Linz

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Linz (/ˈlɪnts/; German pronunciation: [ˈlɪnt͡s]; Czech: Linec) is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria (German: Oberösterreich). It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of the Czech border, on both sides of the River Danube. The population of the city is Template:Metadata population AT−4, and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about 271,000. In 2009 Linz, together with the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, was chosen as the European Capital of Culture. Since 1 December 2014 Linz is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities (UCCN) network as a City of Media Arts. Cities receive this title for enriching the urban lifestyle through the sponsorship and successful integration of media art and involving society in these electronic art forms.[1] Linz is well known for the Linzer torte, which is said to be the oldest cake in the world, with its first recipe dating from 1653.

Geography

Linz is located in the centre of Europe, lying on the Paris–Budapest west–east axis and the Malmö–Trieste north–south axis. The Danube is the main tourism and transport connection that runs through the city.

Approximately 29.27% of the city’s 96 km2 (37 sq mi) wide area are grassland. Further 17.95% are covered with forest. All the rest areas fall on water (6.39%), traffic areas and land.[2]

Districts

Since January 2014 the city is divided into 16 statistical districts:[3]

no. district inhabitants area
1. Innere Stadt 24,785 278.9
2. Urfahr 23,581 426.8
3. Pöstlingberg 4,527 851.1
4. St. Magdalena 11,890 655.3
5. Dornach-Auhof 7,283 682.6
6. Kaplanhof 9,753 243.2
7. Franckviertel 7,216 120.7
8. Bulgariplatz 14,993 260.3
9. Froschberg 11,654 452.8
10. Bindermichl-Keferfeld 19,875 412.0
11. Spallerhof 12,021 297.1
12. Neue Heimat 13,095 413.2
13. Kleinmünchen-Auwiesen 22,209 645.1
14. Industriegebiet-Hafen 138 1,277.4
15. Ebelsberg 10,763 1,291.2
16. Pichling 7,812 1,290.0

Befor 2014 Linz was divided into 9 districts and 36 statistical quarters. They were:

  1. Ebelsberg
  2. Innenstadt: Altstadtviertel, Rathausviertel, Kaplanhofviertel, Neustadtviertel, Volksgartenviertel, Römerberg-Margarethen
  3. Kleinmünchen: Kleinmünchen, Neue Welt, Scharlinz, Bergern, Neue Heimat, Wegscheid, Schörgenhub
  4. Lustenau: Makartviertel, Franckviertel, Hafenviertel
  5. Pöstlingberg:Pöstlingberg, Bachl-Gründberg
  6. St. Magdalena: St. Magdalena, Katzbach, Elmberg
  7. St. Peter
  8. Urfahr: Alt-Urfahr, Heilham, Hartmayrsiedlung, Harbachsiedlung, Karlhofsiedlung, Auberg
  9. Waldegg: Freinberg, Froschberg, Keferfeld, Bindermichl, Spallerhof, Wankmüllerhofviertel, Andreas-Hofer-Platz-Viertel

History

See also: Timeline of Linz
Statue of Johannes Kepler in Linz, located on a pathway between Saint Martin's Church and the Linz Schloss/castle
Hermann-Göring-Werke

The city was founded by the Romans, who called it Lentia.[4] The name Linz was first recorded in AD 799.

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.[5] 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 teaching mathematics. He discovered, on 15 May 1618, the distance-cubed-over-time-squared — or 'third' — law of planetary motion. The local public university, Johannes Kepler University, is named after him.

Another famous citizen was Anton Bruckner, who spent the years between 1855 and 1868 working as a local composer and organist in the Old Cathedral, Linz. The Brucknerhaus is named after him.

Adolf Hitler was born in the border town of Braunau am Inn but moved to Linz in his childhood. Hitler spent most of his youth in the Linz area, from 1898 until 1907, when he left for Vienna. The family lived first in the village of Leonding on the outskirts of town, and then on the Humboldtstrasse in Linz. After elementary education in Leonding, Hitler was enrolled in the Realschule (school) in Linz, as was the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Notorious Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann also spent his youth in Linz. To the end of his life, Hitler considered Linz to be his "home town",[6] and envisioned extensive architectural schemes for it, wanting it to become the main cultural centre of the Third Reich.[7] In order to make the city economically vibrant, Hitler initiated a major industrialisation of Linz shortly before, and during, the Second World War.

In addition to an ordnance depot, Linz has a benzol (oil) plant which was bombed during the Oil Campaign[8] on 16 October 1944. What was once the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp is 20 km (12 miles) east of the city of Linz.

Processing of the Nazi-Past

In 1996, the Council of the city decided to account for its Nazi past. The widespread scientific workup, which was implemented by the municipal archives, covered the period prior 1938 and the denazification after 1945. Linz became the first city in Austria to deal intensively with its own Nazi past. In May 2001, seven scientific publications, online presentations, and numerous lectures were made public as a result of these efforts. The culture of remembrance extended to the construction of monuments for the victims of National Socialism. Especially since 1988, numerous memorials have been created in public spaces. The confrontation with the 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, whereas 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. In the recent past a number of Nazi victims and activists who fought Nazism were honored by the city. Simon Wiesenthal, who founded the first Jewish Documentation Center in Linz in 1945, received an award for his work in remembrance of victims of the Second World War.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Linz developed from the seal image, which was used as emblem since 1242. It showed the open city gate flanked by two crenelated towers on rocky ground. From 1288 on, the gate was shown standing on water. The coat of arms shows a red plate on which stands a castle with twin towers. Those towers are crowned with three crenelations. The towers include an open door; above the door the red-white-red shield of Austria is attached. The gate and towers symbolise the medieval fortified city. The wavy bars indicate the position of the city near the Danube. The Austrian shield is a reference to the former territorial city.

Population

The urban area 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.[9][10] Linz has a total number of about 157,000 jobs. However, only half of vacant jobs can be covered by its inhabitants. This enormous job surplus causes a correspondingly high rate of commuters from the surrounding communities of Linz, resulting in enormous traffic problems.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
190083,356—    
1951184,685+121.6%
1961195,978+6.1%
1971204,889+4.5%
1981199,910−2.4%
1991203,044+1.6%
2001183,504−9.6%
2006188,968+3.0%
2011189,845+0.5%
2015197,427+4.0%
2016200,843+1.7%
Largest groups of foreign residents[11]
Nationality Population (2015)
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4,860
 Turkey 3,366
 Romania 3,348
 Germany 2,880
 Croatia 2,203
 Kosovo 1,848
 Serbia 1,749
 Hungary 1,417
 Russia 1,284
 Macedonia 1,036
 Afghanistan 914

Climate

Linz has an oceanic climate with significant influences of continental airflows. As a result, summers are warm and winters quite cold.

Climate data for Linz
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.8
(58.6) 		17.0
(62.6) 		23.5
(74.3) 		28.0
(82.4) 		31.0
(87.8) 		34.2
(93.6) 		36.2
(97.2) 		36.2
(97.2) 		31.4
(88.5) 		25.3
(77.5) 		22.7
(72.9) 		13.4
(56.1) 		36.2
(97.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.0
(35.6) 		4.3
(39.7) 		9.9
(49.8) 		14.6
(58.3) 		20.4
(68.7) 		22.7
(72.9) 		24.8
(76.6) 		24.5
(76.1) 		19.7
(67.5) 		14.1
(57.4) 		6.6
(43.9) 		3.1
(37.6) 		13.9
(57.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.7
(30.7) 		0.7
(33.3) 		5.1
(41.2) 		9.3
(48.7) 		14.6
(58.3) 		17.3
(63.1) 		19.1
(66.4) 		18.7
(65.7) 		14.4
(57.9) 		9.4
(48.9) 		3.8
(38.8) 		0.6
(33.1) 		9.4
(48.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −2.8
(27.0) 		−1.7
(28.9) 		1.7
(35.1) 		5.1
(41.2) 		9.8
(49.6) 		12.6
(54.7) 		14.4
(57.9) 		14.2
(57.6) 		10.7
(51.3) 		6.3
(43.3) 		1.7
(35.1) 		−1.2
(29.8) 		5.9
(42.6)
Record low °C (°F) −22.0
(−7.6) 		−18.0
(−0.4) 		−18.7
(−1.7) 		−2.4
(27.7) 		−0.7
(30.7) 		4.1
(39.4) 		7.3
(45.1) 		6.1
(43.0) 		1.6
(34.9) 		−4.5
(23.9) 		−10.6
(12.9) 		−17.6
(0.3) 		−22.0
(−7.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 59.7
(2.35) 		48.4
(1.91) 		64.2
(2.53) 		63.8
(2.51) 		70.9
(2.79) 		91.2
(3.59) 		107.0
(4.21) 		83.9
(3.30) 		63.2
(2.49) 		52.3
(2.06) 		62.1
(2.44) 		65.7
(2.59) 		832.4
(32.77)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 17.5
(6.9) 		13.1
(5.2) 		6.0
(2.4) 		0.6
(0.2) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		4.9
(1.9) 		12.0
(4.7) 		54.1
(21.3)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 10.8 9.7 10.7 10.5 10.2 12.0 12.1 10.3 9.2 7.7 10.4 11.5 125.1
Average snowy days (≥ 1.0 cm) 14.8 10.0 3.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 9.1 40.4
Mean monthly sunshine hours 49.3 93.5 119.3 171.4 234.7 222.6 238.6 236.2 172.6 110.3 49.2 43.4 1,741.1
Source: Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics[12]

Tourism

The hotel business is equipped with 4,544 beds – 2,302 are located in the ten four star hotels of the city. Nine hotels have three stars and count 1,226 beds. The seven two and one star hotels are equipped with 472 beds. 544 beds are not categorised for commercial businesses. Five star hotels are not available. In 2004 Linz counted 647,428 nights’ stay. In 2013 the number increased to 775,396. 363,425 of the overnight stays were located in the four star hotels, 226,647 in the three star hotels, 67,593 in the two and one star hotels and 53,194 stays can be counted to other accommodation.

544 gastronomy businesses are located in the city. Germans are the most frequent guests (167,639), followed by Italians (22,886), Dutch and Swiss (16,828) – the ranking is equal to the overnight stays ranking which is listed in the following.

Overnight stay
Rank State Number of overnight stays
1.  Austria 377,062
2.  Germany 167,639
3.  Italy 22,886
4.  Switzerland,
 Liechtenstein		 16,828
5.  United States 13,610
6.  United Kingdom 12,903
7.  China 11,482
8.  Netherlands 10,650
9.  France,
 Monaco		 10,156
10.  Hungary 10,118

Economy

Church of Saints Michael and Ursula, Linz
The Neues Rathaus (Linz Town Hall)
The Pöstlingberg Church in Linz
The Brucknerhaus
The now demolished Eisenbahnbrücke (railway bridge) at night, with the more modern VÖEST bridge in the background
TipsArena Linz, in Linz
The Lentos Art Museum
The Landestheater

Linz is one of the main economic centres of Austria. The Voestalpine AG is a large steel concern (founded as the "Hermann-Göring-Werke" during the Second World War), which is known for the LD- ("Linz-Donawitz") procedure for the production of steel. The former "Chemie Linz" chemical group has been split up into several companies. These companies have made Linz one of Austria's most important economic centres.

About 190,000 people are employed in Linz, which is almost twice as many employed persons who live in Linz. Therefore, Linz has to deal with a lot of commuter traffic. At a workday around 100,000 employed persons commute to Linz and about 18,500 out of Linz.

Furthermore, due to the fact that one of the four Donau-Harbors (Donauhäfen) in Austria is located in Linz, it constitutes an attractive location in regards to logistic and trading enterprises. Nonetheless manufacturing plants can – for instance - be found at the waterfront as well. The economic importance of Linz was founded over centuries in trade. Moreover, the long-standing image of Linz as an industrial city was a result of the National Socialism. As a result of this large industrial enterprises are still located in Linz nowadays. Great examples in regards to this are Voestalpine AG or “Chemie Linz” – as already mentioned above. From an economical perspective they represent a large number of jobs and of course industry related enterprises.

The Meeting Industry Report Austria (mira) ranks Linz as the third most important destination for congresses in Austria, with a share of 7,4 % in the total number of congresses, conferences and seminars held in Austria.[13] 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 prevention, energy efficiency, climate-neutral travel and regional added value. [14]

Shopping

Linz offers many different shopping possibilities, which include various shopping centres or popular shopping streets.

Shopping centres

Thirteen malls can be found in Linz, three of them are situated in the city centre. The total List of shopping centres in Linz:

  • Arkade
  • 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
  • PRO-Kaufland

Shopping streets

According to a study of Infrapool in Oktober 2010, the Linzer Landstraße is the busiest shopping street outside of Vienna. The weekly frequency is noted between 240,500 (Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.) and 228,400 (8 a.m. until 6 p.m.) passers-by, which is the second highest value - only in 2005 more passers-by were detected. Further shopping streets in Linz:

Linz north:

  • Alturfahr West
  • Hauptstraße Urfahr

Linz centre:

  • City
  • Altstadt
  • Pfarrplatz
  • Eisenhandstraße
  • Südbahnhofmarkt

Linz south:

  • Einkaufsviertel Wiener Straße
  • Franckviertel
  • Bindermichl
  • Kleinmünchen
  • Ebelsberg

Transport

Linz serves as an important transport hub for the region of both Upper Austria and, to a lesser degree, southern Bohemia.

The "Blue Danube" Linz Airport lies about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) southwest of the town centre, in the municipality of Hörsching. The airport can be reached easily via federal highways B139 and B1. The bus line 601 connects the airport within 20 minutes with the centre of Linz. There is also a free shuttle service from Hörsching railway station. Direct flights include Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Vienna with additional seasonal routes added during the summer and winter months, like for example Antalya, Kos, Ibiza or Korfu. Ryanair flies to London Stansted Airport and Tenerife.

The city also has a central railway station (German: Hauptbahnhof) on Austria's main rail axis, the West railway, 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.

Local public transport comprises the city tram network, the city trolleybus network and the city bus network, all operated by the Linz Linien division of Linz AG.[15] The city tram network includes the Pöstlingbergbahn, a steeply graded tramway which climbs a small mountain at the northwest edge of the town.

Public safety

Police

The National Police Directorate forms the security authority for the city. The city’s police commands function as law enforcement agencies.

Fire brigade

In Linz, one of six Austrian professional fire brigades is located. Four volunteer fire brigades (Ebelsberg, Pichling, Pöstlingberg, St. Magdalena) and nine company fire brigades complement Linz’ firemanship. Additionally, the national school of firemanship, which is subjected to the Upper Austrian fire-brigade federation, is located in Linz. In this school, all members of Upper Austrian fire brigades are being educated.

Media

The newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten has its head office in Linz.

Points of interest

Trinity on top of the Holy Trinity column

The main street "Landstraße" leads from the "Blumauerplatz" to "Taubenmarkt" (Pigeonmarket) near the main square. In the middle of the main 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.[16][17]

Near the Schloss/castle, 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.[18]

Other points of interest include:

Architecture

As many central European cities, the cityscape of Linz is characterised by small and several sacred buildings. The Mariä Empfängnis Dom or New Cathedral is the biggest church in Austria, not by height (it is roughly 2 metres shorter than the St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) in Vienna), but by capacity.

The historic centre is characterised by its medieval architectural style, whereas in those parts of the city that border with the historic centre the architecture is of neoclassical, neo-baroque and neo-renaissance styles. Even further from the historic centre there are living areas, such as Franckviertel, Froschberg, Bindermichl and Kleinmünchen southern of the Danube and Alt-Urfahr northern of the Danube. These areas are where residential buildings can be found that are still referred to as "Hitlerbauten" or "Hitler buildings", because they were built during the interwar period and the time of Nazi dictatorship. The residential area called Gugl became a well liked living area among the wealthy at around 1900, which is why there are numerous villas still there today.

Amongst the newer buildings is the new Central Station, which was designed by Wilhelm Holzbauer and added the Terminal Tower skyscraper as part of a mixed-use complex. Between 2005 und 2011 it was voted Austria’s most beautiful railway station seven times in a row by the Verkehrsclub Österreich. The Wissensturm ("Tower of knowledge") with a height of about 63 metres, houses the public library and the Volkshochschule, an adult education centre. It was designed by Franz Kneidinger and Heinz Stögmüller and opened in 2007. Lentos Art Museum, which opened in 2003, was designed by Zürich-based architects Weber & Hofer and the Musiktheater (music theatre), which opened in 2013, was designed by Terry Pawson.

Cemetery

Linz has 13 cemeteries, four of them are supervises by the LINZ AG.[24]

  • Friedhof der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde
  • Friedhof Ebelsberg
  • Friedhof Pöstlingberg
  • Friedhof St. Margarethen
  • Friedhof St.Magdalena
  • Friedhof Urfahr
  • Soldatenfriedhof beim Petrinum
  • St. Barbarafriedhof
  • Stadtfriedhof Linz / St. Martin
  • Urnenhain Feuerhalle
  • Urnenhain Kleinmünchen
  • Urnenhain Neue Verabschiedungshalle
  • Urnenhain Urfahr

Culture

The city is now home to a vibrant music and arts scene that is well-funded by the city and the state of Upper Austria. Between 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 in early September and the "Linz Fest", which takes place annually in May.[25] In June, July and August the "Musikpavillon" is placed in the park where musical groups of different styles perform on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays free of charge.
Linz has other culture institutions, such as the Posthof, which is near the harbour,[26] and the Stadtwerkstatt, which is by the River Danube.[27] The Pflasterspektakel, an international street art festival, takes place each year in July in and around the Landstraße and the main square.[28] Linz was the European Capital of Culture in 2009, along with Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.[29]

On 1 December 2014 Linz was accepted into the international network of UNESCO Creative Cities (UCCN) as a City of Media Arts. Currently 69 cities worldwide are members of the Creative Cities network, which is divided into seven thematic categories: literature, film, music, folk art, design, media art and gastronomy. The title goes to cities which enrich urban life and successfully involve society in electronic art forms through the sponsorship and integration of media art.[1] Seven more cities can call themselves City of Media Arts: Enghien-les-Bains, Lyon, Sapporo, Dakar, Gwangju, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and York.[30]

The aim is therefore to maintain and represent the cultural diversity.[31] The 69 cities share their experiences and think about ways to cope with globalization. To create the most intensive discourse possible with the other creative cities, Linz has to do a self-evaluation after a few years. After three years the UNESCO evaluated whether Linz has fulfilled certain measures in the field of media art and may continue to use the title.[32] The Ars Electronica Center can be considered as the centre of media art and attracts every year during its festival national and international guests to Linz.

Linz houses 43 galleries and exhibit rooms, 13 cultural centres, one club centre, as well as four educational institutes.

Museums

  • The recently built Lentos (2003) is a modern art gallery, presenting art from the 20th and 21st centuries. 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 plastic casing.
  • Ars Electronica Center (AEC) is a museum and research facility on the north bank of the Danube (in the Urfahr district), across the river from the Hauptplatz (main square). The AEC is a significant world centre for new media arts, attracting a large gathering of technologically oriented artists every year for the Ars Electronica Festival. The AEC museum is home to one of the few public 2D CAVEs in Europe.
  • City Museum Nordico houses an art collection as well as a historical and an archeological collection, all of which relate to the city of Linz. About 16,000 people visited the museum in 2013.
  • Upper Austrian Regional Museum (Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum) has three main locations that focus on different aspects of the regional history: The Landesgalerie (regional gallery) exhibits modern and contemporary art, the Schlossmuseum houses archeological findings all of which retrace Upper Austria’s cultural history whereas the aim of the Biologiezentrum Linz-Dornach (centre of biology) is to retrace the region’s natural history with an exhibition of about 16 million objects (which makes it the second biggest museum for natural history in Austria).[33]
  • At the headquarters of the Upper Austrian art association (Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein) in the Ursulinenhof in Linz there are regular exhibitions of contemporary art.
  • Upper Austrian museum of literature (Oberösterrreischisches Literaturmuseum), the Adalbert Stifter Institute for literature and linguistics and the Upper Austrian house of literature (Oberösterreichisches Literaturhaus) all are situated in the StifterHaus, where Austrian writer, painter and educationalist Adalbert Stifter lived from 1848 to his death in 1868.
  • Upper Austrian forum for architecture (Architekturforum Oberösterreich) in the house of architecture (Haus der Architektur) attracts about 6,000 visitors annually. The forum organises lectures, exhibitions, conferences and competitions.
  • Upper Austrian open house of culture (Offenes Kulturhaus Oberösterreich, acronym: OK) is an art institution focusing on contemporary art.
  • Museum of Dentistry (Zahnmuseum) shows an exhibition of equipment used in dentistry from the early 18th century to the recent past.
  • Cowboy-Museum Fatsy presents cowboy culture, showing original pieces from the United States.

Music

Stadtwerkstatt Linz
Musiktheater Linz

The Brucknerhaus, a famous concert hall in Linz is named after Anton Bruckner. It is situated just some 200 metres away from the "Lentos". It is home to the "Bruckner Orchestra", and is frequently used for concerts, as well as balls and other events. It is also the venue of the "Linz Fest" which takes place annually in May as well as one of the venues during the Ars Electronica Festival in early September. In June, July and August the "Musikpavillon" is placed in the park where musical groups of different styles perform on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays free of charge.[34]

The Musiktheater (music theatre) was opened in April 2013 and is considered to be one of the most modern opera houses in Europe. It offers five stages of varying sizes; the big hall ("Großer Saal") with 1,200 seats, the BlackBox with up to 270 seats, the BlackBoxLounge with up to 150 seats, the orchestra hall ("Orchestersaal") with up to 200 seats and another stage in the foyer ("FoyerBühne"). Performances at the Musiktheater include operas and typically Austrian operettas, ballets and musicals.[35]

The ensemble of the Landestheater (regional theatre) Linz used to perform musical productions as well as theatre productions at a venue located on the "Promenade" in the inner city of Linz (this venue is still referred to simply as "Landestheater"). Since the opening of the new Musiktheater, only theatre performances take place at the "Promenade" venue, whereas musical productions are shown in the Musiktheater. The Landestheater Linz is especially renowned for its theatre for young audiences called u\hof:.

The Kapu is a venue for various contemporary music styles, such as hip hop, noise rock and crust and also houses a cinema and a recording studio.[36]

The Posthof is one of the biggest event centres in Linz with three rooms offering up to 630 seats or standing room for about 1,200 people respectively in the big hall. The programme focuses on contemporary art and covers concerts, theatre, cabaret, dance and literature. Artists from Linz are regularly invited in order to improve the local cultural scene; e.g. bands from Linz get the opportunity to play as pre-bands alongside nationally and internationally known artists. Altogether a total of about 250 events take place at the Posthof each year with a total number of visitors of about 80.000.[37]

The Stadtwerkstatt is an independent association for culture and was founded in 1979. Its headquarters is located in the Urfahr district on the north bank of the Danube close to the Ars Electronica Centre and serves as venue for music events and other artistic and cultural activities. Situated at the same address is the Stadtwerkstatt’s own Café Strom, a café/bar popular amongst young adults.[38]

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. He reportedly also composed his Piano Sonata 13 in B flat while in Linz, although it was published in Vienna. The first version of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor is known as the Linz version.

Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden near Linz and spent several years working as a conductor and organist in Linz, where he also started to compose. The first version of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in C minor is known as the Linz version. The Brucknerhaus, a concert hall in Linz as well as its annual international Brucknerfest are named after him.

The musician and DJ Marcus Füreder, better known by his stage name Parov Stelar was born in Linz.

Cinema

The history of cinema and film begins in Linz in September 1896, when, as part of a variety programme, a film programme was shown in "Roithner's vaudeville" for the first time in Upper Austria. Until the next screening of a film it took until 20 March 1897, when Johann Bläser’s travelling cinema guested in the "Hotel of the Golden Ship”.

Until the opening of the first cinemas with regular programme, it took till the end of the year 1908. At that time, Karl Lifka opened his "Lifka's Grand Théâtre électrique" in that building, where already the very first film showing took place. Subsequently, the second cinema of Linz was opened a few months later.

As the owner of travelling cinemas, Johann Bläser, got settled in Linz, he bought the “Hotel of the Golden Ship”, and installed a cinema in it, the “Bio-Kinematograph”. The third stationary cinema, called “Kino Kolloseum”, in town was founded around 1910 by the vaudeville operator Karl Roithner. Its first location was the former festival hall at Hessenplatz.

Libraries

In September 2007 the “Wissensturm”, next to the central station, was completed. There the Main Library and the adult education centre are housed. In the same year the expansion of the National Library on Schillerplatz began.

  • Main Library and 10 branches: 1,159,212 borrowings (2013)[39]
  • National library: 86,262 Borrowings (2005)

The Main Library is the largest public library in Upper Austria. The library has a stock of 220,000 media, of which approximately 60,000 audiovisual media, as well as numerous magazines. The library also offers public Internet access and computers for surfing. The public library focuses on supporting reading. Thus in addition, regularly events such as readings, workshops or reading consultations take place.[40]

Culinary specialties

In Linz you can find both traditional restaurants and old wine taverns as well as modern and exotic cuisine. The influence of 140 nations can be felt in the culinary offer. A coalition of over 40 restaurants, cafes and among other locations bars are called “hotspots”. Moreover, Linz has several à la carte restaurants and Gault Millau gourmet restaurants.

Typical dishes in Linz include not only the famous Linzer Torte but also Knödel and Strudel in all different kind of variations. Another specialty is the Erdäpfelkäs, a spread made from mashed potatoes and cream. Some well-known chefs from Linz are Lukas Erich, who cooks in the Verdi and Georg Essig from the Der neue Vogelkäfig.[41]

Regular events

  • Ars Electronica Festival: the Ars Electronica Festival is a festival for media art which has been taking place annually in Linz since 1986 and includes exhibitions, concerts, performances, symposia and interventions on changing themes that take place in public settings such as churches and industrial halls. The events focus on art, technology and society and the nexus among them. In 2013 a total of about 75,000 visitors took part in the Ars Electronica Festival.[42][43]
  • Bubble Days: the Bubble Days have been taking place annually in June since 2011 and are hosted by local creative collective LI.K.I.DO. During the event a number of extreme sports shows, such as aviation performances and a wake boarding contest, the Red Bull WAKE OF STEEL, take place in the harbour of Linz. Additionally there are a number of art exhibitions and live music acts and visitors can explore the harbour on boat tours, in paddle boats or kayaks. In 2013 the Bubble Days reached a total number of 12,000 visitors.[44]
  • Crossing Europe Film Festival: Since 2004 this festival takes place annually in Linz. Starting at a total number of 9,000 visitors in the first year, the tenth edition of the Crossing Europe Film Festival in 2014 attracted over 20,000 people; 184 feature films, documentaries and short films from 37 countries were shown. The film screenings are accompanied by exhibitions, talks and live music acts ("Nightline"). There are currently eight different awards to be won at the Crossing Europe Film Festival in categories such as "CROSSING EUROPE Audience Award", the "FEDEORA AWARD for European Documentaries" and the "CROSSING EUROPE AWARD Local Artist".[45]
  • Festival der Regionen (Festival of the regions): The festival of the regions focuses on contemporary local art and culture and takes place every second year in varying locations across Upper Austria. It took place for the first time in 1993 and has been dedicated to different themes such as "the other", "marginal zones" or "normality".[46]
  • International Brucknerfest: Following the opening of the "Brucknerhaus" concert hall in Linz three years earlier, the international Brucknerfest took place for the first time in 1977. Whereas the first two editions were only dedicated to classical music in general and Anton Bruckner’s pieces in particular, this changed in 1979 when the international Brucknerfest, the Ars Electronica festival and the "Klangwolke" (sound cloud), which now marks the beginning of the Brucknerfest, were merged to create a festival worthy of competing with those in Vienna and Salzburg. Taking place annually for three weeks in September/October it closes the Austrian festival season.[47][48]
  • Klangwolke (Cloud of sound): Created as a link between the Ars Electronica Festival and the international Brucknerfest, this open-air multimedia musical event takes place annually at the beginning of September at the riverside Donaupark in Linz. It is free of charge and attracted about 110,000 people in 2013. Today there are three different "Clouds of sound", the visualised Klangwolke, in which modern music (mostly commissioned works) is staged with lasers, video projections, fireworks, ships, cranes, balloons, etc., the Klangwolke for children (since 1998) and the classical Klangwolke.
  • Linzfest: This open air festival has taken place in Linz since 1990. It is financed by the city of Linz and several sponsors and organised for the broad public of all ages in cooperation with partners such as local cultural institutions. The festival is dedicated to a different theme every year (the last one in 2014 was "Old is the new new") and includes concerts, theatre, dance, comedy, art in the public space, culinary art, literature and parties, all of which are in line with the general theme of the event. It is held in the "Donaupark", a wide park area next to the Danube, also referred to as "Donaulände" or "Kulturmeile".[49]
  • Linz Marathon is held annually in April and attracted over 15,000 participants and about 100,000 spectators in 2013.[50]
  • Pflasterspektakel: The festival takes place annually since 1986 in the city centre of Linz and includes musical acts, juggling, acrobatics, pantomime, improvisational theatre, clownery, fire dancing, painting, samba parades, as well as a programme for children. With about 250,000 visitors (2014) the festival is one of the biggest street art festivals in Europe; its 28th edition featured 300 artists from 36 different nations.[51]
  • The Stadtfest (City festival) is held annually in August in the inner city of Linz. The three-day festival features live music acts of different styles, with each music style being represented on a different stage. The concerts are held by national and international artists. Every year about 100,000 people take part in this event.
  • Urfahraner Märkte: These fairs are held twice every year (once in spring, once in autumn) in Urfahr on the northern side of the Danube. They include a fun park (with roller coasters and a Ferris wheel) and a market (with food products from local and regional farmers) and attract about 500,000 people.

Other cultural institutions and venues

  • Alte Welt: concerts and cabaret
  • Archive of the city of Linz: collection of important documents of the city of Linz, presenting Linz‘ town history
  • Atelierhaus Salzamt: living and working space for artists, featuring continuous exhibitions.
  • Botanic garden: about 100,000 visitors every year; featuring a summer programme of music acts, readings and dance performances in the garden pavilion
  • Club Tunnel: features techno and drum’n’bass parties
  • Design Centre Linz: modern congress and exhibition centre
  • Johannes Kepler Observatory: opened in 1983
  • Kijani: Bar/event location for concerts (electronic music)
  • Kinderkulturzentrum Kuddelmuddel: theatre for children which includes a kindergarten
  • KUBA Jugendkultur: cultural institution for teenagers and young adults, founded by the Verein Jugend und Freizeit, which is an association for teenagers and young adults interested in culture
  • Kultur-Café Smaragd: Bar with a small stage in the basement area; presenting regional jazz, pop and rock bands and international acts
  • Kulturhaus Reiman: venue for concerts, young theatre and cabaret
  • Kulturzentrum Hof: cultural institution featuring concerts of different music styles, cabaret performances, theatre, readings and various workshops. The Kulturzentrum Hof tries to appeal to non-mainstream artistic styles.
  • Kunstraum Goethestrasse: founded in 1998, it is a location for temporary art
  • Landeskulturzentrum Ursulinenhof: The Ursulinenhof houses cultural institutions and is a cultural venue (presenting e.g. exhibitions and hosting readings and theatre performances) and a press and event centre.
  • MAIZ: autonomous centre for migrants realising cultural projects
  • Tabakfabrik: location for exhibitions and musical events
  • Winery Josef Cembran: location for various events, such as wine tastings and drum’n’bass parties

Colleges and universities

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 uses English as main language for instruction.

Leisure activities

Parks and gardens

Linz offers many parks and holiday areas: Lakes and public swimming pools: Pichlinger See, Pleschinger See, Weikerlsee, Biesenfeldbad, Hummelhofbad, Parkbad, Schörgenhubbad. One of the first public swimming pools was the former “Fabriksarm”, a Danube branch stream (from Parkbad to Winterhafen) that was filled up in 1890. Afterwards a makeshift at the “Obere Donaulände” was built, which existed until a flood in 1954. In 1901 the “Städtische Schwimmschule” (city swimming school) was built at the place of the former Parkbad.

  • Botanischer Garten: About 100,000 visitors are attracted by Botanischer Garten, which makes it one of the most visited sights of the city since 1952. Situated at Bauernberg, and comprising 4.2 hectares, the arrangement distinguishes by its harmonious design, its abundance of plant species (about 8,000 different types in culture) and the multifaceted cultural and event programme.
  • Donaulände or "Lände": public park on the Danube between Lentos and the Brucknerhaus. In summer, the Donaulände is a popular meeting point among young people living in Linz. It also hosts the Linzer Klangwolke.
  • Freiberg: public park, very well frequented by families and joggers. One of the most beautiful residential districts of Linz.
  • Pfenningberg: Pfenningberg is a part of the northeastern green belt directioning to Steyregg. It offers stunning views of the port facilities and the grounds of the VÖEST.
  • Wasserwald: Big Park (approximately 1 km²) in the south of Linz. The park is located in the district of Kleinmünchen, where large waterworks are situated. The most frequent visitors are walkers, joggers, Nordic walkers and dog owners, who enjoy the idyllic atmosphere of the park. The park is equipped with well-maintained sidewalks, playgrounds, two toboggan hills, a fitness trail, a running track and a senior park with chess. Furthermore, two public toilets are available.
  • Stadtpark: On 22 August 2003, the new Linz City Park between Huemer- , Museum- , Noßberger- and Körnerstraße was officially opened. With 10,807 square metres of green area, it is the second largest inner-city park. The city of Linz has acquired this area due to a barter with the Austrian postal service. Since Schiller Park in 1909, there has been no newly openend park of this magnitude in the centre of Linz.
  • Landschaftspark Bindermichl-Spallerhof: In the first phase of the establishment of the 8.3 -hectare sized area, which reconnects the boroughs Bindermichl and Spallerhof, the province of Upper Austria was responsible for the expansion of the park. The park replaces the urban motorway, which runs subterranean in this area since 2006. Old paths were re-established and until mid 2007 city gardener designed prethe new parkland with 550 trees and various shrubs, perennials and flower beds that give the park a varied and beautiful boroughs appearance.
  • Linzer Zoo: Linz Zoo is located at Pöstlingsberg and is home to around 600 animals from 110 different species on 4 acres (2 ha). In recent years, the zoo was able to increase its visitor numbers continuously. In 2014, about 132,000 visitors visited Linz Zoo.
  • Kirchschlag ski resort is located 15 km north of Linz and has three ski lifts: The Hauslift, the Waldlift or the Babylift. The special features of the ski area include the "How fast am I - route" which automatically measures the time or the night skiing. The ski area also has a 2 km long cross-country ski run, a curling ground and a nature ice rink.[52][53]

Especially in densely built-up inner-city areas smaller parks are highly important for the inhabitants of Linz, the parks act as green oases. Along the main axis of the city centre of Linz, the highway, several such small gardens are located. These are on the one handside the Landhaus Park, which has been redesigned as part of an underground car park construction until 2009, whereby the old trees have been preserved. In addition, Hessenplatz or – park is located in the city centre of Linz. Hessenplatz was the centre of Neustadtviertel in 1884. Just off the highway Schiller Park is located, which replaced the Trainkaserne in 1909, and the Volksgarten, which was created in 1829 by an entrepreneur and bought up in 1857 by the city.

Donausteig

The Donausteig is a non Alpine Austrian- Bavarian long-distance hiking trail, which is 450 kilometres (280 miles) long and is divided into 23 stages. Since the summer of 2010 it mainly leads alongside both banks of the Danube, from Passau through Linz and St. Nikola to Grein. The trail mainly runs through nature and leads to popular landscapes and viewpoints.

Sports

The EHC Black Wings Linz play professional ice hockey in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.

Generali Ladies Linz is annual WTA Tour tennis tournament held in city.

Born in Linz

Living in Linz:

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Austria

Twin towns — sister cities

Linz is twinned with:[58]

Partnerships and cooperations

Linz also has a partnership with:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "LINZ - UNESCO City of Media Arts" (in German). Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. ^ Stadtplanung Linz mit der Aufteilung der Flächennutzung, Mai 2014
  3. ^ http://www.linz.at/zahlen/010_Stadtgebiet/. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. ^ Paul Hofmann (5 April 1987). "Letting Linz Castle cast a spell". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  5. ^ Lundy, Darryl. "A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe". The Peerage. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  6. ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris. New York: Norton, 1998. p.15
  7. ^ "Adolf Hitler's hometown in Austria has opened an exhibition...", BBC
  8. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham (2007). Eagles of the Third Reich. Stackpole. p. 261. ISBN 9780811734059. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  9. ^ City of Linz Website statistik.at – Retrieved 31 October 2007
  10. ^ Population linz.at/zahlen – Retrieved 31 October 2007
  11. ^ "Linz in Zahlen". Stadt Linz. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Klimadaten von Österreich 1971-2000 -Linz" (in German). Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  13. ^ "LINZ AUCH IM KONGRESSBEREICH AUF ÜBERHOLSPUR" (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Tagungshandbuch 2014 web" (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  15. ^ Linz Linien GmbH for Local Transport. Linz AG. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  16. ^ The Plague Column liwest.at – Retrieved 31 October 2007
  17. ^ The top of the column linz.at – Retrieved 31 October 2007
  18. ^ "St. Martin's Church, Linz (in English)". Linz City Tourist Board. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  19. ^ "Mariendom (New Cathedral in Linz)". Mariendom. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  20. ^ Brucknerhaus andreas-praefcke.de – Retrieved 31 October 2007
  21. ^ "LASK". LASK. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  22. ^ George Tabori. "Mein Kampf: Farce in fünf Akten" (in German). Landestheater. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  23. ^ "Die Spielzeit 2007/2008". Landestheater. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  24. ^ "Denkmäler" (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  25. ^ The Lentos homepage lentos.at – Retrieved 10 November 2007
  26. ^ "Welcome Posthof 04 2008". Posthof. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  27. ^ "Stadtwerkstadt". Stadtwerkstadt. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  28. ^ "Pflasterspektakel Festival". Magistrat der Landeshauptstadt Linz. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  29. ^ "European Capital of Culture". Linz Tourist Board. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  30. ^ "Creative Cities Network". Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  31. ^ "UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  32. ^ "Linz, UNESCO City of Media Arts". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  33. ^ "Biologiezentrum Linz – größte naturkundliche Sammlung des Landes Oberösterreich" (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  34. ^ "Musikpavillon im Donaupark, Nähe Brucknerhaus" (in German). Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  35. ^ "Das Musiktheater am Volksgarten-Linz hat ein neues kulturelles Wahrzeichen" (in German). Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  36. ^ "About". Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  37. ^ "Posthof" (in German). Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  38. ^ "Chronologie" (in German). Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  39. ^ "2013 mehr als eine Million Entlehnungen in der Stadtbibliothek" (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  40. ^ "Stadtbibliothek Linz" (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  41. ^ "Linzer Gastronomie" (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  42. ^ "Ars Electronica Festival – About". Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  43. ^ "Ars Electronica Festival" (in German). Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  44. ^ "Bubble Days – das etwas andere Linzer Hafenfest" (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  45. ^ "CROSSING EUROPE Festival History 2004-2014". Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  46. ^ "THE FESTIVAL OF REGIONS". Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  47. ^ "Brucknerfest – The Idea". Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  48. ^ "Festivals in Linz – Brucknerfest Linz" (in German). Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  49. ^ "Mission Statement" (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  50. ^ "Der 12. Borealis Linz Donau Marathon sprengt alle Teilnehmerrekorde" (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  51. ^ "Pflasterspektakel 2014". Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  52. ^ "Kirchschlag bei Linz - Schilifte Kirchschlag GmbH" (in German). Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  53. ^ "Skigebiet Kirchschlag nördlich von Linz" (in German). Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  54. ^ "Fred Astaire (1899–1987) aka Frederick Austerlitz". Hyde Flippo. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ "Doug Hammond biog". Doug Hammond. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  56. ^ Sulzer, Balduin. "Das musikalische Nashorn" (in German). Gerhard Brössner. Archived from the original on 13 September 2005. Retrieved 6 April 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  57. ^ "Andrew Edge". Andrew Edge. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  58. ^ "Sister Cities of Linz". Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  59. ^ News Report concerning the Twinning with Linz
  60. ^ Міста-побратими м. Запоріжжя. City of Zaporizhia (in Ukrainian). Шановні відвідувачі і користувачі сайту. Retrieved 7 August 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)[dead link]
  61. ^ "Twin-cities of Azerbaijan". Azerbaijans.com. Retrieved 9 August 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Linz.
Wikisource has the text of the 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article Linz.


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