Innsbruck

Geschichte

Innsbruck is the capital city of Tyrol in western Austria. It is in the Inn valley, at its junction with the Wipp valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass some 30km to the south.Located in the broad valley between high mountains, the so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps (Hafelekarspitze, 2334m) to the north, and the Patscherkofel (2246m) and Serles (2718m) to the south.Innsbruck is an internationally renowned winter sports centre, and hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics as well as the 1984 and 1988 Winter Paralympics. Innsbruck also hosted the first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012. The name translates as "Inn bridge".HistoryThe earliest traces suggest initial inhabitation in the early Stone Age. Surviving pre-Roman place names show that the area has been populated continuously. In the 4th century the Romans established the army station Veldidena (the name survives in today's urban district Wilten) at Oenipons (Innsbruck), to protect the economically important commercial road from Verona-Brenner-Augsburg in their province of Raetia.