DISCOVER INNSBRUCK

Located in the broad valley between tall mountains, the Nordkette (Hafelekar, 2334m) in the north, Patscherkofel (2246m) and Serles (2718m) in the south, it is an internationally renowned winter sports centre.


SPORTS IN INNSBRUCK

Due to its location in between high mountains, Innsbruck serves as an ideal place for skiing in winter, and mountaineering in summer. There are several ski resorts around Innsbruck with the Nordkette served by a cable car and additional chair lifts further up.

Other ski resorts nearby include Axamer Lizum, Igls, Seefeld, Tulfes and Stubai Valley. The latter makes skiing possible even in the summer due to the glaciated terrain there.

The Olympic Winter Games were held in Innsbruck twice, first in 1964, then in 1976 when the city replaced Denver, Colorado as the venue after Colorado voters rejected a bond referendum to finance the games. Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Lake Placid, New York in the United States, it is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Games.

It also hosted the 1984 and 1988 Winter Paralympics.

Together with the city of Seefeld, Innsbruck organized the Winter Universiade in 2005.

Innsbruck is also one of the host cities for Euro 2008 which is to be held in Switzerland and Austria.


TRANSPORTATION

Innsbruck is located along the A12/A13 corridor, providing freeway access to Verona, Italy, and Munich, Germany. The A12 and A13 converge near Innsbruck, at which point the A13 terminates. Innsbruck's main station is one of the most frequented railway stations in Austria. The Austrian east-west railway crosses the south-west route through the Brenner pass, connecting northern Italy and southern Germany.

Innsbruck Airport provides service to Frankfurt, London, and Vienna, among others.

The town's tram-network consists of two city-lines and two lines in the surrounding area - to Igls and into the Stubaital. The network will be enlarged during the coming years to Hall in Tirol in the east and Vols in the west. There are several bus lines as well. The trolleybus service will be abandoned due to the enlargement of the tram network.


MAIN SIGHTS OF INNSBRUCK

• Golden Roof
• Kaiserliche Hofburg
• Dom zu St. Jakob
• Bergiselschanze (architect: Zaha Hadid)
• The tomb of Emperor Maximilian I

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN INNSBRUCK

The very first Innsbruck New Year's Eve amidst the mountains was initiated and organized in 1994 by Rudi Federspiel at that time municipal councillor for tourism.

Up to 70,000 locals and guests from all over the world - Italians in particular - have since then celebrated New Year's Eve in the heart of downtown Innsbruck; the old part of the city becomes so the venue for shows and music performances together with a host of local and regional culinary specialities. The celebration includes fireworks and elaborate sound effects. Hotels are generally booked far in advance for the event.


MISCELLANEOUS

The international headquarters of SOS Children's Villages, one of the world's largest charities, is located in Innsbruck.

Innsbruck has two universities, the Leopold-Franzens-Universitat Innsbruck and the Innsbruck Medical University. The Innsbruck Medical University has one of Europe's premier ski injury clinics.

Douglas Adams claimed, he got his idea for the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy during a visit to Innsbruck in 1971, lying in a field looking up at the stars.

Kunstlerhaus Buchsenhausen, an international fellowship programme for visual and new media arts, is located in Innsbruck.


HISTORY

The first documented mention of Innsbruck dates back to 1187 ("Insprucke"). It served as an important crossing point over the river Inn. The city's seal and coat of arms show a bird's-eye view of the Inn bridge, a design used since 1267. The route over the Brenner Pass was then a major transport and communications link between the north and the south, and the easiest route across the Alps. The revenues generated by serving as a transit station caused the city to flourish.

A large and famous district in Innsbruck - 'Wilten' - got its name from an old Roman settlement 'Veldidena'.

Innsbruck became the capital of all Tirol in 1429 and later in 15th century the city became a centre of European politics and culture as emperor Maximilian I moved the imperial court to Innsbruck in the 1490s.

During the Napoleonic wars Tyrol was ceded to Bavaria, ally of France. Andreas Hofer led a Tyrolean peasant army in the victory on the Berg Isel against combined Bavarian and French forces, proceeded to make Innsbruck the centre of his administration. The combined army later overran the Tyrolean militia army and Innsbruck was until 1814 part of Bavaria. After the Vienna Congress Austrian rule returned.

The Tyrolean hero Andreas Hofer was executed in Mantua and his remains were returned to Innsbruck in 1823 and interred in the Franciscan church.

In 1938 Austria was annexed by Hitler's Germany. From 1943 until April,1945, Innsbruck experienced 21 bomb attacks and suffered heavy damage.

INNSBRUCK HOTELS & ACCOMMODATION

AUSTRIA TOURS AND TRAVEL