Maximilian zählt zu den bedeutendsten Persönlichkeiten der europäischen und der Innsbrucker Stadtgeschichte. Über Tirol soll der passionierte Jäger gesagt haben: "Tirol ist ein grober Bauernkittel, der aber gut wärmt." Er machte Innsbruck in seiner Regierungszeit zu einem der wichtigsten Zentren des Heiligen Römischen Reichs. „Wer immer sich im Leben kein Gedächtnis macht, der hat nach seinem Tod kein Gedächtnis und derselbe Mensch wird mit dem Glockenton vergessen.“ Maximilian was highly successful in actively countering this fear. Under him, propaganda, images and the media played an increasingly important role, partly due to the burgeoning printing press. Maximilian used art and culture to maintain his presence. For example, he kept an imperial choir, a music band that was mainly used for public appearances and receptions of international envoys. He had a veritable cult of personality organised around himself with coins, books, printed matter and paintings.

Bei aller Romantik, die der Liebhaber höfischer Traditionen und des Rittertums pflegte, war er ein kühler Machtpolitiker. Unter ihm entstanden politische Institutionen wie der Reichstag, Reichshofrat und das Reichskammergericht, die das Verhältnis von Untertanen, Landesherr und Monarchie streng regelten. Die zentral beschlossenen Gesetze wurden von den Reichskreisen lokal umgesetzt. Besoldete Beamten durchdrangen das Leben des Einzelnen in einer Art und Weise, die es im Mittelalter nicht gab. Bei einem großen Teil der Bevölkerung war Maximilian zu Lebzeiten deshalb unbeliebt. Um 1500 hatte Tirol circa 300.000 Einwohner. Mehr als 80% der Menschen arbeiteten in der Landwirtschaft und lebten zum allergrößten Teil von den Erträgen der Höfe. Maximilian beschnitt in einem wahren Furor an neuen Gesetzen die bäuerlichen Rechte der Allmende. Holzschlag, Jagd und Fischerei wurden dem Landesherrn unterstellt und waren kein Allgemeingut mehr. Das hatte negative Auswirkungen auf die bäuerliche Selbstversorgung. Dank der neuen Gesetze wurden aus Jägern Wilderer. Fleisch und Fisch waren im Mittelalter für lange Zeit ein Teil des Speiseplans, nun wurde dieser Genuss zum Luxus, der oft nur illegal beschafft werden konnte.

Restrictions on self-sufficiency were joined by new taxes. It had always been customary for sovereigns to impose additional taxes on the population in the event of war. Maximilian's warfare differed from medieval conflicts. The auxiliary troops and their noble, chivalrous landlords were supplemented or completely replaced by mercenaries who knew how to use modern firearms.

This new way of taking to the field swallowed up huge sums of money. When the revenues from the princely possessions such as the coinage, market, mining and customs regalia were no longer sufficient, the individual population groups were taxed according to their status and wealth, but the tax was still a far cry from today's differentiated system and accordingly brought with it injustice and resentment.

One example of a levy was Maximilian's Common penny. The wealth tax amounted to between 0.1 and 0.5% of wealth, but was capped at 1 guilder. Jews had to pay a poll tax of 1 guilder regardless of their wealth. For the first time, princes were also asked to pay, but due to the cap, they paid a maximum of the same amount as a middle-class Jew. Prelates, priests and secular lords were responsible for announcing and enforcing the tax. Pastors had to announce the tax from the pulpit on three Sundays, collect the contributions together with representatives of the courts and enter them in the Imperial Tax Register.

It was quickly realised that this type of tax collection did not work. A modern system and tax model was needed. A collegial chamber, the Regiment, centrally supervised the provinces of Tyrol and Vorderösterreich according to the modern model of Burgundian finance, which Maximilian had learnt about during his time in the Netherlands. Innsbruck became the financial and accounting centre for the Austrian lands. The Rait chamber and the House chamber were located in the Neuhof, where today the Goldene Dachl resided over the historic city centre. In 1496, all the financial resources of the Austrian hereditary lands were pooled in the treasury in Innsbruck. The Bishop of Brixen, Melchior von Meckau, was chairman of the court chamber and increasingly involved the Fuggers as lenders. Officials such as Jakob Villinger (1480 - 1529) used the Italian-influenced form of double-entry bookkeeping to handle monetary transactions with banks from all over Europe and tried to keep the imperial financial budget in check. Talented petty nobles and burghers, trained lawyers and educated civil servants replaced the high nobility in the controlling role. Financial experts from Burgundy took over the commercial leadership of the regiment. The transitions between finance and other fields such as war planning and domestic policy were fluid, which gave the new class of civil servants great power.

War es bisher üblich, dass das Gleichgewicht zwischen Landesfürsten, Kirche, Grundherr und Untertan aus Beitrag und militärischem Schutz bestand, wurde dieses System nun durch Zwang von der Obrigkeit durchgesetzt. Maximilian argumentierte, dass es Pflicht jedes Christenmenschen, egal welchen Standes, sei, das Heilige Römische Reich gegen äußere Feinde zu verteidigen. Die Aufzeichnungen rund um die Streitereien zwischen König, Adel, Klerus, Bauern und Städten um die Abgabenleistung erinnerten schon vor Maximilian stark an heutige politische Diskussion um das Thema der Macht- und Vermögensverteilung. Der große Unterschied zwischen dem ausgehenden 15. Jahrhundert und den vorhergegangenen Jahrhunderten entstand dadurch, dass dank des modernen Beamtenapparats diese Steuern nun auch exekutiert und eingetrieben werden konnten. Der Vergleich mit der Registrierkassenpflicht, der Besteuerung von Trinkgeldern in der Gastronomie und der Diskussion um die Abschaffung des Bargeldes drängt sich auf.

The capital also followed the political importance to Innsbruck. During his reign, Maximilian employed 350 councillors to assist him. Almost a quarter of these highly paid councillors came from Tyrol. Envoys and politicians from all over Europe up to the Ottoman Empire as well as aristocrats had their residences built in Innsbruck or stayed in the town's inns. Just as big money from the oil business attracts all kinds of experts to Dubai today, the silver from Schwaz and the associated finance attracted experts of all kinds to Innsbruck, a small town in the middle of the inhospitable Alps.

During Maximilian's reign, Innsbruck underwent structural and infrastructural changes like never before. In addition to the representative Goldenen Dachl he had the Hofburg remodelled, began building the Hofkirche and created Europe's leading armoury with the Innsbruck Armoury. The streets through the old town were paved and paved for the fine people of the court. In 1499 Maximilian had the SalvatorikapelleThe hospital was renovated and extended to accommodate needy Innsbruck residents who were not entitled to a place in the city hospital. A modern water pipeline from the Nordkette to the city improved the drinking water supply, hygiene and safety. Maximilian had the trade route in today's Mariahilf laid and improved the city's water supply. Fire regulations for the city of Innsbruck followed in 1510, and Maximilian also began to chip away at the privileges of Wilten Abbey, the largest landlord in today's city area. Infrastructure owned by the monastery, such as the mill, sawmill and Sill Canal, were to come under greater control of the prince.

The imperial court and the wealthy civil servants who resided in Innsbruck transformed Innsbruck's appearance and attitude. Maximilian had introduced the distinguished courtly culture of Burgundy of his first wife to Central Europe. Culturally, it was above all his second wife Bianca Maria Sforza who promoted Innsbruck. Not only did the royal wedding take place here, she also resided here for a long time, as the city was closer to her home in Milan than Maximilian's other residences. She brought her entire court with her from the Renaissance metropolis to the German lands north of the Alps. Art and entertainment in all its forms flourished.

Innsbruck wurde unter Maximilian aber nicht nur kulturell zu einem Zentrum des Reiches, auch wirtschaftlich brummte die Stadt. Unter anderem war Innsbruck Zentrale des Postdienstes im Kaiserreich. Die Familie Thurn und Taxis erhielt das Monopol auf diesen wichtigen Dienst und wählte Innsbruck als Zentrale ihrer privaten Reichspost. In der Waffenherstellung konnte Maximilian auf das Fachwissen der Büchsenmeister aufbauen, die sich bereits unter seinem Vorgänger Siegmund in den Gießereien in Hötting etabliert hatten. Die Fugger unterhielten eine Kontorei in Innsbruck. Neben seiner ihm gerne unterstellten Liebe für die Tiroler Natur waren ihm die Kostbarkeiten wie das Haller Salz und das Schwazer Silber mindestens ebenso teuer und nützlich. Seinen aufwändigen Hofstaat, die Wahl zum König durch die Kurfürsten und den acht Jahre dauernden Krieg gegen die Republik Venedig finanzierte sich Maximilian unter anderem durch Verpfändung der Bodenschätze des Landes.

Innsbruck's strategically favourable location close to the Italian theatres of war also made the city so interesting for the emperor. Many Tyroleans had to enforce the imperial will on the battlefields instead of tilling the fields at home. This only changed in the last years of his reign. In 1511, Maximilian conceded the Tyroleans in the Tiroler LandlibellIn a kind of constitution, they agreed that they could only be called up as soldiers for the defence of their own country. This document also regulated the levying of special taxes in the event of war.

It is difficult to summarise Maximilian's work in Innsbruck. Proclamations of love from an emperor naturally flatter the popular psyche to this day. His material legacy with its many magnificent buildings reinforces this positive image. He turned Innsbruck into an imperial residence city and pushed ahead with the modernisation of the infrastructure. Thanks to the armoury, Innsbruck became the centre of the armaments industry, the treasury of the empire and grew economically and spatially. The debts he incurred for this and the state assets he pledged to the Fuggers left their mark on Tyrol after his death, at least as much as the strict laws he imposed on the common people. He is said to have left behind 5 million guilders in debt, an amount that his Austrian possessions could earn in 20 years. The outstanding payments ruined many businesses and servants after his death, who were left sitting on the imperial promises. Early modern rulers were not bound by the debts of their predecessors. The agreements with the Fuggers were an exception, as liens were attached to them.

In the legends about the emperor, the hard times are not as present as the Goldene Dachl and the soft facts learnt at school. In 2019, the celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Innsbruck's most important Habsburg under the motto "Tyrolean at heart, European in spirit". The Viennese were favourably naturalised. Salzburg has Mozart, Innsbruck Maximilian, an emperor that the Tyroleans have adapted to Innsbruck's desired identity as a rugged journeyman who prefers to be in the mountains. Today, his striking face is emblazoned on all kinds of consumer goods, from cheese to ski lifts, the emperor is the inspiration for all kinds of profane things. It is only for political agendas that he is less easy to harness than Andreas Hofer. It is probably easier for the average citizen to identify with a revolutionary landlord than with an emperor.