Linz
Linz is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Republic. As of 1 January 2024, the city has a population of 214,064. It is the seventh-largest of all cities on the river Danube.
History
Linz originated as a Roman fort named Lentia, established in the first century. The name reflects its location at a bend in the Danube. This strategic position on the river made it the first Roman fort in the Noricum region, protecting a vital transportation route.The name "Linz" in its present form was first documented in 799.
Linz was mentioned as a fortified city in 1236 and was granted city rights in 1324.
Johannes Kepler spent several years of his life in the city teaching mathematics. On 15 May 1618 he discovered Kepler's laws of planetary motion. The local public university Johannes Kepler University Linz is named for him.
The Oeconomische Encyclopädie, with the entry about Linz being written around 1800, describes the city as well built and fortified and its economy as growing, partially because of its location on the Danube and the connection to routes to Hungary and Vienna. At that time, the city had a population of 16,000-17,000. Major industries were the productions of gunpowder, iron, steel, salt, and firewood. The wool industry was particularly important: a wool manufactory, established in 1672, was the biggest in then-Austria, or rather, the Austrian states. It was nationalized in 1754. Plans, made in 1770, of selling it to a tradesman were canceled. Although it kept production going, by the end of the 18th century its golden era was over. When the Krünitz entry was written, the manufactuary had a yearly revenue of 1.5 million Gulden and was generating 100,000 in profit and was employing around 30,000 people.
Anton Bruckner spent the years between 1855 and 1868 working as a local composer and organist in the Old Cathedral, Linz. The Brucknerhaus is named for him.
Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn and moved to Linz during his childhood. The notorious Holocaust bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann also spent his youth in Linz. Until the end of his life, Hitler considered Linz to be his hometown. Hitler effected the founding of the Bruckner Symphony Orchestra, which began presenting concerts in autumn 1943. His plan for one of the bell towers in Linz to play a theme from Bruckner's Fourth Symphony never came to pass.
During World War II Linz was a giant industrial complex in support of the Nazi war effort. Hermann Göring supervised the construction of the Voest complex, ultimately a gigantic construction site built by slave labour. The Mauthausen concentration camp was established to the east of Linz, but three Mauthausen sub-camps were within the Voest complex.
In addition to an ordnance depot Linz had a benzol plant which was bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. The city's confrontation with its Nazi past resulted in the renaming of many streets. In 1945, immediately after the end of the Nazi dictatorship, 39 streets in Linz were renamed, but from 1946 to 1987, only two streets were renamed. However, since 1988, 17 new traffic areas were named after victims of National Socialism or resistance fighters.
Economy
Linz is one of the main economic centres of Austria. Voestalpine is a large technology and capital goods group, founded as the "Reichswerke Hermann Göring" during World War II. It is now known for basic oxygen steelmaking technique. The former "Chemie Linz" chemical group has been split up into several companies.The Meeting Industry Report Austria ranks Linz as the third most important destination for congresses in Austria, with a share of 7.4 percent in the total number of congresses, conferences and seminars held in Austria. Linz has more than 60 congress and event venues. With the Blue Meeting concept, the local tourism association has developed a conference format which focuses on individual needs of participants and adapts to the idea of green meetings, therefore supporting waste minimisation, energy efficiency, climate-neutral travel, as well as regional added value.
Waterfront and industry
Linz has 1 of 4 Austrian harbours on the Danube. Manufacturing plants can be found along the waterfront. The economic importance of Linz was founded over centuries in trade. Large industrial enterprises are still located in Linz nowadays, for example Voestalpine AG.Shopping
Thirteen shopping malls can be found in Linz, three of which are situated in the city centre. Shopping centres include: Arkade, Atrium City Center, Shopping Mall Auwiesen, Shopping Mall Biesenfeld, Shopping Mall Industriezeile, Shopping Mall Kleinmünchen, Shopping Mall Muldenstraße, EuroCenter Oed, Shopping Mall Wegscheid, Infra Center, Lentia City, Passage, and PRO-Kaufland.According to a study by Infrapool in Oktober 2010, the Linzer Landstraße is the busiest shopping street outside of Vienna. The weekly frequency is noted between 240,500 and 228,400 passers-by, which is the second highest value – only in 2005 more passers-by were detected.
Markets
There are eleven farmer's markets as well as one weekly flea market, and two Christmas markets in Linz. One of these markets, the "Urfahraner Markt", takes place in spring and fall every year. Furthermore, there are annually Christmas and New Year's Markets. The aim of the market administration is to provide the population with a wide range of products, as well as operating the markets in an economical, suitable and customer oriented manner. Additionally, the annual market called "Linzer Marktfrühling" sets further accents and lures new customers with attractive offers.Transport
The city of Linz is an important transport hub. In addition to the West Autobahn A 1, which runs south of the city area, the Mühlkreis Autobahn A 7 passes through the city. Together with the Mühlviertel Expressway S 10, it forms an important transport connection to the Czech Republic. In the municipality of Ansfelden, located southwest of Linz, the Wels Autobahn A 25 branches off, which merges into the Innkreis Autobahn A 8 and leads to the German border near Passau.In summer 2017, preparatory work began on the A 26 Westring motorway and a fourth Danube bridge. Construction of the Westring is planned in three phases, with full opening to traffic scheduled for December 2031. The Westring is intended to relieve traffic on the Römerberg Tunnel and the Kapuzinerstraße/Hopfengasse/Sandgasse/Kellergasse/Waldeggstraße corridor.
The first phase, completed in October 2024, included the new Donautal Bridge, which was opened to traffic on 15 November 2024. The second phase, planned from October 2024 to June 2029, involves construction of the Freinberg Tunnel and the underground section of Waldeggstraße. The final phase consists of the construction of the new West Bridge and the completion of the missing link to the Mühlkreis Autobahn A 7, scheduled to run from June 2029 to December 2031.
In January 2018, construction began on bypasses at the VÖEST Bridge, as the bridge required refurbishment from 2020 onward. To avoid further aggravating congestion on the Mühlkreis Autobahn A 7, the decision was made to build the bypasses, which remain in place after 2020 and accommodate inner-city traffic. The bypass system was opened to traffic in summer 2020. A similar system had already proven successful during the refurbishment of Austria’s busiest bridge, the Prater Bridge on Vienna’s Südosttangente A 23.
To relieve traffic congestion, the bus lane on Rohrbacher Straße, coming from Puchenau toward Pöstlingberg, was opened in 1998 to cars carrying three or more occupants. This measure was estimated to save around €270,000 per year in economic terms through travel time savings of approximately 60,000 person-hours and reduced CO₂ emissions.
Rail transport
The horse-drawn railway line constructed from 1825 and opened in 1832, running from Gmunden via Wels and Linz to České Budějovice, was the first railway line on the European mainland. This line connected the Danube with the Vltava River and made Linz an important transport hub.In 1852, Linz was connected to the Empress Elisabeth Railway, becoming a key junction for traffic to Bavaria and Salzburg. In addition to the main railway station at the southern edge of the city at the time, the Central Freight and Marshalling Yard for goods traffic was built in 1880.
The original Linz Central Station was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt between 1945 and 1950. Between 2000 and 2004, as part of the Austrian Federal Railways’ station modernization program, it was replaced by a new station building with improved connections to local public transport. This new building was completed in 2004. In 2005, the Linz Local Railway was integrated, and the separate local railway station was closed.
Since then, Linz Central Station has twice been voted Austria’s most popular railway station. Owing to its short transfer distances, spacious design, and bright atmosphere, the building was named Austria’s most popular and most beautiful station by the Austrian Transport Club seven consecutive times from 2005 to 2011, and once again in 2014.File:Pöstlingbergbahn, nahe Tiergarten, 09.10.2016.jpg|thumb|right|The Pöstlingbergbahn, a part of the trams in Linz
Public transport
Linz Linien are the main operator of inner-city public transport, running the tram network, trolleybus lines, and urban bus services. These services are supplemented by the AST, which operates during the day in certain areas of Linz and at night within Linz and in some neighboring municipalities.On 5 December 2004, the Linz local transport hub was put into operation. Its core element is an underground tram section between the Bulgariplatz and Goethekreuzung stations, measuring 1.9 km in length, which was opened on 31 August 2004. This made it possible to directly connect the newly built main railway station to the tram network. Planning for this route variant dates back to 1976. After many years of debate, construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004—three months ahead of schedule. In addition to the station, a new bus terminal was built beneath the Provincial Service Center.
On 11 December 2016, the Upper Austria S-Bahn commenced operations, connecting Linz Central Station with the surrounding region. The S-Bahn consists of five lines running on the Westbahn, Rudolfsbahn, Pyhrn Railway, Summerau Railway, and the Linz Local Railway. Plans call for the S-Bahn to be expanded by two additional lines to the north. For this purpose, an urban rail line is to be built from the main station to Urfahr. One line is intended to run via this new Stadtbahn route and the Mühlkreis Railway, while the other would use the Stadtbahn and a newly constructed line via Gallneukirchen to Pregarten.