Culture and History
Roman City – Imperial City – Olympic City: Innsbruck has many faces. Back in Roman times legionaries raised settlements here in the heart of the Alps. During the Middle Ages the town, which now had city status, advanced to become a 5000 strong community and gained status as a centre of finance, a trading station and finally an Imperial city. The riches of this time in history can still be seen today in the famous buildings and structures such as the "Golden Roof" or the Imperial Court Church, known locally as the "Schwarzmanderkirche" housing the Cenotaph of Maximilian Ist , a work of art of international standing, and the middle-age town centre, for the most part still retained. During the Napoleonic war the city became famous in the Alps as a bastion of resistance towards the conqueror Napoleon. The newly built Bergisel Museum, housing one of the five remaining historical panoramas of the world, enables the visitor to get a glimpse of the Tyrolean struggle.
In 1964 the first Olympic Games held here laid the foundations for the importance of Innsbruck as the capital city of sport. In 1976 Innsbruck became one of the few Olympic venues to host the Games twice. In 2012 Innsbruck will once again be Olympic: In January the first Winter Youth Olympic Games took place here in Innsbruck. Numerous sports sites and facilities contribute to Innsbruck's Olympic history and future, for example the Bergisel ski jump or Olympia World, which is situated directly opposite the Hotel Ramada Innsbruck Tivoli.
