St. Nikolaus, Mariahilf, Hötting and Mühlau

Wenn man so will, nahm Innsbruck im 12. Jahrhundert seinen Anfang bei den bunten Häusern am nördlichen Innufer. 1133 tauchte ein Markt namens Innspruke or Ynbruggen erstmals in Urkunden auf. Die Siedlung entstand entlang des Verkehrsweges bei der Innbrücke. Als die Stadt über den Fluss expandierte, etablierte sich für die alten Teile am Nordufer der Name Anpruggen. Der heutige Stadtteil Mariahilf westlich der Innbrücke war bis zur Fertigstellung der Pfarrkirche im 17. Jahrhundert als Obere Anpruggen bekannt, die heutige Mariahilfstraße trug bis 1837 den Namen Obere Innbrückenstraße. Von der Stadt durch den Fluss getrennt, entwickelte sich am Südufer ein eigener Mikrokosmos, der sich sowohl vom Nordufer wie auch vom darüberliegenden Hötting unterschied. Anders als in der von Händlern, Beamten, Bankiers und Angehörigen des Hofstaats geprägten Stadt oder den bäuerlichen Dörfern der Umgebung siedelten sich in Anpruggen Fuhrwerker, Flößer, Arbeiter, Wagner, Schmiede und Gastwirte an, um den Durchzugsverkehr zu servicieren und finanziell zu nutzen. Im Westen ging Anpruggen in die Höttinger Au über, ein Schwemmgebiet, das von den Bauern als Allmende genutzt wurde. Wo heute die Türme des Mariahilfparks in den Himmel ragen, entstanden im Wachstum des 19. Jahrhunderts die typischen Mietzinshäuser für Angestellte und Arbeiter. Anders als in Wilten und im Saggen mussten die meisten davon in den 1970er Jahren dem modernen Wohnbau Platz machen. Abseits der bunten Häuser der Mariahilfzeile und der Pfarrkirche dominieren große Wohnanlagen den relativ jungen Stadtteil.

The settlement east of the Inn Bridge—today’s St. Nikolaus—was called Lower Anpruggen. St.-Nikolaus-Gasse was the main traffic route from the east to the Inn Bridge. St. Nikolaus became home to everything the city itself did not want within its walls but still needed to function: a place of execution (nicknamed Köpfplatz), a poorhouse, and later a prison. Where visitors now walk toward the Alpine Zoo, there used to be the Jewish cemetery. Innsbruck not only moved its institutional burdens to St. Nikolaus but also its everyday urban waste. Butchers working at the “Fleischbank” near the bridge threw leftovers into the river, which carried them eastward. Combined with the contents of Innsbruck’s chamber pots, high water created an especially unpleasant mix—giving local residents the long‑lasting nickname Koatlackler (roughly “manure splashers”). In the 19th century, industrial businesses and apartment buildings arrived, along with modernization. In the 1870s, the last raft landing place in St. Nikolaus was removed and the Waltherpark, a small inner-city green space, was created. East of the park, the Kreuzersteg bridge was opened in 1875. Today, the small steel truss bridge decorated with love locks is a popular photo spot thanks to the backdrop of the Nordkette mountains and the church tower. After the raft connection across the Inn ended, the bridge became an important link for pedestrians and cyclists between the north and south banks. Despite this new connection to the city and an increase in middle‑class residents, St. Nikolaus kept its own charm. Today, it is a relaxed neighborhood with many cafés, bars, and small shops.

The big brother of the Koatlackn, one level higher, was for a long time not part of Innsbruck. Until its incorporation in 1938, Hötting was an independent village. The boundary stone from the 18th century opposite Riedgasse 49 remains in its original place as a protected monument. With 8,000 inhabitants, Hötting was one of the largest municipalities in Tyrol in the 20th century. The Allerheiligenhöfe and the execution site Galgenbühel marked the western end of the community. Mining and large farms were the foundations of the self‑confidence with which the people of Hötting faced the city of Innsbruck. Economically, the village was long on equal footing with the city. As early as the early 16th century, Hötting had a bathhouse. Only with the development of the new district Saggen and the incorporation of Pradl and Wilten did Innsbruck finally overtake its often loud neighbor above. The people of Hötting had a reputation for being wild fellows. Hötting children were considered bad influence for the children of Innsbruck. In 1923, the newspaper reported:

"Recently, two pistols were taken from a 14-year-old boy in Schneeburggasse, with which he had allegedly amused himself by shooting sparrows. Shortly before, the dog of the tradesman Inwinkel had been shot in the square. The bullet penetrated the animal's head. As many children were playing in the square, it was fortunate that the shooting did not cause any major damage. The case is likely to have legal repercussions."

Unlike the city, with its employees in trade and administration, university professors, doctors, and lawyers, Hötting had always been home to craftsmen, gunsmiths, farmers, and workers from the mine beneath the Hungerburg or from the Rauchmühle. In the politically radical and heated atmosphere of the interwar period, the village above Innsbruck was known as "Red Hötting." The Höttinger Saalschlacht of 1932, legendary in Innsbruck, also contributed to the district’s reputation as rough terrain. Hötting has preserved a certain uniqueness to this day, even though the once rugged village is now among the most expensive residential areas of the city.

The neighboring village of Mühlau to the east was also an independent municipality until 1938 and, like Hötting, known for its historically grown industry. The name and significance of the place go back to the mills established along the Mühlbach stream since the Middle Ages. This energy‑providing watercourse brought Mühlau its first industrial bloom. In 1312, a sawmill master was mentioned for the first time. A metal foundry and a Plattnerei—where ornate ceremonial armor was produced—settled here in the 15th century to supply Europe’s aristocracy with decorative armaments. For a short time, even the princely mint was located in Mühlau. In the Grabenstein manor, official currency made from Schwaz silver was produced using a modern rolling minting machine between 1567 and 1571. In the second wave of industrialization in the 19th century, the Rauchmühle with its electricity plant, a sugar factory, a paper factory, and the Weyrer and Baur textile factories were established along the Mühlbach, shaping the identity of the community. At Mühlau’s village square, the village fountain with its millwheel and a remarkable relief by Johannes Obleitner commemorate the connection between agricultural and industrial life. At Holzgasse 10, the old Mühlau power plant can be admired. For some time, Mühlau was also home to a spa facility. Just a few meters from the textile factory, the Badehaus Mühlau offered an early wellness hotel. Innsbruck was by then well connected to the railway network and easily accessible to visitors. The proximity to the city allowed travelers not exclusively interested in health—unlike in remote mountain villages like Davos—to enjoy a bit of urban entertainment between their treatments, as described in the 1870 magazine Der Alpenfreund:

“If, however, the mountain enthusiast is blessed with a family, neither concern for the possible nervous ailments of his dear wife nor the scrofulous conditions of one of the children should deter him from breathing out all the worries, troubles, and burdens of business life on the nearby mountains. He should simply take his loved ones with him to Mühlau, confidently leave the curing process to the care of the proprietor of the mentioned establishment, Dr. Schlechter—who knows well how to achieve his healing goals with cold‑water therapy, brine baths, gymnastics, and electro‑magnetism—and himself wander peacefully heavenward into the mountains.”

The Badehaus Mühlau at Anton-Rauch-Straße 30 is today a beautiful residential building that has preserved its 19th‑century architectural character. The 20th century brought the village not only the loss of independence; tourism and industry also began to move away. The western part of Mühlau along Holzgasse and Richardsweg is still home to some of Innsbruck’s most beautiful farmhouses and villas. High above the city, the lesser nobility erected numerous manor houses that were later eagerly adopted by the upper middle class. Perhaps the finest example is the renovated Ansitz Sonnenheim, updated in 1904. The striking villa in Tyrolean Heimatstil still resembles a castle thanks to its tower. Its façades feature paintings by the renowned Pradl artist Raphael Thaler. Today, thanks to its sunny hillside location at the city’s edge, Mühlau is a popular residential district.