Altstadt Innsbruck

Strolling through the old town today, it is hard to believe that traffic rattled along this narrow pedestrian zone until 1972. Coming from the Brenner Pass, you could drive almost dead straight to the Kettenbrücke bridge to leave the city to the east or west. Archive photos show the Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse full to the brim with cars. The old town centre, now treated as an appropriately venerable museum, was a normal part of the city's traffic concept. Viewing traffic as an evil is a fairly new phenomenon. Today a horror and a spectre, it was one of the main reasons for Innsbruck's importance and prosperity from the Middle Ages until the advent of the motor car. The location where the Wipp and Inn valleys met was a European crossroads even before the Brenner motorway was built. Herzog-Friedrich-Straße was located on the main transport route between Venice and Augsburg. Named after the Tyrolean prince in the 19th century, the thoroughfare through Innsbruck was known in the Middle Ages as the Kramgasse named after the local grocers who were largely responsible for the town's prosperity. The arcades were called Chramen. From today's Maria-Theresien-Straße across the Goldene Dachl leading to the Ottoburg, it was the main traffic artery of the city of Innsbruck. Customs goods of all kinds that passed through here ensured the prosperity of the city. However, less pleasant things such as diseases were also imported. The plague probably came directly from Venice to Innsbruck in 1348 and decimated the city's population severely.

Im 15. Jahrhundert kam es zu großen Veränderungen innerhalb der Stadtmauern. Die Straße war noch nicht gepflastert. Die Laubengänge in der Herzog-Friedrich-Straße wurden erst nach und nach von den wohlhabenden Bürgern der Stadt errichtet, quasi als erstes Shoppingcenter der Stadt. Die Häuser waren lange Zeit aus Holz. Die neuen, in Stein errichteten Häuser waren nicht nur wärmender und stattlicher, sondern hatten auch den Vorteil weniger leicht Beute der Flammen zu werden als die eng aneinandergebauten Holzhäuser. Im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert waren bei Bränden mehrmals große Schäden entstanden. 1340 wurden Holzaufbauten ohne Genehmigung des Stadtrates vom landesfürstlichen Gesetz verboten. Nach und nach verschwanden die alten Fachwerkhäuser. Zu verdanken ist die Modernisierung auch dem für Innsbruck charakteristischen Baumaterial, die Höettinger Nagelfluhe or Höttinger Brecciewhich was used to reinforce many of the town houses after the two major earthquakes of 1670 and 1689. Since 1357, citizens of the city had been allowed to "They are allowed to cut, break and take tuft in all tuft pits they find and lead it to their city.“ Mit dieser Möglichkeit, günstig Baumaterial zu haben, förderte der Landesfürst den Ausbau Innsbrucks zu einer modernen Residenzstadt, ohne dafür selbst Mittel in die Hand zu nehmen. Der Kern der bis heute bestehenden Gebäude geht meist auf das 15. und 16. Jahrhundert zurück, viele wurden im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert renoviert, ohne die gotische Struktur zu zerstören. Die schmalen Gebäude zogen sich nach hinten in die Länge. Bei Kaufleuten befand sich im Erdgeschoß nach vorne hinaus die Kram, der Verkaufsraum. Dahinter war der Steingadena mostly brick-built storeroom with a cellar. On the upper floors of the stone houses were the flats, divided into individual parlours and rooms. There were often small gardens or even stables in the rear courtyards.

The upswing that came with Innsbruck's new status as a royal seat helped people to enjoy greater hygiene and comfort. In front of the cathedral you can see a medieval Ritschn that criss-crossed Innsbruck before it was paved around 1500. These small canals, which ran through the city, were used to dispose of waste water and rubbish. This was not only intended to keep the streets clean, but also to flush pathogens out of the city as far as possible. Even in times gone by, people were concerned about cleanliness and odour. The town council appointed a gravedigger to clean the canals. The townspeople's chamber pots as well as animal faeces from farm animals were flushed into the Inn using water from the Sill Canal. The settlements downstream to the east of Innsbruck often benefited from this exclusive mixture until the Inn was regulated. Many of the façade paintings, signs and reliefs on the houses were used for orientation within the city until the houses were numbered in the 18th century under Maria Theresa.

Nach und nach veränderte der Zuzug vermögender Menschen und Aristokraten das Stadtbild hin zu den aufwändigeren Bauten. Als 1665 mit Erzherzog Sigmund Franz der letzte Habsburger der Tiroler Linie kinderlos starb, wurde Tirol von Gubernatoren verwaltet und verlor seinen Status als Residenzstadt. Innsbruck blieb zwar das Zentrum des Landes, mit dem Voranschreiten der Zentralisierung des Staates ab den 1750er Jahren verlor die Stadt aber mehr und mehr ihre politische Bedeutung. Was für die Menschen damals wenig erbaulich war, ist aus heutiger Sicht ein Glücksfall: Die stadtbauliche Entwicklung stagnierte, was den frühneuzeitlichen gotischen Renaissance-Charakter der Altstadt bewahrte. Brände, Erdbeben, Luftangriffe – nichts konnte der Altstadt dauerhaft etwas anhaben. Während der Luftangriffe des zweiten Weltkrieges wurden nur das Winklerhaus und das Kapfererhaus at the corners of Herzog-Friedrich-Straße with Riesengasse and some buildings in Seilergasse. Thanks to the resilient Höttinger Breccie.

However, the old city wall with the city gates had to give way. There were five entrances leading into the city. The suburban gate was located at the southern entrance to the old town towards Maria-Theresien-Straße until well into the 18th century. Next to the Pickentor, dem Inntor, dem Rumer Tor und dem Tränkertörl it was one of the five city gates. Dismantling and decay began as early as the mid-16th century with the advent of heavy artillery. From the 18th century onwards, the city gates and the city moat, which had become useless as a defence system, were gradually filled in. Today, Innsbruck's five city gates can only be admired in pictures. The Wappentorbuilt under Maximilian with paintings by court painter Jörg Kölderer. A small picture on the façade of the house at the western entrance shows the suburban gate in its original form. The city's last defence tower, the so-called Kräuterturm (Herb Tower) at the north-west corner on Herzog-Otto-Ufer, which also served as the city prison, was demolished in 1890. Parts of Innsbruck's former city wall still exist today. The houses that enclose the old city centre offer glimpses of the old walls on which they were built.