Innsbruck

Innsbruck (ĭns`brk), city (1991 pop. 118,112), capital of Tyrol prov., SW Austria, on the Inn River. A famous summer and winter tourist center, it is also an industrial, commercial, and transport center. Manufactures include textiles, shoes, musical instruments, metal products, processed food, and beer. Strategically located in the Eastern Alps, Innsbruck grew to early prominence as a transalpine trading post. It was established as a fortified town by 1180 and received city rights in the early 13th cent. It supplanted Merano as the capital of the Tyrol in 1420. The Tyrolese peasants, led by Andreas Hofer, made their heroic stand (1809) against French and Bavarian troops near Innsbruck; a monument in the city commemorates the event. The Hofkirche (built 1553–63), a Franciscan church, is an architectural gem; it contains a large monument to Emperor Maximilian I (d.1519), who often resided in Innsbruck. Equally famous is the Fürstenburg, a 15th-century castle, which has a balcony with a gilded copper roof (Goldenes Dachl). The Column of St. Anne (1706) is a landmark in Innsbruck's main thoroughfare, the Maria Theresienstrasse. The city has several museums, notably the Ferdinandeum; a botanical garden, which has a large collection of Alpine plants; and a university (founded 1677). The winter Olympic games were held in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976.

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Innsbruck

City (pop., 2001: 113,392), on the Inn River in western Austria, southwest of Salzburg. A small market town in the 12th century, it was located beside a bridge (Brücke) over the Inn. It was chartered in 1239, passed to the Habsburgs in 1363, and in 1420 became the capital of Tirol. Napoleon gave the city to Bavaria in 1806, and in 1809 it was the site of an uprising of Tirolian patriots against the Bavarians and the French. The old town has narrow streets lined with medieval houses and arcades. A winter sports centre, Innsbruck was the site of the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976.