Everything about Linz totally explained
Linz is the third largest city of
Austria and capital of the
state of
Upper Austria .
It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately 30 km south of the
Czech border, on both sides of the river
Danube, the longest river of the European Union and the longest river in
Europe after the
Volga.
The population of the city itself is 189,343 (2007), and 271,000 in the Greater Linz
conurbation.
History
The city was founded by the
Romans, who called it "Lentia", but there was already a
Celtic settlement called "Lentos", and was first noted in 799 AD. It was a provincial and local government city of the
Holy Roman Empire, and an important trading point connecting several routes, on either side of the river
Danube from the East to the West and
Bohemia and
Poland from north to the
Balkans and
Italy to the south. Being the city where the
Habsburg Emperor Friedrich III spent his last years, it was, for a short period of time, the most important city in the empire. It lost its status to
Vienna and
Prague after the death of the Emperor in 1493.
One important inhabitant of the city was
Johannes Kepler, who spent several years of his life in the city studying mathematics. He discovered, on
May 15,
1618, the distance-cubed-over-time-squared — or 'third' —
law of planetary motion. Kepler is the namesake of the
local public university. Another famous citizen was
Anton Bruckner, who spent the years between 1855 and 1868 working as a local composer and church organist in the city. The local concert hall "Brucknerhaus" and a local private music and arts university are named after him.
Adolf Hitler was born in the border town of
Braunau am Inn but moved to Linz in his childhood, spending most of his youth there. Hitler's parents are buried in the town of
Leonding, near Linz. Hitler was enrolled in the Realschule [school], as was the philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein. Hitler had extensive architectural plans for Linz, and wanted to it to be the main cultural centre of the Third Reich. The Rathaus on the Hauptplatz (the Town Hall on the Main square) was used by Hitler to proclaim the Grossdeutsches Reich during the
Anschluss of
1938. In order to make the city economically vibrant Hitler initiated a major industrialization of Linz shortly before, and during,
World War II. Many factories were dismantled in the newly-acquired
Czechoslovakia, and then reassembled in Linz, where they were known as the
Hermann-Göring-Werke. This factory still exists today as the
voestalpine steel company. Linz grew to become a major industrial area; manufacturing chemicals and steel for the
Nazi war machine.
The
Mauthausen-Gusen camps, where stone for Hitler's prestige projects across the Reich was quarried and the last
Nazi concentration camps to be liberated, are located near Linz. The main camp in
Mauthausen is just 15.6 miles (25km) away.
After the war, the river
Danube that runs around Linz — from the eastern side to the northern side — which separates the Urfahr district in the north from the rest of Linz — served as the border between the Russian and American occupation troops. The
Nibelungen bridge that spans the
Danube river from the Hauptplatz (main square) was at that time Linz's version of
Checkpoint Charlie. The Nibelungen Brücke with the two bridge head buildings is the only architectural plan Hitler ever carried out in Linz.
Population development
| Year |
Population |
| 1900 |
83,356 |
| 1951 |
184,685 |
| 1961 |
195,978 |
| 1971 |
204,889 |
| 1981 |
199,910 |
| 1991 |
203,044 |
| 2001 |
183,504 |
| 2006 |
188,968 |
The agglomeration includes (parts of) 13 other municipalities with together 271,000 inhabitants. Linz is also part of the Linz-Wels-Steyr
metropolitan area of Upper Austria, home to around one third of the state's population (460,000 people) and second-largest urban area in Austria.
Districts
Linz is divided into 9 districts and 36 statistical quarters. They are:
- Innenstadt: Altstadtviertel, Rathausviertel, Kaplanhofviertel, Neustadtviertel, Volksgartenviertel, Römerberg-Margarethen
- Waldegg: Freinberg, Froschberg, Keferfeld, Bindermichl, Spallerhof, Wankmüllerhofviertel, Andreas-Hofer-Platz-Viertel
- Lustenau: Makartviertel, Franckviertel, Hafenviertel
- St. Peter
- Kleinmünchen: Kleinmünchen, Neue Welt, Scharlinz, Bergern, Neue Heimat, Wegscheid, Schörgenhub
- Ebelsberg
- Urfahr: Alt-Urfahr, Heilham, Hartmayrsiedlung, Harbachsiedlung, Karlhofsiedlung, Auberg
- Pöstlingberg:Pöstlingberg, Bachl-Gründberg
- St. Magdalena: St. Magdalena, Katzbach, Elmberg
Economy
Linz is an industrial city. The
Voestalpine AG is a large
steel concern (founded as the "
Hermann Göring Werke" during WWII), and which is known for the LD- (
"Linz-Donawitz") procedure for the production of steel, and the former "Chemie Linz" chemical group, which has been split up into several companies. This has made Linz one of Austria's most important economic centres. Linz is also the home of
PEZ — makers of peppermint candy.
Linz also serves as an important transportation hub for the region of both Upper Austria and, to a lesser degree, southern
Bohemia. The "Blue Danube"
Linz Airport lies about 6.25 miles (10km) southwest of the town centre. Direct flights include
Frankfurt,
Zurich and
Vienna with additional seasonal routes added during the summer and winter months.
Ryanair fly to
London Stansted Airport.
The city lies on Austria's main rail axis, the so-called "Westbahn", linking Vienna with western
Austria,
Germany and
Switzerland. There are also varying types of river transport on the
Danube; from industrial barges to tourist cruise ships.
Main sights
The main street "Landstraße" leads from the "Blumauerplatz" to the main square. In the middle of this square the high "Pestsäule" ("
plague column", also known as "Dreifaltigkeitssäule" (Dreifaltigkeit means
Holy Trinity)) was built to remember the people who died in the
plague epidemics.
Near the castle, which is located on the same site as the old Roman fortress Lentia was once built — and also being the former seat of Friedrich the III — the oldest Austrian church is located: Sankt/Saint Martins church. It was built during early medieval
Carolingian times.
Other sights include:
St. Mary's Cathedral (Mariendom), Roman Catholic.
Pöstlingberg-Kirche
Brucknerhaus — the concert hall named after the composer Anton Bruckner, who was born in Ansfelden, a small town next to Linz.
Gugl Stadium, is home to the LASK (Linzer Athletik Sport Klub), which is claimed to be the third oldest soccer club in Austria.
The Linzer Lanschaftliche Theater or Landestheater is the theater Adolf Hitler and his friend August Kubizek always went to, to hear Wagner.
Culture
The city is now home to a vibrant music and arts scene that's well-funded by the city and the state of Upper Austria. Between the Lentos Art Museum and the "Brucknerhaus", is the "Donaulände", which is also referred to as "Kulturmeile" ("culture mile"). This is a park alongside the river, which is used mainly by young people to relax and meet in summer. It is also used for the Ars Electronica Festival and the "Linz Fest". Linz has other culture institutions, such as the Posthof, which is near the harbour, and the Stadtwerkstadt, which is by the Danube river.
Linz will become the European Capital of Culture in 2009.
Art
Recently built (2003) was the new modern art gallery called "Lentos". It is situated on the south banks of the river Danube. The building can be illuminated at night from the inside with blue, pink, red, and violet, due to its glass casing.
Ars Electronica Center on the north bank of the Danube (in the Urfahr district), across the river from the Hauptplatz (main square), which leads to the historical part of the city (Altstadt), is home to one of the few public 3D CAVEs in Europe. (The very first 3D CAVE world-wide that was publicly accessible) and attracts a large gathering of technologically-oriented artists every year for the Ars Electronica festival.
Music
The Brucknerhaus, the most important concert hall in Linz, and is named after Anton Bruckner. It is situated just some 200 meters away from the "Lentos". It is home to the "Bruckner Orchestra", and is frequently used for concerts, as well as Balls and other events.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 36 (1783) in Linz for a concert to be given there, and the work is known today as the Linz Symphony. The first version of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor is known as the Linz version.
Along with Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, Linz will be the European Capital of Culture in 2009.
Colleges and universities
The Johannes Kepler University is situated in the north-east of Linz, and hosts law, business, social sciences, engineering, and science faculties; it currently has about 11,000 students. A spin-off of the university, as well as a Fachhochschule for different computer-related studies, (polytechnic) is 20 miles north of Linz in the small town of Hagenberg im Mühlkreis. Linz also has three other universities:
University of Arts and Industrial Design Linz, public, for arts and industrial design (c. 800 students)
Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance (private) for music (c. 800 students)
Catholic-Theological Private University Linz (private) for Catholic theology (c. 400 students), which has been a Papal faculty since 1978.
Amongst the many "Gymnasien" (high schools) in Linz, is Linz International School Auhof (LISA), which is one of four IB (International Baccalaureate) schools in Austria, and which uses English as the main language of instruction.
Born, and living in Linz
Mary Anne of Austria (1683-1754), Queen consort of Portugal
Alois Riegl (1858-1905) art historian
Hermann Bahr (1863-1934) writer, playwright, director, and critic
Richard Tauber (1891-1948) tenor
Valie Export (born 1940) artist
Herwig van Staa (born 1942) governor of Tyrol
Frank Elstner (born 1942) presenter on German Television
Helmut Wiesinger (born 1952) actor, author and stage director.
Anton Koschany (born 1953) news producer
Elisabeth Theurer (born 1956) horse rider
Franz Welser-Möst (born 1960) music director, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Zurich Opera House, designated music director of the Vienna State Opera
Vera Lischka (born 1977) breaststroke swimmer and politician
Birgit Minichmayr (born 1977) actress
Sybille Bammer (born 1980) tennis player
Living in Linz:
Andrew Edge (born in Leeds, England) musician.
Doug Hammond (born in Tampa, Florida, 1942) musician.
Klaus von Pervulesko (born in Innsbruck, 1945) actor.
Twin towns
Linz is twinned with:
Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany, since 1995
Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, since 1987
Chengdu, China, since 1983
Gabès, Tunisia, since 1977
Halle, Germany, since 1975
Kansas City, United States, since 1988
Gwangyang, South Korea, since 1991
Linköping, Sweden, since 1995
Linz am Rhein, Germany, since 1987
Modena, Italy, since 1992
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, since 1993
Norrköping, Sweden, since 1995
San Carlos, Nicaragua, since 1988
Zaporizhia, Ukraine, since 1983
Tampere, Finland, since 1995Further Information
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