In den 1920er und 30er wuchs und gedieh die NSDAP auch in Tirol. Die erste Ortsgruppe Innsbrucks wurde bereits 1923 gegründet. Mit „Der Nationalsozialist - Combat Gazette for Tyrol and Vorarlberg“ erschien ein eigenes Wochenblatt. 1933 erlebte die NSDAP mit dem Rückenwind aus Deutschland auch in Innsbruck einen kometenhaften Aufstieg. Die Modernität der Partei mit ihrem demonstrativ-revolutionären Antiklerikalismus und die Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten, die sie bot, sprach vor allem junge Menschen an. Das Neue, das Aufräumen mit alten Hierarchien und Strukturen wie der katholischen Kirche, der Umbruch und der noch nie dagewesene Stil zogen sie an. Besonders unter den großdeutsch gesinnten Burschen der Studentenverbindungen und vielfach auch unter Professoren war der Nationalsozialismus beliebt. Wer bereits oben war, sehnte sich nach den Zeiten vor dem allgemeinen Wahlrecht zurück, als Sozialdemokraten noch nichts zu melden hatten. Die demokratische Republik war konservativen Eliten ein Gräuel. Wer nach oben wollte, den Sozialdemokraten aber nichts abgewinnen konnte, konnte der sperrigen Demokratie ebenfalls nur wenig abgewinnen. Die allgemeine Unzufriedenheit und Politikverdrossenheit der Bürger kombiniert mit theatralisch inszenierten Fackelzügen durch die Stadt samt hakenkreuzförmiger Bergfeuer auf der Nordkette und einem regen Vereinsleben verhalfen der NSDAP schnell zu Popularität. Über 1800 Innsbrucker waren Mitglied der SA, die ihr Quartier in der Bürgerstraße 10 hatte. Konnten die Nationalsozialisten bei ihrem ersten Antreten bei einer Gemeinderatswahl 1921 nur 2,8% der Stimmen erringen, waren es bei den Wahlen 1933 bereits 41%. Nicht nur die Wahl Hitlers zum Reichskanzler in Deutschland, auch Kampagnen und Manifestationen in Innsbruck verhalfen der ab 1934 in Österreich verbotenen Partei zu diesem Ergebnis. Neun Mandatare, darunter der spätere Innsbrucker Bürgermeister Egon Denz und der Gauleiter Tirols Franz Hofer, zogen in den Gemeinderat ein.

When Austria was annexed by Germany in March 1938 (Anschluss), scenes resembling a civil war unfolded in Innsbruck. In the period leading up to the invasion, repeated marches and rallies by National Socialists had already taken place after the ban on the party had been lifted. Even before Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg concluded his final address to the Austrian people on 11 March 1938 with the words “God protect Austria” prior to handing over power to the National Socialists, Nazi supporters had already gathered in Innsbruck’s city centre to celebrate the impending arrival of German troops. The police were partly sympathetic to the organized demonstrations and partly powerless in the face of the unrest. Government buildings and Maria-Theresien-Straße were sealed off and secured with machine-gun positions, but decisive action by the authorities was out of the question. Cries of “One People, One Reich, One Führer” echoed through the city. The threat posed by the German military and the mobilization of SA units eliminated the last remaining doubts. Increasing numbers of enthusiastic citizens joined the demonstrations. The swastika flag was raised both at the Tyrolean government building (Landhaus), which at that time was still located on Maria-Theresien-Straße, and at the provisional Nazi headquarters in the Alt-Innsprugg inn. On 12 March, a large portion of Innsbruck’s population greeted the German military forces with great enthusiasm. To ensure a hospitable reception for the National Socialists, Mayor Egon Denz ordered that every worker be paid an entire week’s wages. On 5 April, Adolf Hitler personally visited Innsbruck to receive the adulation of the crowds. Archival photographs show euphoric masses awaiting the leader whom many believed would bring salvation. On the Nordkette mountain range above the city, bonfires in the shape of swastikas were lit. The plebiscite held on 10 April produced a result of more than 99 percent in favour of Austria’s annexation to Germany. After the economic hardship of the interwar period, the Great Depression, and the governments of Dollfuss and Schuschnigg, many people were exhausted and longed for change. At that moment, the specific nature of that change was often less important than change itself. “Showing those at the top” was one of Hitler’s central promises. The Wehrmacht and the growing arms industry offered young people prospects for employment and advancement, including many who felt little personal attachment to National Socialist ideology. The nostalgically cherished dream of a Greater Germany had a long tradition in Tyrol. The promise of bringing the German-speaking South Tyroleans “home into the Reich” and thus correcting what many regarded as the injustice of the Brenner border was also received favourably. Furthermore, outbreaks of political violence were unfortunately not unusual in Austria during the interwar years. Unlike today, democracy was not yet a system to which people had become accustomed. The period between the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 and the dissolution of parliament under Dollfuss in 1933 had been short and was marked by political extremism. What does not truly exist in the minds of a population as an established reality need not be abolished.

Tyrol and Vorarlberg were merged into a single Reichsgau (administrative district of the German Reich), with Innsbruck serving as its capital. Although National Socialism was viewed with skepticism by a considerable portion of the population, there was hardly any organized, let alone armed, resistance. The Catholic resistance group OE5 and the political left in Tyrol were simply too weak. Isolated acts of unorganized, subversive behavior did occur, particularly in the rural communities around Innsbruck, but they remained exceptions. The regime’s apparatus of power dominated everyday life too comprehensively. Many jobs and other privileges depended on at least an outward display of loyalty to the party. While most people were spared imprisonment, the fear of arrest was ever-present. The regime under Gauleiter Franz Hofer and Gestapo chief Werner Hilliges proved highly effective in suppressing opposition. The clergy were regarded as the regime’s primary adversaries, and the Catholic Church was therefore targeted on every level. Catholic schools were repurposed, youth organizations and associations were banned, monasteries were closed, religious instruction was abolished, and a church tax was introduced. Particularly outspoken priests, such as Otto Neururer, were sent to concentration camps. Local politicians, including the future mayors of Innsbruck, Franz Greiter and Anton Melzer, also faced persecution. Melzer, who had lost an arm fighting for “God, Emperor, and Fatherland” during the First World War, was forced either to flee or was imprisoned. Attempting even a broad overview of the violence and crimes committed against the Jewish population, the clergy, political suspects, civilians, and prisoners of war would far exceed the scope of this account. At Innsbruck University Hospital, people with disabilities and others whom the regime deemed undesirable, including homosexuals, were subjected to forced sterilization. In 1941, the Reichenau Labour Camp was established in the Rossau district near Innsbruck’s municipal works yard. Approximately 120 people died in this barracks camp as a result of disease, harsh living conditions, workplace accidents, or executions. The forced labourers, most of them Jewish, Russian, or Italian, were employed in the Messerschmitt factories in Kematen and on numerous construction projects, including the building of the South Tyrolean Settlements (Südtiroler Siedlungen) and the excavation of tunnels intended to protect the population from air raids in southern Innsbruck. Memorial sites commemorating the National Socialist era are relatively few and far between. The most prominent monument is probably the Tyrolean Government Building (Tiroler Landhaus) with its Liberation Memorial (Befreiungsdenkmal). At the Old University (Alte Universität) on Herrengasse, a bronze plaque recalls that the Gestapo once had its headquarters there. Suspects were interrogated under torture, severely abused, and in some cases beaten to death with bare fists. The square in front of the university and a small memorial column at the southern entrance of the hospital were likewise designed to commemorate what was arguably the darkest chapter in Austria’s history. In the Rossau district, a memorial site has been established at the location of the former Reichenau Labour Camp.