Innsbruck, Austria

Coat of Arms	Map
General information
Federal State:	Tyrol
Area:	104.91 km²
Population:	114.888 (2003)
Population density:	1,269/km²
Elevation:	570 m
Postal code:	A-6010, A-6020, ..., A-6060
Area code:	+43 512
Location:	47°16′ N 11°23′ E
Website:	http://www.innsbruck.at
e-mail:	mailto:kontakt@magibk.at

Innsbruck City Center

Innsbruck and Nordkette from south

Geography

Innsbruck is a city in western Austria, and the capital of the Tyrol province. It is located in the Inn valley at the junction with the Wipptal (Sill River) which provides access to the Brennerpass, just about 30 km south of Innsbruck. Located in the broad valley between tall mountains, the Nordkette (Hafelekar, 2334m) in the north, Patscherkofel (2246m) and Saile (2403m) in the south it is an internationally renowned winter sports centre.

Sports

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 higher on being the closest to the city itself. 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 to finance the games.

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

History

The first documented quotation of Innsbruck dates back to 1187 ("Insprucke").It served as an important crossing point over the river Inn. Then, the route over the Brennerpass was a major transport and communications link between the north and the south and the easiest path to cross the Alps. The revenues generated by serving as a transit station led to a flourishing development of the city.

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-Universität Innsbruck and the Innsbruck Medical University. The Innsbruck Medical University has one of Europe's premier ski injury clinics.