the title of its architect. Klingler played a key role in shaping Innsbruck's cityscape in his role as a civil servant and master builder. He began working for the state of Tyrol in 1883. In 1889, he joined the municipal building department, which he headed from 1902. In Innsbruck, the commercial academy, the Leitgebule school, the Pradl cemetery, the dermatological clinic in the hospital area, the municipal kindergarten in Michael-Gaismair-Straße, the Trainkaserne (note: today a residential building), the market hall and the Tyrolean State Conservatory are all attributable to Klingler as head of the building department. The Ulrichhaus on Mount Isel, which is now home to the Alt-Kaiserjäger-Club, is a building worth seeing in the Heimatstil style based on his design.

Perhaps the most important construction office in Innsbruck was Johann Huter & Sons. Johann Huter took over his father's small construction business. In 1856, he acquired the first company premises, the Hutergründeon the Innrain. Three years later, the first prestigious headquarters were built in Meranerstraße. The company registration together with his sons Josef and Peter in 1860 marked the official start of the company that still exists today. Huter & Söhne like many of its competitors, saw itself as a complete service provider. The company had its own brickworks, a cement factory, a joinery and a locksmith's shop as well as a planning office and the actual construction company. In 1906/07, the Huters built their own company headquarters at Kaiser-Josef-Straße 15 in the typical style of the last pre-war years. The stately house combines the Tyrolean Heimatstil surrounded by gardens and nature with neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque elements. Famous from Huter & Söhne buildings in Innsbruck include the Monastery of Perpetual Adoration, the parish church of St Nicholas and several buildings on Claudiaplatz.

The second big player was Josef Retter. Born in Tyrol, he grew up in the Wachau region. In his early youth, he completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer before he left the k.k. State Trade School in Vienna and attended the foreman's school in the building trade department. After gaining professional experience in Vienna, Croatia and Bolzano throughout the Danube Monarchy, he was able to open his own construction company in Innsbruck at the age of 29 thanks to his wife's dowry. Like Huter, his company also included a sawmill, a sand and gravel works and a workshop for stonemasonry work. In 1904, he opened his residential and office building at Schöpfstraße 23a, which is still used today as a Rescuer's house is well known. With a new building for the Academic Grammar School and the castle-like school building for the Commercial Academy and the Evangelical Church of Christ in Saggen, the stately Sonnenburg in Wilten and the neo-Gothic Mentlberg Castle on Sieglanger, he realised some of Innsbruck's most outstanding buildings of the period to this day.

Late in life but with a similarly practice-orientated background that was typical of 19th century master builders, Anton Fritz started his construction company in 1888. He grew up remotely in Graun in the Vinschgau Valley. After working as a foreman, plasterer and bricklayer, he decided to attend the trade school in Innsbruck at the age of 36. Talent and luck brought him his breakthrough as a planner with the country-style villa at Karmelitergasse 12. In its heyday, his construction company employed 150 people. In 1912, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War and the resulting slump in the construction industry, he handed over his company to his son Adalbert. Anton Fritz's legacy includes his own home at Müllerstraße 4, the Mader house in Glasmalereistraße and houses on Claudiaplatz and Sonnenburgplatz.

With Carl Kohnle, Carl Albert, Karl Lubomirski and Simon Tommasi, Innsbruck had other master builders who immortalised themselves in the cityscape with buildings typical of the late 19th century. They all made Innsbruck's new streets shine in the prevailing architectural zeitgeist of the last 30 years of the Danube Monarchy. Residential buildings, railway stations, official buildings and churches in the vast empire between the Ukraine and Tyrol looked similar across the board. New trends such as Art Nouveau emerged only hesitantly. In Innsbruck, it was the Munich architect Josef Bachmann who set a new accent in civic design with the redesign of the façade of the Winklerhaus. Building activity came to a halt at the beginning of the First World War. After the war, the era of neoclassical historicism and Heimatstil was finally history. Walks in Saggen and parts of Wilten and Pradl take you back to the Wilhelminian era. Claudiaplatz and Sonnenburgplatz are among the most impressive examples. The building company Huter and Sons still exists today. The company is now located in Sieglanger in Josef-Franz-Huter-Straße, named after the company founder.

In the pre-war period, the United States of America was regarded as the Land of unlimited possibilitieswhere dishwashers became millionaires. However, these success stories are not an exclusive phenomenon of the New World. Even in the society of the Danube Monarchy, which was not yet regulated down to the last detail, hard-working and capable people from the farming classes, the working classes or craftsmen were able to achieve astonishing success without formal training, qualification examinations or state authorisation. The three founders of the Tyrolean Glass Painting and Mosaic InstituteJosef von Stadl, Georg Mader and Albert Neuhauser, are examples of such a success story from Innsbruck's city history.

Josef von Stadl (1828 - 1893) grew up on his parents' farm and inn in Steinach am Brenner. Even as a child, he had to help out on the farm. The hard labour gave him periostitis in his arm at the age of nine. This made heavy physical labour impossible for him. Instead, the boy with a talent for drawing attended the model secondary school in Innsbruck, now the BORG. In 1848, he joined the Tyrolean snipers in his home town, but was not called up to fight on the country's borders. He then gained experience as a locksmith and turner. The talented young man worked on the reconstruction of the church in Steinach in 1853 after a village band. His skills were soon recognised and he gradually rose from labourer to master builder.

Georg Mader (1824 - 1881) also came from Steinach. He too had to work as a farm labourer at a young age. On the patronage of his brother, a clergyman, the pious youth was able to complete an apprenticeship with a painter, but had to give up his passion to work in the local mill. After his journeyman's journey, he decided to concentrate on painting. In Munich, he deepened his knowledge under Kaulbach and Schraudolph. After working on the cathedral in Speyer, he returned to Tyrol. As a history painter, he kept his head above water with commissions from the church.

Albert Neuhauser (1832 - 1901) learnt his trade in his father's glazier's and tinsmith's shop. He also had to give up his intended career path at an early age. He developed lung problems at the age of ten. Instead of working in his father's successful business, he travelled to Venice. For centuries, Murano had been home to the best glassworks for artistic glass production. Fascinated by this trade, he attended the stained glass school in Munich against his father's wishes. The products of the recently founded Bavarian factory did not meet his quality expectations. In his father's flat in Herzog-Friedrich-Straße, he undertook his first experiments with glass, similar to the nerds who would lay the foundations for the personal computer in their own garage a hundred years later.

Neuhauser's tinkering and experiments aroused the curiosity of his friend von Stadl. He made contact with the art-loving Mader. In 1861, the three decided to pool their expertise in an official company. Today, the founding of the company would probably be referred to as a start-up. Neuhauser took on the technical and commercial side as well as product development, Von Stadl took care of the decorative aspects and liaised with master builders and Mader took on the figurative design of the works, most of which were created for churches. The first branch, consisting of two painters and a burner, was set up on the third floor of the Gasthof zur Rose in the historic city centre. The raw material came from England, as the local glass did not meet Neuhauser's high quality standards. However, 25% duty was added to the import. Together with a chemistry teacher, Neuhauser managed to achieve the desired requirements himself after a trip to Birmingham and a lot of tinkering.

Josef von Stadl married the painter and doctor's daughter Maria Pfefferer in 1867. The farmer's boy from the Wipptal valley with the broken arm had not only become a member of the upper middle class, his wife's dowry also allowed him to live independently financially. In 1869, the three partners decided to expand the successful glass painting business with the financial support of Neuhauser's father. How dynamic and unregulated it was as a Wilhelminian style The example of the glassworks on the Wiltener Felder, which was opened in 1872 as an additional part of the Tyrolean Stained glass went into operation. Only 110 days after the start of construction, which was never officially authorised by the Wilten municipal administration, production began.

Starting with Neuhauser, who had to leave the company in 1874 due to health problems, the three company founders soon left their start-up to others, but remained partners in the Tyrolean stained glass company. In addition to their activities for the joint company, each of the three partners worked successfully on their own projects in their respective fields of activity.

Von Stadl had a lasting impact on Innsbruck. In its heyday, the number of employees at the stained glass factory had risen to over 70. In 1878, residential buildings for the company's employees, workers, artists and craftsmen were built according to von Stadl's plans. The glass painting estate comprised the houses at Müllerstrasse 39 - 57, Schöpfstrasse 18 - 24 and Speckbacherstrasse 14 - 16, which still exist today. They differ markedly in their architecture from the surrounding houses of the late Gründerzeit. Von Stadl was more sparing with the decoration of the houses, but was careful to include a small front garden. The provincial maternity hospital in Wilten was another major project in Innsbruck that he was responsible for. After the construction of the Vinzentinum in 1878, von Stadl became an honorary citizen of Brixen and was appointed diocesan architect by the bishop. Pope Leo XIII awarded him the Order of St Gregory for his services. St Nicholas' Church, for which the Tyrolean glass painters had produced the windows, became his final resting place.

Georg Mader continued to work as a painter on sacred buildings. He became a member of the Vienna Academy of Art as early as 1868. When he suffered a stroke in 1881, he was taken to Badgastein for rehabilitation. The spa town in Salzburg was a meeting place for the European aristocracy and upper middle classes at the time. In the midst of high society, the former journeyman miller died a wealthy man.

The restless and creative Neuhauser travelled to Venice again after resigning from his post as director of the Tyrolean stained glass workshop in order to found Austria's first mosaic studio with new inspiration. The merger of the two companies in 1900 opened up a wider range of opportunities. He was awarded the Order of Franz Joseph for his artistic merits. Neuhauserstraße in Wilten was named after him.

Thanks to the university and the intellectuals it attracted and produced, Innsbruck also sniffed the morning air of the Enlightenment in the 18th century in the era of Maria Theresa, even if the Jesuit faculty leadership put the brakes on it. 1741 saw the founding of the Societas Academica Litteraria a circle of scholars in the Taxispalais. The masonic lodge was founded in 1777 To the three mountainsfour years later, the Tyrolean Society for Arts and Science. Spurred on by the French Revolution, some students even declared their allegiance to the Jacobins.

Under Emperor Franz, however, all these associations were banned and strictly monitored after the declaration of war on France in 1794. Enlightenment ideas were frowned upon by large sections of the population even before the French Revolution. At the latest after the beheading of Marie Antoinette, the Emperor's sister, and the outbreak of war between the French Republic and the monarchies of Europe, they were considered dangerous. Who wanted to be considered a Jacobin when it came to defending their homeland?

After the Napoleonic Wars, Innsbruck began to recover, both economically and mentally. The small town on the edge of the empire had just over 12,000 inhabitants, „ohne die Soldaten, Studenten und Fremden zu rechnen“. University, grammar school, Reading casinomusic club, theatre and museum testified to a certain urban culture. There was a Deutsches Kaffeehaus, eine Restauration im Hofgarten und mehrere Gasthöfe wie den Österreichischen Hofwhich Grape, das Mouthingeach of which Goldenen Adler, Stern und Hirsch. The biggest innovation for the population came in 1830, when oil lamps lit the city at night. It was probably just a dim twilight created by the more than 150 lamps mounted on pillars and chandeliers, but for contemporaries it was a true revolution.

The Bavarian occupation had disappeared after 1815, but the ideas of the thinkers of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution had caught on in some of the minds of the urban milieu. Students, civil servants, members of the lower nobility and academics met in the pubs and coffee houses to exchange modern ideas. This was not only about highly intellectual abstractions, but also about mundane realpolitik such as the suspension of internal tariffs, which made people's lives unnecessarily expensive.

The bourgeois educated elite discovered the escape into the past for themselves during the Romantic and Biedermeier periods. Antiquity and its thinkers celebrated a second renaissance in Innsbruck, as in the rest of Europe. Romantic thinkers of the 18th and early 19th centuries such as Winckelmann, Lessing and Hegel were influential. The Greeks were "Noble simplicity and quiet greatness" attested. Goethe wanted the "Search the land of the Greeks with your soul" and travelled to Italy in search of his longing for the good, pre-Christian times in which the people of the Golden Age cultivated an informal relationship with their gods. Roman Stoic virtues were transported into the modern age as role models and formed the basis for bourgeois frugality and patriotism, which became very fashionable. Philologists combed through the texts of ancient writers and philosophers and conveyed a pleasing "Best of" into the 19th century. Columns, sphinxes, busts and statues with classical proportions adorned palaces, administrative buildings and museums such as the Ferdinandeum. Students and intellectuals such as the Briton Lord Byron were so inspired by the Panhellenism and the idea of nationalism that they risked their lives in the Greek struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire.

Chancellor Clemens von Metternich's (1773 - 1859) police state kept these social movements under control for a long time. Liberal ideas, newspapers, pamphlets, writings, books and associations were under the general suspicion of the authorities. Magazines and journals had to adapt or be distributed underground in order not to fall victim to censorship.

Writers such as Hermann von Gilm (1812 - 1864) and Johann Senn (1792 - 1857), both of whom are commemorated by streets in Innsbruck today, anonymously disseminated politically motivated literature and writings in Tyrol. The mix of Greater German nationalist ideas and Tyrolean patriotism presented with the pathos of Romanticism seems rather strange, harmless and pathetic today, but was neither comfortable nor acceptable to the Metternich state apparatus, even if it was only recognised by a tiny elite. All kinds of associations such as die Innsbrucker Liedertafel and student fraternities, even the members of the Ferdinandeum were strictly monitored. Despite their demonstrative loyalty to the emperor, the Schützen were also on the list of institutions to be monitored. They were considered too rebellious, not only towards foreign powers, but also towards the Viennese central government. The labour force was also targeted by Metternich's secret police. St Nicholas and Hötting in particular were regarded as "rote Pflaster" known.

However, all of these were marginal phenomena that only employed a small number of wealthy people. After the mines and salt works had lost their profitability in the 17th century and transit lost its economic importance due to the new trade routes across the Atlantic, Tyrol had become a poor region. The Napoleonic Wars had raged for over 20 years. The university, which drew young aristocrats into the city's economic cycle, was not reopened until 1826. Unlike industrial locations in Bohemia, Moravia, Prussia or England, the hard-to-reach city in the Alps was only just beginning to develop into a modern labour market. Tourism was also still in its infancy and was not a cash cow.

And then there was a volcano on the other side of the world that had an undue influence on the fate of the city of Innsbruck. In 1815, Tambora erupted in Indonesia and sent a huge cloud of dust, sulphur and ash around the world. In 1816 Year without summer into history. All over Europe, there were freak weather conditions, floods and failed harvests. The economic upheavals and price rises led to hardship and misery, especially among the poorer sections of the population.

Not only politics was affected by the Enlightenment. The trend in social welfare was also moving away from the church and towards the state. In the 19th century, caring for the poor was a task for the municipalities, usually with the support of wealthy citizens who, as Christian patrons in the spirit of charity, complemented the aristocracy and the church in this role. In Innsbruck, a begging ordinance came into force that imposed a marriage ban on people without property. Almost 1000 citizens were categorised as alms recipients and beggars. As the need grew and the city coffers became emptier, an innovation was introduced in Innsbruck that was to last for over 100 years: The New Year's apology card.

Even back then, it was customary to visit your relatives on the first day of the year to give each other a Happy New Year to make a wish. It was also customary for needy families and beggars to knock on the doors of wealthy citizens to ask for alms at New Year. The introduction of the New Year's relief card killed several birds with one stone. The buyers of the card were able to institutionalise and support their poorer members in a regulated way, similar to the way street newspapers are bought today. Twenty is possible. At the same time, the New Year's apology card served as a way of avoiding the unpopular obligatory visits to relatives. Those who hung the card on their front door also signalled to those in need that no further requests for alms were necessary, as they had already paid their contribution. Last but not least, the noble donors were also favourably mentioned in the media so that everyone could see how much they cared for their less fortunate fellow human beings in the name of charity.

The New Year's apology cards were a complete success. At their premiere at the turn of the year from 1819 to 1820, 600 were sold. Many communities adopted the Innsbruck recipe. In the magazine "The Imperial and Royal Privileged Bothe of and for Tyrol and Vorarlberg", the proceeds for Bruneck, Bozen, Trient, Rovereto, Schwaz, Imst, Bregenz and Innsbruck were published on 12 February. Other institutions such as fire brigades and associations also adopted the well-functioning custom to raise funds for their cause. The construction of the new Höttinger parish church was financed to a large extent from the proceeds of specially issued apology cards in addition to donations. The varied designs ranged from Christian motifs to portraits of well-known personalities, official buildings, new buildings, sights and curiosities. Many of the designs can still be seen in the Innsbruck City Archives.

The abundance of churches, chapels, crucifixes and murals in public spaces has a peculiar effect on many visitors to Innsbruck from other countries. Not only places of worship, but also many private homes are decorated with depictions of the Holy Family or biblical scenes. The Christian faith and its institutions have characterised everyday life throughout Europe for centuries. Innsbruck, as the residence city of the strictly Catholic Habsburgs and capital of the self-proclaimed Holy Land of Tyrol, was particularly favoured when it came to the decoration of ecclesiastical buildings. The dimensions of the churches alone are gigantic by the standards of the past. In the 16th century, the town with its population of just under 5,000 had several churches that outshone every other building in terms of splendour and size, including the palaces of the aristocracy. Wilten Monastery was a huge complex in the centre of a small farming village that was grouped around it. The spatial dimensions of the places of worship reflect their importance in the political and social structure.

For many Innsbruck residents, the church was not only a moral authority, but also a secular landlord. The Bishop of Brixen was formally on an equal footing with the sovereign. The peasants worked on the bishop's estates in the same way as they worked for a secular prince on his estates. This gave them tax and legal sovereignty over many people. The ecclesiastical landowners were not regarded as less strict, but even as particularly demanding towards their subjects. At the same time, it was also the clergy in Innsbruck who were largely responsible for social welfare, nursing, care for the poor and orphans, feeding and education. The influence of the church extended into the material world in much the same way as the state does today with its tax office, police, education system and labour office. What democracy, parliament and the market economy are to us today, the Bible and pastors were to the people of past centuries: a reality that maintained order. To believe that all churchmen were cynical men of power who exploited their uneducated subjects is not correct. The majority of both the clergy and the nobility were pious and godly, albeit in a way that is difficult to understand from today's perspective.

Unlike today, religion was by no means a private matter. Violations of religion and morals were tried in secular courts and severely penalised. The charge for misconduct was heresy, which encompassed a wide range of offences. Sodomy, i.e. any sexual act that did not serve procreation, sorcery, witchcraft, blasphemy - in short, any deviation from the right belief in God - could be punished with burning. Burning was intended to purify the condemned and destroy them and their sinful behaviour once and for all in order to eradicate evil from the community.

For a long time, the church regulated the everyday social fabric of people down to the smallest details of daily life. Church bells determined people's schedules. Their sound called people to work, to church services or signalled the death of a member of the congregation. People were able to distinguish between individual bell sounds and their meaning. Sundays and public holidays structured the time. Fasting days regulated the diet. Family life, sexuality and individual behaviour had to be guided by the morals laid down by the church. The salvation of the soul in the next life was more important to many people than happiness on earth, as this was in any case predetermined by the events of time and divine will. Purgatory, the last judgement and the torments of hell were a reality and also frightened and disciplined adults.

While Innsbruck's bourgeoisie had been at least gently kissed awake by the ideas of the Enlightenment after the Napoleonic Wars, the majority of people in the surrounding communities remained attached to the mixture of conservative Catholicism and superstitious popular piety.

Faith and the church still have a firm place in the everyday lives of Innsbruck residents, albeit often unnoticed. The resignations from the church in recent decades have put a dent in the official number of members and leisure events are better attended than Sunday masses. However, the Roman Catholic Church still has a lot of ground in and around Innsbruck, even outside the walls of the respective monasteries and educational centres. A number of schools in and around Innsbruck are also under the influence of conservative forces and the church. And anyone who always enjoys a public holiday, pecks one Easter egg after another or lights a candle on the Christmas tree does not have to be a Christian to act in the name of Jesus disguised as tradition.

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. Kaiserjäger and other Tyrolean troops were literally burnt out. Poor equipment, a lack of supplies and the catastrophic leadership of the high command under Konrad von Hötzendorf led to the deaths of thousands or to captivity, where hunger, abuse and forced labour awaited them.

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 made up of men under 21, over 42 or unfit for regular military service. The casualty figures were correspondingly high.

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. In this winter, which was 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.