Walking Tour of Innsbruck, Austria

Nisha J May 4, 2018

13 min read

It was the cusp of Autumn. A couple of leaves of some trees here and there had starting changing colour. This was undeniably the best time to visit the Tyorlean capital. Only a few weeks back Innsbruck found its way into our schedule in deference to suggestions by both personal and social media friends. As usual we began with a walking tour of Innsbruck.

Goldenes Dachl or the Golden Roof, Innsbruck’s iconic symbol.

The initial days of #NiVaEuro Europe trip had helped us perfect a strategy to deal with new cities. That is, to start with a 2 or 3 hour walking tour, with a guide or self-guided. This gave us time to take in the atmosphere, understand the place, get some tips as to where to eat etc from the guide and also get to know the main streets and sights and generally getting to know the way around.

Innsbruck Walking Tour

We began the tour from Innsbruck Tourism office. Why? There were a lot of tourism books, information booklets, maps and also staff available to help available to plan our day and is located in the city centre. Once could buy also buy souvenirs at reasonable rates here.

Route map for the walking tour of Innsbruck.

History of Innsbruck in short

The name Innsbruck means Bridge on the river Inn and is derived from the original Latin name (Yes, Romans were here before and so were Stone Age people), Oeni Pontum, meaning Oenus (Roman name for Inn) Bridge. Innsbruck was always in the hub of things because of the bridge, a major connection for trade and communication between the North and the South.

Our guide informed us that the city’s coat of arms is the aerial view of this famous bridge and has been so for almost 800 years.

Staue of Maximilian I at his cenotaph, inside the Court Church. He seems to ask for forgiveness on his knees with folded hands. Innsbruck

Major boost to its economic and social activities began with the arrival of Maximilian I, in the second half of 15th century, the ruler who made Austro Hungarian Empire and the house of Habsburg possible. He also built the beautiful building with an incredible roof made of golden shingles, which exist to this dazzling the tourists further.

Innsbruck became the capital of Tyrol first and then became the heart of European culture, economics and politics under Maximilian I.

One more thing, many buildings are more than 500 years old in the old city.

Rest as they say is history!

Goldenes Dachl or the Golden Roof

Let’s start with the landmark of Innsbruck, built by Kaiser Maximilian I. This was a unique structure with a roof made of gold-plated shingles was built so that it would be visible from afar and also as a mark of affluence of the Kingdom but primarily to mark his wedding to his second wife Bianca Maria Sforza.

Golden Dachl at daytime, InnsbruckGolden Dachl at night, Innsbruck

The façade is very well decorated with murals and paintings of various members of the royalty, courtiers including the court jester, and 8 coats-of-arms of all the areas ruled by Maximilian I.

Imperial palace and garden

A quick detour and in & out of a tunnel full of souvenir shops will get us to the Imperial Hofburg Palace. It is almost as important as the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and was built around 1460 CE or so. This impressive structure now houses several museums. As this was just a walking tour we had to wait for another day to enter the museums.

Souvenir shop proudly displaying the fact that all items are Austrian.Location perspective, Innsbruck. On the right red wall is of Komgress. Next to that is the Imperial Palace Hofburg. The spire straight ahead is of Hofkirche or Court Church. The Imperial Garden is on the left side.

Next to Hofburg palace is the Court Church or Hofkirche which also serves as an elaborate cenotaph for Maximilian I with a hall full of larger than life statues of 28 popular kings and queens of till that time including King Arthur! This was planned by Maximilian himself when he was alive but constructed by his grandson. After the walking tour of Innsbruck, we went in and spent more than an hour inside. It is also home to Tyrolean Folk Arts Museum.

Just opposite the Hofburg is the Imperial garden or the Hofgarten spread over 10 hectares. There are fountains, stunning landscape, a sunbathing section and children’s section too. The credit for this garden goes to none other than Empress Maria Theresa. It is said that the garden was originally built as a playground for her children! Yes sir, you are in her kingdom now. And we will hear more of her.

St. James Cathedral or The Innsbruck Cathedral

A lane by the side of Goldenes Dachl got us to the new St James Cathedral. Comparatively this is quite new but still more than 300 years old and it was built on the site of an 800-year-old church also dedicated to St James. The works of art inside the Cathedral is very beautiful and you need to drop a one Euro coin if you plan to click pictures but it is more than worth it. Wait for noon time for the bells, weighing a total of over 4 tonnes, to peal.

St James Cathedral at Domplatz, InnsbruckA view of St James Church from the top of City Tower.

Stadtturm or the City Tower

This was a manned watchtower to alert people and the King of any impending danger from enemies, fire or weather. It is older than Goldenes Dachl by a few decades. The lookout gallery offers a 360-degree sweeping view of the Old city of Innsbruck, with most of the building maintaining their antiquity, and the new.

Town hall and city tower, InnsbruckA view of 133 steps at City Tower or Stadturm, Innsbruck.

As per our guide there was a tower warden staying under the cupola which was her home, till as recent as 1960s!

Helbling House

Right opposite to the City tower lies the extravagantly decorated Helbling house. No marks for guess the year of construction. It is 15th century. However, the current levels of decorations were carried out in early 18th century. It looks like one of those elaborate cakes!

Ornately decorated Helbling house, Innsbruck

We could not gather any more information from the guide than that it used to belong a wealthy merchant but was named after a Café owner, Sebastian Helbling.

Goldener Adler (Golden eagle) Inn

This is perhaps one of the oldest hotels in Innsbruck, probably also in Europe. Operating since late 14th century. The claim to fame is that any one who was someone has stayed here during their visit to Innsbruck.

Gasthof Goldener Adler , the Golden Eagle guesthouse, one of the oldest hotels in Innsbruck.

There is a board which highlights visits by Mozart, Maria Von Trapp (Sound of Music fame), Jean Paul Sartre and many members of European Royalty.

Girls’ School by Maria Theresa

We were following the guide like an automaton, when she suddenly opened a door on the side of the street and entered, beckoning us to do so. From the outside it was looking very clean and beautiful but inside it was a wooden structure of multiple floors which was dingy but appeared solid.

Originally a Girls’ school started by Maria Theresa . now unused waiting for renovation and re-purposing. Innsbruck.

As part of Maria Theresa’s education reforms all over Austria, she also built a girls’ school right here. At this point of time nothing was here and it was conjectured that it will be redeveloped into something modern. Maybe shops?

More Gorgeous Buildings

There are several other interesting buildings close by which are almost as old and historically relevant too like the Claudiana Palace, Ottoburg, Kolbernturm, Hospital Church on Maria Theresa Street and many more. We are sharing the pictures here for you to appreciate.

Ottoburg Palace, InnsbruckOttoburg, InnsbruckOriginally a church built in 1700s. Later the Innsbruck hospital was shifted here hence it is called Spitalkirche or Hospital Church. To protect the citizens fro infection this was built outside the old town.Location Perspective. On the right is the old court building with Golden Dachl (hidden). In the centre Helbling Palace. At the far end of the lane is Ottoburg Palace and somewhere in between is the Golden Eagle (Goldener Adler) hotel. Innsbruck

Inn Riverfront and Marktplatz (Market square)

After crossing the Ottoburg palace, we were at the Inn River front and got the spectacular view of the Alps, up close. We spent a lot of time enjoying this part of Alps called the Nordekette range that rose to an impressive 2600 metres. Soon we were on the very bridge that gave this city its name, Innsbruck. We wondered how many times this bridge would have been destroyed and rebuilt!

Colored houses on the North Bank of Inn river. A view from Marktplatz, InnsbruckNight view of Colored houses on the North Bank of Inn river. A view from Marktplatz, InnsbruckColored houses and the Inn Bridge (Inn Brucke), Innsbruck

A short walk on the south bank brought us to the Marktplatz. From here there is a beautiful view of colourful townhouses of the North bank. What was once an open-air farmer’s market is now full of restaurants having river view tables. The original market is now shifted indoors into Markthalle which now sells fruits, vegetables, meats etc.

If you like your fish then this is the place to eat in Innsbruck!

Maria Theresa Street and St. Anne’s Column (Annasäule)

At the border of the old town is the new town which has one long street named after Maria Theresa. This is a pedestrian only street with lots of old statues, buildings and restaurants. At about 100M from the beginning of the street is the St. Anne’s Column, the statue on top looking in the direction of the old town and the mountains behind. It was erected as a victory monument when Tyrol was freed from Bavarian troops.

St Annes column at Maria Theresa Street.Market view at Maria Theresa Street. St Mary on top St Anne Column or Annasäule looking protectively at old town, Innsbruck (Altestadt)

However, the statue on the top is of St. Mary. It got its name because it was commemorated on St. Anne’s day.

Triumphpforte or the Triumphal Arch

A nice walk of about 10-15 minutes on Maria Theresa Street brought us to very end of the street and to the Triumphal Arch (the name reminded us of Paris, somehow ).

It has a happy and a sad occasion attached to it all in a span of few days. Maria Theresa built this on the occasion of the marriage of her son, who would later be the Emperor Leopold II. The Arch has bas relief of all the family members including the bride, the Spanish princess. However, during multi-day celebrations Maria’s husband, Francis Stephen died which completely shattered Maria Theresa and it is said she was never the same again.

Triumphal Arch or Triumphpforte

A motif was later engraved on the other side of the Arch in memory of Francis Stephen.

This brings us to the end of the amazing walking tour of Innsbruck.

Tips

Walking tour of Innsbruck is free with the 24H, 48H or 72H Innsbruck card. There are two tours to choose from. Not everything written here is covered in their walking tour of Innsbruck. We had explored on our own too and those have been added above.

You could get the Innsbruck cards which, apart from the free local transportation, gives you free entries to museums and attractions. We did!

If you plan to climb the 133 steps to the top of city tower, then do it just before sunset. It gives super views and you can stay till lights come on and illuminates Goldenes Dachl (Golden roof) and other buildings in the vicinity.