The Winklerhaus often goes unnoticed as a small sight in the city. Wrongly so, as it is one of the few Art Nouveau buildings in Innsbruck. The two parts of the building, consisting of a commercial wing in Leopoldstraße and a residential wing in Maximilianstraße, stand out clearly from the rest of the surrounding architecture. The Innsbruck city pharmacist Franz Winkler had the building extended to its present height in 1873. His heir Josef Winkler, a lawyer, hired the Munich architect Anton Bachmann to replace the classicist façade with the current Art Nouveau façade.

From Leopoldstraße, you can admire the façade with its rich and sweeping ornamentation. The animals, mythical creatures and masks on the capitals are typical of the playful Art Nouveau style. In the frieze zone above the shop wing is a mosaic of a Byzantine Madonna, an extremely unusual depiction of the Virgin Mary for Innsbruck. Instead of the suffering Mother of God, it shows precious stone jewellery and rich headdresses. Above the entrance to the shop on the ground floor, morris dancers are contorting their limbs, a reminiscence by the artist of Innsbruck's city history. This courtly dance from the time of Maximilian was also captured for posterity in sculptural form on the Golden Roof.

The part of the Winklerhaus in Maximilianstraße is less colourful, but no less worth seeing. The bay window decorated with two mythical creatures in particular is evidence of an imaginative and creative builder:

"Let each man do as he pleases,
Let everyone see where they stay,
And who stands,
that he does not fall."

Art Nouveau was an expression of a new bourgeois self-image around the turn of the century. It was a kind of rebellion against traditional values, which the aristocracy still embodied despite the changes after 1848, especially in the Austrian monarchy. Enlightened citizens increasingly saw themselves as individuals outside of Catholic-orientated hierarchies and the new technocracy. Sensuality and nature against rationality and class thinking, body awareness as a sign of a new era. Life reformers abhorred the new synchronisation of time and having to submit to the galloping technologisation and rationality in every respect. Man, body, mind and soul in connection with nature were to take centre stage. Art Nouveau as an art movement was based on this trend. Similar to Romanticism in the 18th and 19th centuries, a form of mysticism away from structured and sober reality was to return to life. The splendour hinted at a new, better time, a golden age. The clear forms of classicism and the pure reason it represented were to be overcome by the playfulness of Art Nouveau.

The Winklerhaus represents a contrast to the majority of buildings erected in Innsbruck around 1900. This becomes clear when one compares the architecture of the Winklerhaus with the austere main post office in Maximilianstraße opposite, which was planned in the typical style of the k.uk. Official buildings were planned in 1908. Unlike in Vienna, where Art Nouveau by artists such as Otto Wagner and Gustav Klimt began its triumphal march, this style never really caught on in Tyrol. The upper floors of the Winklerhaus now house flats. There is a stationery and office supplies shop on the ground floor.

"Light air and sun" was the motto of the Lebensreform, a collective movement of alternative lifestyles that began in Germany in the late 19th century in step with the development of social democracy and the rise of the bourgeoisie. People wanted to distance themselves from what Max Weber described as the Protestant ethic, industry, time clocks and, in general, rapid technological progress with all its effects on people and the social fabric. The culture of the old society, in which the nobility and clergy stood above the rest of society, was to be overcome.

The Lebensreform influenced art and architecture in particular. Urbanisation and the associated living conditions were increasingly perceived as a burden. Art Nouveau in its playfulness was the artistic response of the bourgeois elites and creative minds to this Back to the origin of the turn of the century, was hardly able to assert itself in Innsbruck. People as individuals, not their economic performance, should once again take centre stage. This attitude gave rise to vegetarianism, nudism, garden cities, various esoteric movements and other alternative lifestyles, which have survived in one form or another to this day.

What was possible for wealthy citizens in their villas in Saggen, Wilten and Pradl was denied to most workers. Many tenement blocks were dreary and overcrowded biotopes without infrastructure such as sports facilities or parks. Modern housing estates should be functional, comfortable, affordable and connected with green spaces. These views also prevailed in public authorities. Albert Gruber, professor at the Innsbruck Trade School, wrote in 1907:

"I've often heard people say that we don't need plants in Innsbruck, that nature provides us with everything, but that's not true. What could be nicer than when professionals can walk from their place of work to their home through a series of plants. It turns the journey to and from work into a relaxing walk. Incidentally, there are many reasons why planting trees and gardens in urban areas is beneficial. I do not want to emphasise the interaction between people and plants, which is probably well known. In another way, plants improve the air we breathe by reducing dust."

In many cases, however, the fulfilment of this demand had to wait until after the First World War. The major infrastructure and housing projects in Innsbruck, such as the Tivoli, the municipal indoor swimming pool, the Pembaur, Mandelsberger and Schlachthof blocks, were not realised until the First Republic. Although social democracy had officially existed as a political movement since 1889, it only had very limited creative possibilities under the Habsburg monarchy. This was doubly true for the conservative Catholic Tyrol.

Josef Prachensky (1861 - 1931), the father of architect and town planner Theodor Prachensky, was a well-known Innsbruck representative of the Lebensreform and social democracy. He grew up in German-speaking Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a trained book printer, he discovered the labour movement during his wanderings in Vienna during the book printers' strike. After marrying a Tyrolean woman, he settled in Innsbruck, where he worked as an editor for the Social Democratic People's newspaper for Tyrol and Vorarlberg worked. Josef Prachensky supported the Arbeiter-Consum-Vereinwhich Tyrolean labourers' bakery and founded the catering business "Non-alcoholic", which aimed to improve general health in the spirit of the life reform movement and socialism. Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895), the co-author of the Communist Manifestohad recognised schnapps and brandy as an evil of the working class in the first half of the 19th century. Socialism shared the goal of getting people away from alcohol with church organisations, like so many other things. The communist revolution was no more feasible with addicts than a virtuous, God-pleasing life.

Prachensky was involved in the founding of the Tyrolean Social Democratic Party in 1890 and, after the First World War, in the founding of the Tyrolean Republican Defence League the left-wing counterpart to the right-wing Heimwehr organisations. One of his particular concerns was the restriction of the church on school education, which was still very high in the 19th and early 20th century, even in the actually liberal Innsbruck, which had to adhere to the national school regulations.

The year 1848 occupies a mythical place in European history. Although the hotspots were not to be found in secluded Tyrol, but in the major metropolises such as Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Milan and Berlin, even in the Holy Land however, the revolutionary year left its mark. In contrast to the rural surroundings, an enlightened educated middle class had developed in Innsbruck. Enlightened people no longer wanted to be subjects of a monarch or sovereign, but citizens with rights and duties towards the state. Students and freelancers demanded political participation, freedom of the press and civil rights. Workers demanded better wages and working conditions. The omnipotence of the church was called into question.

In March 1848, this socially and politically highly explosive mixture erupted in riots in many European cities. In Innsbruck, students and professors celebrated the newly enacted freedom of the press with a torchlight procession. On the whole, however, the revolution proceeded calmly in the leisurely Tyrol. It would be foolhardy to speak of a spontaneous outburst of emotion; the date of the procession was postponed from 20 to 21 March due to bad weather. There were hardly any anti-Habsburg riots or attacks; a stray stone thrown into a Jesuit window was one of the highlights of the Alpine version of the 1848 revolution. The students even helped the city magistrate to monitor public order in order to show their gratitude to the monarch for the newly granted freedoms and their loyalty.

The initial enthusiasm for bourgeois achievements was quickly replaced by German nationalist, patriotic fervour in Innsbruck. On 6 April 1848, the German flag was waved by the governor of Tyrol during a ceremonial procession. A German flag was also raised on the city tower. Tricolour was hoisted. While students, workers, liberal-nationalist-minded citizens, republicans, supporters of a constitutional monarchy and Catholic conservatives disagreed on social issues such as freedom of the press, they shared a dislike of the Italian independence movement that had spread from Piedmont and Milan to northern Italy. Innsbruck students and marksmen marched to Trentino with the support of the k.k. The Innsbruck students and riflemen moved into Trentino to nip the unrest and uprisings in the bud. Well-known members of this corps were Father Haspinger, who had already fought with Andreas Hofer in 1809, and Adolf Pichler.

The city of Innsbruck, as the political and economic centre of the multinational crown land of Tyrol and home to many Italian speakers, also became the arena of this nationality conflict. Combined with copious amounts of alcohol, anti-Italian sentiment in Innsbruck posed more of a threat to public order than civil liberties. A quarrel between a German-speaking craftsman and an Italian-speaking Ladin got so heated that it almost led to a pogrom against the numerous businesses and restaurants owned by Italian-speaking Tyroleans.

The relative tranquillity of Innsbruck suited the imperial house, which was under pressure. When things did not stop boiling in Vienna even after March, Emperor Ferdinand fled to Tyrol in May. According to press reports from this time, he was received enthusiastically by the population.

"Wie heißt das Land, dem solche Ehre zu Theil wird, wer ist das Volk, das ein solches Vertrauen genießt in dieser verhängnißvollen Zeit? Stützt sich die Ruhe und Sicherheit hier bloß auf die Sage aus alter Zeit, oder liegt auch in der Gegenwart ein Grund, auf dem man bauen kann, den der Wind nicht weg bläst, und der Sturm nicht erschüttert? Dieses Alipenland heißt Tirol, gefällts dir wohl? Ja, das tirolische Volk allein bewährt in der Mitte des aufgewühlten Europa die Ehrfurcht und Treue, den Muth und die Kraft für sein angestammtes Regentenhaus, während ringsum Auflehnung, Widerspruch. Trotz und Forderung, häufig sogar Aufruhr und Umsturz toben; Tirol allein hält fest ohne Wanken an Sitte und Gehorsam, auf Religion, Wahrheit und Recht, während anderwärts die Frechheit und Lüge, der Wahnsinn und die Leidenschaften herrschen anstatt folgen wollen. Und während im großen Kaiserreiche sich die Bande überall lockern, oder gar zu lösen drohen; wo die Willkühr, von den Begierden getrieben, Gesetze umstürzt, offenen Aufruhr predigt, täglich mit neuen Forderungen losgeht; eigenmächtig ephemere- wie das Wetter wechselnde Einrichtungen schafft; während Wien, die alte sonst so friedliche Kaiserstadt, sich von der erhitzten Phantasie der Jugend lenken und gängeln läßt, und die Räthe des Reichs auf eine schmähliche Weise behandelt, nach Laune beliebig, und mit jakobinischer Anmaßung, über alle Provinzen verfügend, absetzt und anstellt, ja sogar ohne Ehrfurcht, den Kaiaer mit Sturm-Petitionen verfolgt; während jetzt von allen Seiten her Deputationen mit Ergebenheits-Addressen mit Bittgesuchen und Loyalitätsversicherungen dem Kaiser nach Innsbruck folgen, steht Tirol ganz ruhig, gleich einer stillen Insel, mitten im brausenden Meeressturme, und des kleinen Völkchens treue Brust bildet, wie seine Berge und Felsen, eine feste Mauer in Gesetz und Ordnung, für den Kaiser und das Vaterland."

In June, Franz Josef also stopped off at the Hofburg on his way back from the battlefields of northern Italy instead of travelling directly to Vienna. Innsbruck was once again the royal seat, if only for one summer.

In the same year, Ferdinand handed over the throne to Franz Josef I. In July 1848, the first parliamentary session was held in the Court Riding School in Vienna. A first constitution was enacted. However, the monarchy's desire for reform quickly waned. The new parliament was an imperial council, it could not pass any binding laws, the emperor never attended it during his lifetime and did not understand why the Danube Monarchy, as a divinely appointed monarchy, needed this council.

Nevertheless, the liberalisation that had been gently set in motion took its course in the cities. Innsbruck was given the status of a town with its own statute. Innsbruck's municipal law provided for a right of citizenship that was linked to ownership or the payment of taxes, but legally guaranteed certain rights to members of the community. Birthright citizenship could be acquired by birth, marriage or extraordinary conferment and at least gave male adults the right to vote at municipal level. If you got into financial difficulties, you had the right to basic support from the town.

On 2 June 1848, the first issue of the liberal and pro-German Innsbrucker Zeitung was published, from which the above article on the arrival of the Emperor in Innsbruck is taken. The previously abolished censorship was partially reintroduced. Newspaper publishers had to undergo some harassment by the authorities. Newspapers were not allowed to write against the provincial government, the monarchy or the church.

"Anyone who, by means of printed matter, incites, instigates or attempts to incite others to take action which would bring about the violent separation of a part from the unified state... of the Austrian Empire... or the general Austrian Imperial Diet or the provincial assemblies of the individual crown lands.... Imperial Diet or the Diet of the individual Crown Lands... violently disrupts... shall be punished with severe imprisonment of two to ten years."

After Innsbruck officially replaced Meran as the provincial capital in 1849 and thus finally became the political centre of Tyrol, political parties were formed. From 1868, the liberal and Greater German orientated party provided the mayor of the city of Innsbruck. The influence of the church declined in Innsbruck in contrast to the surrounding communities. Individualism, capitalism, nationalism and consumerism stepped into the breach. New worlds of work, department stores, theatres, cafés and dance halls did not supplant religion in the city either, but the emphasis changed as a result of the civil liberties won in 1848.

Perhaps the most important change to the law was the Basic relief patent. In Innsbruck, the clergy, above all Wilten Abbey, held a large proportion of the peasant land. The church and nobility were not subject to taxation. In 1848/49, manorial rule and servitude were abolished in Austria. Land rents, tithes and roboters were thus abolished. The landlords received one third of the value of their land from the state as part of the land relief, one third was regarded as tax relief and one third of the relief had to be paid by the farmers themselves. The farmers could pay off this amount in instalments over a period of twenty years.

The after-effects can still be felt today. The descendants of the then successful farmers enjoy the fruits of prosperity through inherited land ownership, which can be traced back to the land relief of 1848, as well as political influence through land sales for housing construction, leases and public sector redemptions for infrastructure projects. The land-owning nobles of the past had to resign themselves to the ignominy of pursuing middle-class labour. The transition from birthright to privileged status within society was often successful thanks to financial means, networks and education. Many of Innsbruck's academic dynasties began in the decades after 1848.

The hitherto unknown phenomenon of leisure time emerged, albeit sparsely for the most part, and, together with disposable income, favoured hobbies for a larger number of people. Civil organisations and clubs, from reading circles to singing societies, fire brigades and sports clubs, were founded. The revolutionary year also manifested itself in the cityscape. Parks such as the English Garden at Ambras Castle were no longer the exclusive preserve of the aristocracy, but served as recreational areas for the citizens to escape their cramped existence. In St. Nikolaus, Waltherpark was created on the site of the raft landing stage on the Inn.