There are events that remain in the collective memory of a community for generations. You don't have to have been there, or even be in the world, to know that Franz Klammer raced to the gold medal in the Olympic downhill on the Patscherkofel on 5 February 1976 in his yellow one-piece suit. Franz Josef I may have climbed the Patscherkofel in 1848, but he became a legend on this mountain. Kaiser Franz Bracket. "Jawoll! 1;45,73 für unseren Franzi Klammer," could be heard from countless TV sets in Austria at the time. In order to be able to follow the national hero Klammer on his devil's ride, the schoolchildren were allowed to stay at home on the day of the men's downhill, just like in 1964. The streets were also empty during this hellish ride. Klammer achieved what many emperors, kings and politicians had failed to do. He united the nation of Austria. "Mi hats obageibtlt von oben bis unten, I hatt nie gedacht, dass i Bestzeit foaKlammer said in Carinthian dialect during the winner's interview. No Tyrolean, nobody is perfect, but the Olympic Games were already saved for the host nation Austria on the second day.

In 1976, the Winter Olympics were held in Innsbruck for the second time. It would actually have been Denver's turn, but due to a referendum on financial and environmental concerns, Colorado withdrew as host. Innsbruck prevailed as host in the second attempt against Lake Placid, Chamoix and Tampere.

It had hosted the Olympics for the first time 12 years earlier. From 29 January to 9 February 1964, Innsbruck was the hub after beating Calgary and Lahti in the bid. A severe lack of snow caused problems for the realisation of several events. It was only with the help of the Austrian army, which brought snow and ice from the high mountains to the competition venues, that the 34 competitions could be organised.

The opening ceremony in the packed Berg Isel Stadium can be clearly seen in archive photos. Unlike the elaborate ceremonies of today's Olympic Games, the procedure in the 1960s was still unspectacular. The Wilten town music under the direction of Sepp Tanzer, delighted the international guests with Tyrolean brass music. As the flags marched in, visitors were able to see the North Korean flag for the first time during the Olympic Games. The Tyrolean marksmen kept a watchful eye on the Olympic flame. Only the Olympic rings were placed over the city's coat of arms as a logo; there was no mascot yet.

The sports competitions were also less professionally organised than today's Olympic Games. The bobsleigh race took place on an artificial ice track for the first time, although not yet in today's Igl ice channel. Some of the ice hockey games were still held in the exhibition hall in a very moderate setting. Skiing competitions, such as the women's slalom and giant slalom, in which the French sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel won gold and silver in different combinations, took place in the Axamer Lizum. According to official figures, 80,000 spectators watched the spectacle on Mount Isel as the Finn Veikko Kankonnen secured gold in the ski jumping event. In the ice hockey final, the Soviet Union triumphed ahead of Sweden. With 11 gold medals, the USSR also secured first place in the medals table, while Austria sensationally came second with four golds.

The opening of the 1976 Games also took place on Berg Isel. In memory of 1964, two flames were lit on Mount Isel during the opening ceremony. Most of the 37 competitions this time took place at the same venues in Innsbruck, Axams, Igls and Seefeld as in 1964. The ice stadium and ski jumping arena were still suitable for the Olympics. A new artificial ice rink was built in Igls. The Axamer Lizum was given a new standing track to allow the athletes to start on the Hoadl to bring.

In 1976, snow was once again in short supply in the run-up to the event and there were fears once again, but the weather changed at the last moment and Innsbruck was given the white gold. The Schneemanndla round snowman with a carrot nose and Tyrolean hat, the mascot of the 1976 Games was probably a good omen.

The biggest change between the two Olympic Games within twelve years was the status of the athletes. While only amateurs, i.e. athletes who were pursuing a profession, were officially allowed to compete at the first Games, professional athletes were able to compete in 1976.

The transmission and photo quality was also much better than in the first Innsbruck edition. Television had now overtaken radio. The German ski racer Rosi Mittermaier was perfectly staged on her runs to double gold and silver in the women's ski races. The ice hockey tournament was again won by the Soviet Union ahead of Sweden, for the fourth time in a row. The medals table also saw the USSR at the top again, this time ahead of the GDR. Austria only managed to win two gold medals. With Klammer's gold in the downhill, however, this was only a minor matter. The Patscherkofel and Austria's Franzi sind seither untrennbar miteinander verbunden. Und auch wenn die Innsbrucker nicht ganz so sportlich sind, wie sie gerne wären, den Titel der Olympiastadt kann nach zwei Ausgaben plus einer Universiade und den Youth Olympic Games niemand wegdiskutieren.

The city, supported by federal funds, was also very generous with the non-sporting infrastructure for both games. Following the rapid reconstruction of the city after the war, the city was modernised in the run-up to the Games. Innsbruck's first Olympic edition took place during the period of the economic miracle. In 1963, the Olympic Bridge, which connected the west of the city with the competition venues, was built. Until then, Innsbruck's east-west traffic had travelled through the city centre in a complicated manner. The individual streets between Amraser-See-Straße in the east and Bachlechnerstraße in the west, which make up the Südring arterial road today, were only subsequently developed and were previously quiet parts of the suburbs. Meadows and fields characterised the scenery. The comparison of aerial photographs from 1960 and 2020 is fascinating. In Amras, where today the daily Rush Hour abspielt, bis in die 1970er Jahre Bauernhöfe und einzelne Wohnhäuser. In der heutigen Egger-Lienz-Straße beim Westbahnhof verlief das Bahnviadukt der Westbahn. Alte Fotos zeigen die Gleise, daneben Bäume und spielende Kinder. Rund um die heutige Graßmayr junction a new neighbourhood was created almost in passing. The Department stores' forumwhich today houses a cinema, was a sensation and a sign of Innsbruck's modernisation.

An Olympic village was built twice and living space was created that is still in use today. Part of the former village of Arzl, which had belonged to Innsbruck since 1940, was chosen for this purpose. Today's district O-Village in the east of the city functioned as an Olympic village for the athletes during the Games, which was connected to the city centre and the competition venues by the Reichenau Bridge over the Inn. Construction of the first blocks of flats began in the sparsely populated Arzler Au in 1961. The Arzler shooting range, which can still be seen on a map from 1960, was relocated one step further up the valley. Further blocks were added in the 1970s. Today, despite the less tranquil 1960s and 1970s-style tower blocks, O-Dorf is a neighbourhood worth living in thanks to its location on the Inn, the green spaces and the good public transport connections.

Many other buildings in Innsbruck, which were used as infrastructure for the press and media during the Olympics, also date back to the Olympic Games. The Pädagogische Akademie PÄDAK in Wilten, the IVB-Halle and the Landessportheim can be regarded as Olympic heritage. The less magnificent building that houses the former Holiday Inn hotel next to the Triumphal Gate, which has undergone a number of changes of operator in recent decades, was also built as part of the Olympic Renaissance. Another legacy of the Olympic Games is something that people are desperately trying to change today: The Olympic-induced growth coincided with the early heyday of the automobile in the 1960s and 1970s.

For Innsbruck, the Olympic Games were not only a starting point for modernity in terms of winter sports and infrastructure. The events also mentally put an end to the stale atmosphere of the grey post-war period and spread a feeling of departure from the status of a provincial nest. It may no longer have been a royal seat as in Maximilian's time, but at least it was back on the international map. Thanks be to Emperor Franz!

The Napoleonic Wars gave the province of Tyrol a national epic and a hero whose splendour still shines today. The reason for this was once again a conflict with its northern neighbour and its allies after 1703. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Bavaria was, as it had been during the War of the Spanish Succession allied with France and was able to conquer Tyrol between 1796 and 1805. Innsbruck was no longer the provincial capital of Tyrol, but only one of many district capitals of the administrative unit Innkreis.

Ganz vom Geist der Aufklärung, der Vernunft und der Französischen Revolution beseelt, machten sich die neuen Landesherren daran, die althergebrachte Ordnung umzukrempeln. Vielen Bürgern kam der frische Wind nicht ungelegen. Moderne Gesetze wie die Gassen-Säuberungs-Ordnung oder eine verpflichtende Pockenimpfung sollten Sauberkeit und Gesundheit in der Stadt zuträglich sein. Man sollte nicht vergessen, dass zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts noch immer eine beträchtliche Anzahl von Menschen an Krankheiten litt und verstarb, die auf mangelnde Hygiene und verseuchtem Trinkwasser zurückzuführen waren. Auch das Zurückdrängen der Kirche aus dem Bildungswesen gefiel der liberalen Minderheit Innsbruck. Ein neues Steuersystem wurde eingeführt und die Befugnisse des Adels weiter verringert. Die Durchführung katholischer Prozessionen und religiöser Feste fielen dem aufklärerischen Programm der neuen Landesherren zum Opfer.

Das behagte einem großen Teil der Tiroler Bevölkerung nicht. Die Unzufriedenheit innerhalb großer Teile der Tiroler Bevölkerung war groß. Der Funke, der das Pulverfass zur Explosion brachte, war die Aushebung junger Männer zum Dienst in der bayrisch-napoleonischen Armee, obwohl Tiroler seit dem LandlibellThe law of Emperor Maximilian stipulated that soldiers could only be called up for the defence of their own borders. On 10 April, there was a riot during a conscription in Axams near Innsbruck, which ultimately led to an uprising.

For God, Emperor and Fatherland Tyrolean defence units came together to drive the small army and the Bavarian administrative officials out of Innsbruck. The riflemen were led by Andreas Hofer (1767 - 1810), an innkeeper, wine and horse trader from the South Tyrolean Passeier Valley near Meran. He was supported not only by other Tyroleans such as Father Haspinger, Peter Mayr and Josef Speckbacher, but also by the Habsburg Archduke Johann in the background.

In Innsbruck angekommen plünderten die Schützen nicht nur offizielle Einrichtungen. Wie bereits beim Bauernaufstand unter Michael Gaismair war der Heldenmut nicht nur von Adrenalin, sondern auch von Alkohol beflügelt. Der wilde Mob war für die Stadt wohl schädlicher als die bayrischen Verwalter seit 1805. Vor allem gegen bürgerliche Damen und den kleinen jüdischen Bevölkerungsanteil Innsbrucks kam es zu heftigen Ausschreitungen der „Befreier“.

One month later, the Bavarians and French had regained control of Innsbruck. What followed was what was known as the Tyrolean survey under Andreas Hofer, who had meanwhile assumed supreme command of the Tyrolean defence forces, was to go down in the history books. The Tyrolean insurgents were able to carry victory from the battlefield a total of three times. The 3rd battle in August 1809 on Mount Isel is particularly well known. "Innsbruck sees and hears what it has never heard or seen before: a battle of 40,000 combatants...“

Für kurze Zeit war Andreas Hofer in Ermangelung regulärer Tatsachen Oberkommandant Tirols, auch für zivile Angelegenheiten. Die Kosten für Kost und Logis dieses Bauernregiments musste die Stadt Innsbruck tragen. Besonders die liberalen und vermögenden Kreise der Stadt waren nicht glücklich mit den neuen Stadtherren. Die von ihm als Landeskommandant erlassenen Verordnungen erinnern eher an einen Gottesstaat als ein Gesetzwerk des 19. Jahrhunderts. Frauen durften nur noch züchtig verhüllt auf die Straße gehen, Tanzveranstaltungen wurden verboten und freizügige Denkmäler wie die am Leopoldsbrunnen nymphs on display were banned from public spaces. Educational agendas were to return to the clergy. Liberals and intellectuals were arrested, but the Praying the rosary to the bid.

In the end, the fourth and final battle on Mount Isel in autumn 1809 resulted in a heavy defeat against the French superiority. The government in Vienna had used the Tyrolean rebels primarily as a tactical bruiser in the war against Napoleon. The Emperor had already had to officially cede the province of Tyrol in the peace treaty of Schönbrunn. Innsbruck was again under Bavarian administration between 1810 and 1814. By this time, Hofer himself was already a man marked by the effects of alcohol. He was captured and executed in Mantua on 20 January 1810.

Der „Fight for freedom" symbolises the Tyrolean self-image to this day. For a long time, Andreas Hofer, the innkeeper from the South Tyrolean Passeier Valley, was regarded as an undisputed hero and the prototype of the Tyrolean who was brave, loyal to his fatherland and steadfast. The underdog who fought back against foreign superiority and unholy customs. In fact, Hofer was probably a charismatic leader, but politically untalented and conservative-clerical, simple-minded. His tactics at the 3rd Battle of Mount Isel "Do not abandon them" (Ann.: You just mustn't let them come up) probably summarises his nature quite well.

In conservative Tyrolean circles such as the Schützen, Hofer is uncritically and cultishly worshipped. Tyrolean marksmanship is a living tradition that has modernised, but is still reactionary in many dark corners. Wiltener, Amraser, Pradler and Höttinger marksmen still march in unison alongside the clergy, traditional costume societies and marching bands in church processions and shoot into the air to keep all evil away from Tyrol and the Catholic Church.

In Tyrol, Andreas Hofer is still used today for all kinds of initiatives and plans. The glorified hero Andreas Hofer was repeatedly invoked, especially during the nationalist period of the 19th century. Hofer was stylised into an icon through paintings, pamphlets and plays. But even today, you can still see the likeness of the head marksman when Tyroleans defend themselves against unwelcome measures by the federal government, the transit regulations of the EU or FC Wacker against foreign football clubs. The motto is then "Man, it's time!“. Die Legende vom wehrfähigen Tiroler Bauern, der unter Tags das Feld bestellt und sich abends am Schießstand zum Scharfschützen und Verteidiger der Heimat ausbilden lässt, wird immer wieder gerne aus der Schublade geholt zur Stärkung der „echten“ Tiroler Identität.

It was only in the last few decades that the arch-conservative and probably overburdened with his task as Tyrolean provincial commander began to be criticised. Spurred on by parts of the Habsburgs and the Catholic Church, he not only wanted to keep the French and Bavarians out of Tyrol, but also the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment.

Many monuments throughout the city commemorate the year 1809. Andreas Hofer and his comrades-in-arms Josef Speckbacher, Peter Mayer, Father Haspinger and Kajetan Sweth were given street names, especially in the Wilten district, which became part of Innsbruck in 1904 and had long been under the administration of the monastery. To this day, the celebrations to mark the anniversary of Andreas Hofer's death on 20 February regularly attract crowds of people from all parts of Tyrol to the city. 

The period between the French Revolution and the Battle of Königgrätz in 1866 was a period of war. The monarchies of Europe, led by the Habsburgs, had declared war on the French Republic. Fears were rife that the motto of the Revolution "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" could spread across Europe. A young general named Napoleon Bonaparte was with his italienischen Armee advanced across the Alps as part of the coalition wars and met the Austrian troops there. It was not just a war for territory and power, it was a battle of systems. The Grande Armee of the revolutionary French Republic met the arch-Catholic Habsburgs.

Tyrolean riflemen were involved in the fighting to defend the country's borders against the invading French. Companies such as the Höttinger Schützen, founded in 1796, faced the most advanced and best army in the world at the time. The Cult of the Sacred Heart, which still enjoys great popularity in Tyrol today, dates back to this time. In a hopeless situation, the Tyrolean troops renewed their covenant with the heart of Jesus to ask for protection. It was the abbot of Stams Monastery who petitioned the provincial estates to henceforth organise an annual "das Fest des göttlichen Herzens Jesu mit feierlichem Gottesdienst zu begehen, wenn Tirol von der drohenden Feindesgefahr befreit werde." Every year, the Sacred Heart celebrations were discussed and announced with great pomp in the press. Particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they were an explosive mixture of popular superstition, Catholicism and national resentment against everything French and Italian. Alongside Cranach's Mother of Mercy, the depiction of the heart of Jesus is probably the most popular Christian motif in the Tyrolean region to this day and is emblazoned on the façades of countless houses.

In the war years of 1848, 1859 and 1866, the so-called Italian wars of unification. In the course of the 19th century, at the latest since 1848, there was a veritable national frenzy among young men. Volunteer armies sprang up in all regions of Europe. Students and academics who came together in their associations, gymnasts, marksmen, all wanted to prove their new love of the nation on the battlefield and supported the official armies. Probably the most famous battle of the Wars of unification took place in Solferino near Lake Garda in 1859. Horrified by the bloody events, Henry Durant decided to found the Red Cross. The writer Joseph Roth described the events in the first pages of his classic book, which is well worth reading Radetzkymarsch.

"In the battle of Solferino, he (note: Lieutenant Trotta) commanded a platoon as an infantry lieutenant. The battle had been going on for half an hour. Three paces in front of him he saw the white backs of his soldiers. The first row of his platoon was kneeling, the second was standing. Everyone was cheerful and certain of victory. They had eaten copiously and drunk brandy at the expense and in honour of the emperor, who had been in the field since yesterday. Here and there one fell out of line."

As a garrison town, Innsbruck was an important supply centre. After the Congress of Vienna, the Tyrolean Jägerkorps the k.k. Tiroler Kaiserjägerregiment an elite unit that was deployed in these conflicts. Volunteer units such as the Innsbruck academics or the Stubai Riflemen were fighting in Italy. The media fuelled the atmosphere away from the front line. The "Innsbrucker Zeitung" predigte in ihren Artikeln Kaisertreue und großdeutsch-tirolischen Nationalismus, wetterte gegen das Italienertum und Franzosen und pries den Mut Tiroler Soldaten.

"Die starke Besetzung der Höhen am Ausgange des Valsugana bei Primolano und le Tezze gab schon oft den Innsbrucker-Akademikern I. und den Stubaiern Anlaß, freiwillige Ercur:sionen gegen le Tezze, Fonzago und Fastro, als auch auf das rechte Brenta-Ufer und den Höhen gegen die kleinen Lager von den Sette comuni zu machen...Am 19. schon haben die Stubaier einige Feinde niedergestreckt, als sie sich das erste mal hinunterwagten, indem sie sich ihnen entgegenschlichen..."

The year 1866 was particularly costly for the Austrian Empire, with the loss of Veneto and Lombardy in Italy. At the same time, Prussia took the lead in the German Confederation, the successor organisation to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. For Innsbruck, the withdrawal of the Habsburg Monarchy from the German Confederation meant that it had finally become a city on the western periphery of the empire. The tendency towards so-called Großdeutschen LösungThe German question, i.e. statehood together with the German Empire instead of the independent Austrian Empire, was more pronounced in Innsbruck than in the rest of the country. The extent to which this German question divided the city became apparent over 30 years later, when the Innsbruck municipal council voted in favour of the Iron Chancellor Bismarck, who was responsible for the fratricidal war between Austria and Germany, wanted to dedicate a street to him. While conservatives loyal to the emperor were horrified by this proposal, the Greater German liberals around Mayor Wilhelm Greil were delighted by this gesture of unification.

However, the national aspirations of the individual ethnic groups did not stop at Tyrol in an idealistic sense, as the Trentino region between Salurn and Riva on Lake Garda also included an Italian-speaking part of the country. In the Tyrolean state parliament, Italian-speaking members of parliament called for so-called Irredentistsmore rights and autonomy for what was then South Tyrol. In Innsbruck, there were repeated tensions and clashes between Italian and German-speaking students. The highlight was probably the Fatti di Innsbruck after the opening of the Italian-speaking university in Wilten in 1904, which ended in one death. The WallschenThe term for Italians has persisted to this day: they were considered dishonourable, unreliable and lazy. Many Tyroleans keep the ugly tradition of negative prejudices against their southern neighbours alive to this day.  

The 70 years between the Napoleonic Wars and the Italian Wars of Unification are hardly remembered in Innsbruck, although a number of Innsbruck residents served in the military. With the Tummelplatz, the Pradl military cemetery and the Kaiserjägermuseum on Mount Isel, Innsbruck has several memorials to these bloody conflicts.

Einer der wichtigsten Akteure der Stadtgeschichte war Wilhelm Greil (1850 – 1923). Von 1896 bis 1923 bekleidete der Unternehmer das Amt des Bürgermeisters, nachdem er vorher bereits als Vizebürgermeister die Geschicke der Stadt mitgestaltet hatte. Es war die Zeit des Wachstums, der Eingemeindung ganzer Stadtviertel, technischer Innovationen und neuer Medien. Die vier Jahrzehnte zwischen der Wirtschaftskrise 1873 und dem Ersten Weltkrieg von einem nie dagewesenen Wirtschaftswachstum und einer rasenden Modernisierung gekennzeichnet. Die Wirtschaft der Stadt boomte. Betriebe in den neuen Stadtteilen Pradl und Wilten entstanden und lockten Arbeitskräfte an. Auch der Tourismus brachte frisches Kapital in die Stadt. Die Ansammlung an Menschen auf engstem Raum unter teils prekären Hygieneverhältnissen brachte gleichzeitig aber auch Probleme mit sich. Besonders die Randbezirke der Stadt und die umliegenden Dörfer wurden regelmäßig von Typhus heimgesucht.

Die Innsbrucker Stadtpolitik, in der Greil sich bewegte, war vom Kampf liberaler und konservativer Kräfte geprägt. Die Konservativen hatten es, anders als im restlichen Tirol, schwer in Innsbruck, dessen Bevölkerung seit der Zeit Napoleons liberale Morgenluft geschnuppert hatte. Jede Seite hatte neben Politikern auch Vereine und eigene Zeitungen, um sich Gehör zu verschaffen. Greil war ein geschickter Politiker, der sich innerhalb der vorgegebenen Machtstrukturen seiner Zeit bewegte. Er wusste sich um die traditionellen Kräfte, die Monarchie und den Klerus geschickt zu manövrieren und sich mit ihnen zu arrangieren.

Steuern, Gesellschaftspolitik, Bildungswesen, Wohnbau und die Gestaltung des öffentlichen Raumes wurden mit Leidenschaft und Eifer diskutiert. Bedingt durch eine Wahlordnung, die auf das Stimmrecht über Vermögensklassen aufgebaut war, konnten nur etwa 10% der gesamten Innsbrucker Bevölkerung zur Wahlurne schreiten. Frauen waren prinzipiell ausgeschlossen. Dabei galt das relative Wahlrecht innerhalb der drei Wahlkörper, was so viel heißt wie: The winner takes it all. Massenparteien wie die Sozialdemokraten konnten sich bis zur Wahlrechtsreform der Ersten Republik nicht durchsetzen. Bürgermeister wie Greil konnten auf 100% Rückhalt im Gemeinderat bauen, was die Entscheidungsfindung und Lenkung natürlich erheblich vereinfachte. Bei aller Effizienz, die Innsbrucker Bürgermeister bei oberflächlicher Betrachtung an den Tag legten, sollte man nicht vergessen, dass das nur möglich war, weil sie als Teil einer Elite aus Unternehmern, Handelstreibenden und Freiberuflern ohne nennenswerte Opposition und Rücksichtnahme auf andere Bevölkerungsgruppen wie Arbeitern, Handwerkern und Angestellten in einer Art gewählten Diktatur durchregierten. Das Reichsgemeindegesetz von 1862 verlieh Städten wie Innsbruck und damit den Bürgermeistern größere Befugnisse. Es verwundert kaum, dass die Amtskette, die Greil zu seinem 60. Geburtstag von seinen Kollegen im Gemeinderat verliehen bekam, den Ordensketten des alten Adels erstaunlich ähnelte.

Greil belonged to the "Deutschen Volkspartei", a liberal and national-Great German party. What appears to us today as a contradiction, liberal and national, was a politically common and well-functioning pair of ideas in the 19th century. Pan-Germanism was not a political peculiarity of a radical right-wing minority, but rather a centrist trend, particularly in German-speaking cities of the Reich, which was important in varying forms through almost all parties until after the Second World War. Whoever issues the liberal Innsbrucker Nachrichten of the period around the turn of the century, you will find countless articles in which the common ground between the German Reich and the German-speaking countries was made the topic of the day.

Unter Greils Ägide und dem allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung erweiterte sich Innsbruck im Eiltempo. Er kaufte ganz im Stil eines Kaufmanns vorausschauend Grund an, um Projekte zu ermöglichen. Der Politiker Greil konnte sich bei den großen Bauprojekten der Zeit auf die Beamten und Stadtplaner Eduard Klingler, Jakob Albert und Theodor Prachensky stützen. Infrastrukturprojekte wie das neue Rathaus in der Maria-Theresienstraße 1897, die Hungerburgbahn 1906 und die Karwendelbahn were realised. Other milestones included the renovation of the market square and the construction of the market hall.

Neben den sichtbaren, prestigeträchtigen Großprojekten entstanden in den letzten Jahrzehnten des 19. Jahrhunderts aber viele unauffällige Revolutionen. Vieles, was in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts vorangetrieben wurde, gehört heute zum Alltag. Für die Menschen dieser Zeit waren diese Dinge aber eine echte Sensation und lebensverändernd. Bereits Greils Vorgänger Bürgermeister Heinrich Falk (1840 – 1917) hatte erheblich zur Modernisierung der Stadt und zur Besiedelung des Saggen beigetragen. Seit 1859 war die Beleuchtung der Stadt mit Gasrohrleitungen stetig vorangeschritten. Mit dem Wachstum der Stadt und der Modernisierung wurden die Senkgruben, die in Hinterhöfen der Häuser als Abort dienten und nach Entleerung an umliegende Landwirte als Dünger verkauft wurden, zu einer Unzumutbarkeit für immer mehr Menschen. 1880 wurde das Raggeln, so der Name im Volksmund für die Entleerung der Aborte, in den Verantwortungsbereich der Stadt übertragen. Zwei pneumatische Maschinen sollten den Vorgang zumindest etwas hygienischer gestalten. Zwischen 1887 und 1891 wurde Innsbruck mit einer modernen Hochdruckwasserleitung ausgestattet, über die auch Wohnungen in höher gelegenen Stockwerken mit frischem Wasser versorgt werden konnten. Wer auf sich hielt und es sich leisten konnte, hatte damit erstmals die Gelegenheit eine Spültoilette im Eigenheim zu installieren.

Greil setzte diesen Feldzug der Modernisierung fort. Nach jahrzehntelangen Diskussionen wurde 1903 mit dem Bau einer modernen Schwemmkanalisation begonnen. Ausgehend von der Innenstadt wurden immer mehr Stadtteile an diesen heute alltäglichen Luxus angeschlossen. 1908 waren nur die Koatlackler Mariahilf und St. Nikolaus nicht an das Kanalsystem angeschlossen. Auch der neue Schlachthof im Saggen erhöhte Hygiene und Sauberkeit in der Stadt. Schlecht kontrollierte Hofschlachtungen gehörten mit wenigen Ausnahmen der Vergangenheit an. Das Vieh kam im Zug am Sillspitz an und wurde in der modernen Anlage fachgerecht geschlachtet. Greil überführte auch das Gaswerk in Pradl und das Elektrizitätswerk in Mühlau in städtischen Besitz. Die Straßenbeleuchtung wurde im 20. Jahrhundert von den Gaslaternen auf elektrisches Licht umgestellt. 1888 übersiedelte das Krankenhaus von der Maria-Theresienstraße an seinen heutigen Standort.

Bürgermeister und Gemeinderat konnten sich bei dieser Innsbrucker Renaissance neben der wachsenden Wirtschaftskraft in der Vorkriegszeit auch auf Mäzen aus dem Bürgertum stützen. Waren technische Neuerungen und Infrastruktur Sache der Liberalen, verblieb die Fürsorge der Ärmsten weiterhin bei klerikal gesinnten Kräften, wenn auch nicht mehr bei der Kirche selbst. Freiherr Johann von Sieberer stiftete das Greisenasyl und das Waisenhaus im Saggen. Leonhard Lang stiftete das Gebäude, das vorher als Hotel genutzt wurde, in das das Rathaus von der Altstadt 1897 übersiedelte, gegen das Versprechen der Stadt ein Lehrlingsheim zu bauen.

Im Gegensatz zur boomenden Vorkriegsära war die Zeit nach 1914 vom Krisenmanagement geprägt. In seinen letzten Amtsjahren begleitete Greil Innsbruck am Übergang von der Habsburgermonarchie zur Republik durch Jahre, die vor allem durch Hunger, Elend, Mittelknappheit und Unsicherheit geprägt waren. Er war 68 Jahre alt, als italienische Truppen nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg die Stadt besetzten und Tirol am Brenner geteilt wurde, was für ihn als Vertreter des Deutschnationalismus besonders bitter war.

In 1928, former mayor Greil died as an honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck at the age of 78. Wilhelm-Greil-Straße was named after him during his lifetime.

In the 1990s, an Austrian television series caused a scandal. The Piefke Saga written by the Tyrolean author Felix Mitterer, describes the relationship between the German holidaymaker family Sattmann and their hosts in a fictitious Tyrolean holiday resort in four bizarrely amusing episodes. Despite all the scepticism about tourism in its current, sometimes extreme, excesses, it should not be forgotten that tourism was an important factor in Innsbruck and the surrounding area in the 19th century, driving the region's development in the long term, and not just economically.

Initially, it was the mountain peaks of the Alps that attracted visitors. For a long time, the area between Mittenwald in Bavaria and Italy was a kind of transit corridor for the military and traders. Although Innsbruck's inns and landlords were already earning money from traders and the entourage of the court's aristocratic guests in the Middle Ages and early modern times, tourism as we understand it today was not yet a reality. In addition to a growing middle class, this also required a new attitude towards the Alps. For a long time, the mountains had been a pure threat to the people. It was mainly the British who set out to conquer the world's mountains after the oceans. From the late 18th century, the era of Romanticism, news of the natural beauty of the Alps spread through travelogues.

In addition to the alpine attraction, it was the wild and exotic Natives Tirols, die international für Aufsehen sorgten. Der bärtige Revoluzzer namens Andreas Hofer, der es mit seinem Bauernheer geschafft hatte, Napoleons Armee in die Knie zu zwingen, erzeugte bei den Briten, den notorischen Erzfeinden der Franzosen, ebenso großes Interesse wie bei deutschen Nationalisten nördlich der Alpen, die in ihm einen frühen Protodeutschen sahen. Die Tiroler galten als unbeugsamer Menschenschlag, archetypisch und ungezähmt, ähnlich den Germanen unter Arminius, die das Imperium Romanum herausgefordert hatten. Die Beschreibungen Innsbrucks aus der Feder des Autors Beda Weber (1798 – 1858) und andere Reiseberichte in der boomenden Presselandschaft dieser Zeit trugen dazu bei, ein attraktives Bild Innsbrucks zu prägen.

Nun mussten die wilden Alpen nur noch der Masse an Touristen zugänglich gemacht werden, die zwar gerne den frühen Abenteurern auf ihren Expeditionen nacheifern wollten, deren Risikobereitschaft und Fitness mit den Wünschen nicht schritthalten konnten. Der German Alpine Club eröffnete 1869 eine Sektion Innsbruck, nachdem der 1862 Österreichische Alpenverein wenig erfolgreich war. Angetrieben vom großdeutschen Gedanken vieler Mitglieder fusionierten die beiden Institutionen 1873. Der Alpenverein ist bis heute bürgerlich geprägt, sein sozialdemokratisches Pendant sind die Naturfreunde. The network of trails grew through its development, as did the number of huts that could accommodate guests. The Tyrolean theologian Franz Senn (1831 - 1884) and the writer Adolf Pichler (1819 - 1900) were instrumental in surveying Tyrol and creating maps. Contrary to popular belief, the Tyroleans were not born mountaineers, but had to be taught the skills to conquer the mountains. Until then, mountains had been one thing above all: dangerous and arduous in everyday agricultural life. Climbing them had hardly occurred to anyone before. The Alpine clubs also trained mountain guides.

From the turn of the century, skiing came into fashion alongside hiking and mountaineering. There were no lifts yet, and to get up the mountains you had to use the skins that are still glued to touring skis today.  

The number of guests increased slowly but steadily. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Innsbruck had 200,000 visitors. In addition to the number of travellers who had an impact on life in the small town of Innsbruck, it was also the internationality of the visitors who gradually gave Innsbruck a new look. New hotels, cafés, inns, shops and means of transport were needed to meet the needs of the guests. The working world of many people changed. In June 1896, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten:

„Der Fremdenverkehr in Innsbruck bezifferte sich im Monat Mai auf 5647 Personen. Darunter befanden sich (außer 2763 Reisenden aus Oesterreich-Ungarn) 1974 Reichsdeutsche, 282 Engländer, 65 Italiener, 68 Franzosen, 53 Amerikaner, 51 Russen und 388 Personen aus verschiedenen anderen Ländern.“

With the Grand Hotel Europa had also opened a first-class hotel in Innsbruck in 1869, replacing the often outdated inns in the historic city centre as the accommodation of choice. This was followed in 1892 by the Reformhotel Habsburger Hof a second large company. The Habsburg Court already offered its guests electric light, an absolute sensation. The Arlberger Hof was also located at the railway station. What would be seen as a competitive disadvantage today was a selling point at the time. Railway stations were the centres of modern cities. The station squares were not overcrowded transport hubs like today, but sophisticated and well-kept places in front of the architecturally sophisticated halls where the trains arrived.

Innsbruck and the surrounding towns were also known for spa holidays, the predecessor of today's wellness, where well-heeled clients recovered from a wide variety of illnesses in an Alpine environment. The Igler Hof, back then Grandhotel Igler Hof and the Sporthotel Igls, still partly exude the chic of that time. Michael Obexer, the founder of the spa town of Igls and owner of the Grand Hotel, was a tourism pioneer. There were two spas in Egerdach near Amras and in Mühlau. The facilities were not as well-known as the hotspots of the time in Bad Ischl, Marienbad or Baden near Vienna, as can be seen in old photos and postcards, but the treatments with brine, steam, gymnastics and even magnetism were in line with the standards of the time, some of which are still popular with spa and wellness holidaymakers today. Bad Egerdach near Innsbruck had been known as a healing spring since the 17th century. The spring was said to cure gout, skin diseases, anaemia and even the nervous disorder known in the 19th century as neurasthenia, the predecessor of burnout. The institution's chapel still exists today opposite the SOS Children's Village. The baths in Mühlau have existed since 1768 and were converted into an inn and spa in the style of the time in the course of the 19th century. The former bathing establishment is now a residential building worth seeing in Anton-Rauch-Straße.

1888 gründeten die Profiteure des Fremdenverkehrs in Innsbruck die Commission for the promotion of tourism, den Vorgänger des heutigen Tourismusverbands. Durch vereinte Kräfte in Werbung und Qualitätssicherung bei den Beherbergungsbetrieben hofften die einzelnen Betriebe, den Tourismus weiter anzukurbeln. Ab 1880 sorgten neben Werbung in Zeitungen auch Messen dafür, dass Innsbruck und Tirol international Bekanntheit erlangten.

„Alljährlich mehrt sich die Zahl der überseeischen Pilger, die unser Land und dessen gletscherbekrönte Berge zum Verdrusse unserer freundnachbarlichen Schweizer besuchen und manch klingenden Dollar zurücklassen. Die Engländer fangen an Tirol ebenso interessant zu finden wie die Schweiz, die Zahl der Franzosen und Niederländer, die den Sommer bei uns zubringen, mehrt sich von Jahr zu Jahr.“

Postkarten waren die ersten massentauglichen Influencer der Tourismusgeschichte. Viele Betriebe ließen ihre eigenen Postkarten drucken. Verlage produzierten unzählige Sujets der beliebtesten Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt. Es ist interessant zu sehen, was damals als sehenswert galt und auf den Karten abgebildet wurde. Anders als heute waren es vor allem die zeitgenössisch modernen Errungenschaften der Stadt: der Leopoldbrunnen, das Stadtcafé beim Theater, die Kettenbrücke, die Zahnradbahn auf die Hungerburg oder die 1845 eröffnete Stefansbrücke an der Brennerstraße, die als Steinbogen aus Quadern die Sill überquerte, waren die Attraktionen. Auch Andreas Hofer war ein gut funktionierendes Testimonial auf den Postkarten: Der Gasthof Schupfen in dem Andreas Hofer sein Hauptquartier hatte und der Berg Isel mit dem großen Andreas-Hofer-Denkmal waren gerne abgebildete Motive.

1914 gab es in Innsbruck 17 Hotels, die Gäste anlockten. Dazu kamen die Sommer- und Winterfrischler in Igls und dem Stubaital. Der Erste Weltkrieg ließ die erste touristische Welle mit einem Streich versanden. Gerade als sich der Fremdenverkehr Ende der 1920er Jahre langsam wieder erholt hatte, kamen mit der Wirtschaftskrise und Hitlers 1000 Mark blockThe next setback came in 1933, when he tried to put pressure on the Austrian government to end the ban on the NSDAP.

It required the Economic miracle in the 1950s and 1960s to revitalise tourism in Innsbruck after the destruction. After the arduous war years and the reconstruction of the European economy, Tyrol and Innsbruck were able to slowly but steadily establish tourism as a stable source of income, even away from the official hotels and guesthouses. Many Innsbruck families moved together in their already cramped flats to supplement their household budgets by renting out beds to guests from abroad. Tourism not only brought in foreign currency, but also enabled the locals to create a new image of themselves both internally and externally. The war enemies of past decades became guests and hosts.

Wer den Beweis benötigt, dass die Innsbrucker stets ein aktives Völkchen waren, könnte das Bild „Winterlandschaft“ des niederländischen Malers Pieter Bruegel (circa 1525 – 1569) aus dem 16. Jahrhundert bemühen. Auf seiner Rückreise von Italien gen Norden hielt der Meister wohl auch in Innsbruck und beobachtete dabei die Bevölkerung beim Eislaufen auf dem zugefrorenen Amraser See. Beda Weber beschrieb in seinem Handbuch für Reisende in Tirol 1851 the leisure habits of the people of Innsbruck, including ice skating on Lake Amras. "The lake not far away (note: Amras), a pool in the mossy area, is used by ice skaters in winter." To this day, sporty clothing in every situation is the most normal thing in the world for Innsbruckers. While in other cities people turn up their noses at functional clothing or hiking and sports shoes in restaurants or offices, at the foot of the Nordkette you don't stand out.

It wasn't always like that. The path from ice-skating peasant to active citizen was a long one. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, leisure and free time for sports such as hunting or riding was primarily a privilege of the nobility. It was not until the changed living conditions of the 19th century that a large proportion of the population, especially in the cities, had something like leisure time for the first time. More and more people no longer worked in agriculture, but as labourers and employees in offices, workshops and factories according to regulated schedules.

The pioneer was the early industrialised England, where workers and employees slowly began to free themselves from the turbo capitalism of early industrialisation. 16-hour days were not only detrimental to workers' health, entrepreneurs also realised that overworking was unprofitable. Healthy and happy workers were better for productivity. Efforts to introduce an 8-hour day had been underway since the 1860s. In 1873, the Austrian book printers pushed through a working day of ten hours. In 1918, Austria switched to a 48-hour week. From 1930, 40 hours per week became the standard working time in industrial companies. People of all classes, no longer just the aristocracy, now had time and energy for hobbies, club life and sporting activities.

In many cases, it was also English tourists who brought sporting trends, disciplines and equipment with them. The financial outlay for the required equipment determined whether the discipline remained the preserve of the middle classes or whether workers could also afford the pleasure. For example, luge was already widespread around the turn of the century, while bobsleigh and skeleton remained elitist sports.

Sport was not only a leisure activity, but also a demarcation between the individual social classes. The working classes, bourgeoisie and aristocracy also nurtured their identity through the sports they practised. Aristocrats rode and hunted with the dignity of old, the middle classes showed their individuality, wealth and independence through expensive sports equipment such as modern bicycles, and the working classes chased balls or wrestled in teams of eleven. The separation may no longer be conscious, but you can still see people identifying with "their" sport today.

In the middle of the 19th century, sportsmen and women joined singers, museum and theatre enthusiasts, scientists and literature fans. The beginning of organised club sport in Innsbruck was marked by the ITV, the Innsbrucker Turnvereinwhich was founded in 1849. Gymnastics was the epitome of sport in German-speaking countries. The idea of competition was not in the foreground. Most clubs had a political background. There were Christian, socialist and Greater German sports clubs. They served as a preliminary organisation for political parties and bodies. More or less all clubs had Aryan clauses in their statutes. Jews therefore founded their own sports clubs. The national movement emerged from the German gymnastics clubs, similar to the student fraternities. The members were supposed to train themselves physically in order to fulfil the national body to serve in the best possible way in the event of war. Sedentary occupations, especially academic ones, became more common, and gymnastics served as a means of compensation. If you see the gymnasts performing their exercises and demonstrations in old pictures, the strictly military character of these events is striking. The Greater German agitator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778 - 1852), commonly known as Gymnastics father Jahnwas not only the nation's gymnast, but also the spiritual father of the Lützow Free Corps which went into action against Napoleon as a kind of all-German volunteer army. One of the most famous bon mots attributed to this passionate anti-Semite is "Hatred of everything foreign is a German's duty". In Saggen, Jahnstraße and a small park with a monument commemorate Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.

1883 gründeten die Radfahrer den Verein Bicycle Club. The first bicycle races in France and Great Britain took place in 1869. The English city of Coventry was also a pioneer in the production of the elegant steel steeds, which cost a fortune. In the same year, the Innsbruck press had already reported on the modern means of individual transport when "some gentlemen ventured onto the road with several velocipedes ordered by the Peterlongo company". In 1876, cycling was briefly banned in Innsbruck as accidents had repeatedly occurred. Cycling was also quickly recognised by the state as a form of exercise that could be used for military purposes. A Reich war ministerial decree on this can be found in the press:

„Es ist beabsichtigt, wie in den Vorjahren, auch heuer bei den Uebungen mit vereinigten Waffen Radfahrer zu verwenden… Die Commanden der Infanterie- und Tiroler Jägerregimenter sowie der Feldjäger-Bataillone haben jene Personen, welche als Radfahrer in Evidenz stehen und heuer zur Waffenübung verpflichtet sind, zum Einrücken mit ihrem Fahrrade aufzufordern.“

The Velocipedists siedelten sich 1896 im Rahmen der „Internationalen Ausstellung für körperliche Erziehung, Gesundheitspflege und Sport“ im Saggen nahe der Viaduktbögen mit einer Radrennbahn samt Tribüne an. Neben Radrennen fanden hier bis zum Abriss der Anlage Boxkämpfe und Tennismatches statt. Die Innsbrucker Nachrichten berichteten begeistert von dieser Neuerung, war doch der Radsport bis zu den ersten Autorennen europaweit die beliebteste Sportdisziplin:

„Die Innsbrucker Rennbahn, welche in Verbindung mit der internationalen Ausstellung noch im Laufe der nächsten Wochen eröffnet wird, erhält einen Umfang von 400 Metern bei einer Breite von 6 Metern… Die Velociped-Rennbahn, um deren Errichtung sich der Präsident des Tiroler Radfahrer-Verbandes Herr Staatsbahn-Oberingenieur R. v. Weinong, das Hauptverdienst erworben hat, wird eine der hervorragendsten und besteingerichteten Radfahrbahnen des Continents sein. Am. 29. d. M. (Anm.: Juni 1896) wird auf der Innsbrucker Rennbahn zum erstenmale ein großes internationales Radwettfahren abgehalten, welchem dann in der Zukunft alljährlich regelmäßig Velociped-Preisrennen folgen sollen, was der Förderung des Radfahr-Sports wie auch des Fremdenverkehrs in Innsbruck sicher in bedeutendem Maße nützlich sein wird.“

The footballers had left the umbrella organisation ITV because of the Aryan Law, which forbade matches with teams with Jewish players. In 1903, the Verein Fußball Innsbruckwhich would later become the SVI. At this time, there were already national football matches, for example a 1:1 draw between the ITV team and Bayern Munich. The matches were played on a football pitch in front of the Sieberer orphanage. In Wilten, now part of Innsbruck, in 1910 the SK Wilten. 1913 gründete sich mit Wacker Innsbruck the most successful Tyrolean football club to date, winning the Austrian championship ten times under different names and also celebrating minor international successes.

The first bathing establishment welcomed swimmers from 1833 in the Höttinger in the outdoor pool on the Gießen. Further baths at Büchsenhausen Castle or the separate women's and men's baths next to today's Sillpark area soon followed. The outdoor swimming pool was in a particularly beautiful location Beautiful rest above Ambras Castle, which opened in 1929 shortly after the indoor swimming pool in Pradl was built. The population had grown just as much as the desire for swimming as a leisure activity. In 1961, the sports programme at Tivoli was expanded to include the Freischwimmbad Tivoli extended.

In addition to the various summer sports, winter sports also became increasingly popular. Tobogganing was already a popular leisure activity on the hills around Innsbruck in the middle of the 19th century. The first ice rink opened in 1870 as a winter alternative to swimming on the grounds of the open-air swimming pool in the Höttinger Au. Unlike water sports, ice skating was a pleasure that could be enjoyed by men and women together. Instead of meeting up for a Sunday stroll, young couples could meet at the ice rink without their parents present. The ice skating club was founded in 1884 and used the exhibition grounds as an ice rink. With the ice rink in front of the k.u.k. shooting range in Mariahilf, the Lansersee, the Amraser See, the Höttinger Au swimming facility and the Sillkanal in Kohlstatt provided the people of Innsbruck with many opportunities for ice skating. The first ice hockey club, the IEV, was founded as early as 1908.

Skiing, initially a Nordic pastime in the valley, soon spread as a downhill discipline. The Innsbruck Academic Alpine Club was founded in 1893 and two years later organised the first ski race on Tyrolean soil from Sistrans to Ambras Castle. Founded in 1867, the Sports shop Witting in Maria-Theresien-Straße proved its business acumen and was still selling equipment for the well-heeled skiing public before 1900. After St. Anton and Kitzbühel, the first ski centre was founded in 1906. Innsbruck Ski Club. The equipment was simple and for a long time only allowed skiing on relatively flat slopes with a mixture of alpine and Nordic style similar to cross-country skiing. Nevertheless, people dared to whizz down the slopes in Mutters or on the Ferrariwiese. In 1928, two cable cars were installed on the Nordkette and the Patscherkofel, which made skiing significantly more attractive. Skiing achieved its breakthrough as a national sport with the World Ski Championships in Innsbruck in February 1933. On an unmarked course, 10 kilometres and 1500 metres of altitude had to be covered between the Glungezer and Tulfes. The two local heroes Gustav Lantschner and Inge Wersin-Lantschner won several medals in the races, fuelling the hype surrounding alpine winter sports in Innsbruck.

Innsbruck identifiziert sich bis heute sehr stark mit dem Sport. Mit der Fußball-EM 2008, der Radsport-WM 2018 und der Kletter-WM 2018 konnte man an die glorreichen 1930er Jahre mit zwei Skiweltmeisterschaften und die beiden Olympiaden von 1964 und 1976 auch im Spitzensportbereich wieder an die Goldenen Zeiten anknüpfen. Trotzdem ist es weniger der Spitzen- als vielmehr der Breitensport, der dazu beiträgt, aus Innsbruck die selbsternannte Sporthauptstadt Österreichs zu machen. Es gibt kaum einen Innsbrucker, der nicht zumindest den Alpinski anschnallt. Mountainbiken auf den zahlreichen Almen rund um Innsbruck, Skibergsteigen, Sportklettern und Wandern sind überdurchschnittlich populär in der Bevölkerung und fest im Alltag verankert.

The last decades of the 19th century were characterised Wilhelminian style in die österreichische Geschichte ein. Nach einer Wirtschaftskrise 1873 begann sich die Stadt im Wiederaufschwung auszudehnen. Von 1880 bis 1900 wuchs Innsbrucks Bevölkerung von 20.000 auf 26.000 Einwohner an. Das 1904 eingemeindete Wilten verdreifachte sich von 4000 auf 12.000. Im Zuge technischer Innovationen veränderte sich auch die Infrastruktur. Gas, Wasser, Elektrizität wurden Teil des Alltags von immer mehr Menschen. Das alte Stadtspital wich dem neuen Krankenhaus. Im Saggen entstanden das Waisenhaus und das Greisenasyl Sieberers. Das erste Telephon Innsbrucks meldete sich 1893 zum Dienst. Um die Jahrhundertwende gab es bereits über 300 Anschlüsse in der Stadt.

Die Gebäude, die in den jungen Stadtvierteln gebaut wurden, waren ein Spiegel dieser neuen Gesellschaft. Unternehmer, Freiberufler, Angestellte und Arbeiter mit politischem Stimmrecht entwickelten andere Bedürfnisse als Untertanen ohne dieses Recht. Anders als im ländlichen Bereich Tirols, wo Bauernfamilien samt Knechten und Mägden in Bauernhäusern im Verbund einer Sippschaft lebten, kam das Leben in der Stadt dem Familienleben, das wir heute kennen, nahe. Der Wohnraum musste dem entsprechen. Der Lifestyle der Städter verlangte nach Mehrzimmerwohnungen und freien Flächen zur Erholung nach der Arbeitszeit. Das wohlhabende Bürgertum bestehend aus Unternehmern und Freiberuflern hatte den Adel zwar noch nicht überholt, den Abstand aber verringert. Sie waren es, die nicht nur private Bauprojekte beauftragten, sondern über ihre Stellung im Gemeinderat auch über öffentliche Bauten entschieden.

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.

Viele Bauexperten rümpften lange Zeit die Nase über die Bauten der Emporkömmlinge und Neureichen. Heinrich Hammer schrieb in seinem Standardwerk „Kunstgeschichte der Stadt 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.