Anyone travelling in Austria will be familiar with the domes and onion domes of churches in villages and towns. This form of church tower originated during the Counter-Reformation and is a typical feature of the Baroque architectural style. They are also predominant in Innsbruck's cityscape. Innsbruck's most famous places of worship, such as the cathedral, St John's Church and the Jesuit Church, are in the Baroque style. Places of worship were meant to be magnificent and splendid, a symbol of the victory of true faith. Religiousness was reflected in art and culture: grand drama, pathos, suffering, splendour and glory combined to create the Baroque style, which had a lasting impact on the entire Catholic-oriented sphere of influence of the Habsburgs and their allies between Spain and Hungary.

The cityscape of Innsbruck changed enormously. The Gumpps and Johann Georg Fischer as master builders as well as Franz Altmutter's paintings have had a lasting impact on Innsbruck to this day. The Old Country House in the historic city centre, the New Country House in Maria-Theresien-Straße, the countless palazzi, paintings, figures - the Baroque was the style-defining element of the House of Habsburg in the 17th and 18th centuries and became an integral part of everyday life. The bourgeoisie did not want to be inferior to the nobles and princes and had their private houses built in the Baroque style. Pictures of saints, depictions of the Mother of God and the heart of Jesus adorned farmhouses.

Baroque was not just an architectural style, it was an attitude to life that began after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The Turkish threat from the east, which culminated in the two sieges of Vienna, determined the foreign policy of the empire, while the Reformation dominated domestic politics. Baroque culture was a central element of Catholicism and its political representation in public, the counter-model to Calvin's and Luther's brittle and austere approach to life. Holidays with a Christian background were introduced to brighten up people's everyday lives. Architecture, music and painting were rich, opulent and lavish. In theatres such as the Comedihaus dramas with a religious background were performed in Innsbruck. Stations of the cross with chapels and depictions of the crucified Jesus dotted the landscape. Popular piety in the form of pilgrimages and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints found its way into everyday church life.

The Baroque piety was also used to educate the subjects. Even though the sale of indulgences was no longer a common practice in the Catholic Church after the 16th century, there was still a lively concept of heaven and hell. Through a virtuous life, i.e. a life in accordance with Catholic values and good behaviour as a subject towards the divine order, one could come a big step closer to paradise. The so-called Christian edification literature was popular among the population after the school reformation of the 18th century and showed how life should be lived. The suffering of the crucified Christ for humanity was seen as a symbol of the hardship of the subjects on earth within the feudal system. People used votive images to ask for help in difficult times or to thank the Mother of God for dangers and illnesses they had overcome. Great examples of this can be found on the eastern façade of the basilica in Wilten.

The historian Ernst Hanisch described the Baroque and the influence it had on the Austrian way of life as follows:

„Österreich entstand in seiner modernen Form als Kreuzzugsimperialismus gegen die Türken und im Inneren gegen die Reformatoren. Das brachte Bürokratie und Militär, im Äußeren aber Multiethnien. Staat und Kirche probierten den intimen Lebensbereich der Bürger zu kontrollieren. Jeder musste sich durch den Beichtstuhl reformieren, die Sexualität wurde eingeschränkt, die normengerechte Sexualität wurden erzwungen. Menschen wurden systematisch zum Heucheln angeleitet.“

The rituals and submissive behaviour towards the authorities left their mark on everyday culture, which still distinguishes Catholic countries such as Austria and Italy from Protestant regions such as Germany, England or Scandinavia. The Austrians' passion for academic titles has its origins in the Baroque hierarchies. The expression Baroque prince describes a particularly patriarchal and patronising politician who knows how to charm his audience with grand gestures. While political objectivity is valued in Germany, the style of Austrian politicians is theatrical, in keeping with the Austrian bon mot of "Schaumamal".

The veneration of saints and popular piety always walked a fine line between faith, superstition and magic. In the Alps, where people were more exposed to the almost inexplicable environment than in other regions, this form of faith took on remarkable and often bizarre forms. Saints were invoked for help with various everyday tasks. St Anne was supposed to protect the house and hearth, while St Notburga of Rattenberg, who was particularly popular in Tyrol, was prayed to for a good harvest. When fertilisers and agricultural machinery were increasingly used for this purpose, she rose to become the patron saint of women wearing traditional costumes. Miners entrusted their fate in their dangerous job underground to St Barbara and St Bernard. The chapel at the manor houses in Halltal near Innsbruck provides a fascinating insight into the world of faith between Begging spirit and worship of various local patron saints. The saint who still outshines all others in terms of veneration is Mary. From the consecration of herbs at the Assumption of Mary to the right-turning water in Maria Waldrast at the foot of the Serles and votive images in churches and chapels, she is a favourite permanent guest in popular piety. If you take a careful stroll through Innsbruck, you will find a special image on the facades of buildings time and again: the Gnadenbild Mariahilf by Lucas Cranach (ca. 1472 - 1553).

Cranach's Madonna is one of the most popular and most frequently copied depictions of Mary in the Alpine region. The painting is a reinterpretation of the classic iconographic Mother of God. Similar to the Mona Lisa da Vinci, which was painted at a similar time, Mary smiles mischievously at the viewer. Cranach dispensed with any form of sacralisation such as a crescent moon or halo and has her appear in contemporary everyday clothing. The red-blonde hair of mother and child transports her from Palestine to Europe. The saint and virgin Mary became an ordinary woman with a child from the upper middle class of the 16th century.

The creation, journey and veneration of the Mariahilf miraculous image tell the story of the Reformation, Counter-Reformation and popular piety in the German lands in miniature. The odyssey of the painting, which measures just 78 x 47 cm, began in what is now Thuringia at the royal court, one of the cultural centres of Europe at the time. Elector Frederick III of Saxony (1463 - 1525) was a pious man. He owned one of the most extensive collections of relics of the time. Despite his deep roots in the popular belief in relics and his pronounced penchant for Marian devotion, he supported Martin Luther in 1518 not only for religious reasons, but also for reasons of power politics. Free passage from the powerful prince and accommodation at Wartburg Castle enabled Luther to work on the German translation of the Holy Scriptures and his vision of a new, reformed church.

As was customary at the time, Friedrich also had a Art Director in his entourage. Lucas Cranach had been a court painter in Wittenberg since 1515. Like other painters of his time, Cranach was not only extremely productive, but also extremely enterprising. In addition to his artistic activities, he ran a pharmacy and a wine tavern in Wittenberg. Thanks to his financial prosperity and reputation, he was mayor of the town from 1528. Cranach was regarded as a quick painter with great output. He recognised art as a medium for capturing and disseminating the spirit of the times. Like Albrecht Dürer, he created popular works with a wide reach. His portraits of the high society of the time still characterise our image of celebrities today, such as those of his employer Frederick, Maximilian I, Martin Luther and his colleague Dürer.

Cranach and the church critics Philipp Melanchthon and Martin Luther met at Wittenberg Castle. It was through this acquaintance at the latest that the artist became a supporter of the new, reformed Christianity, which did not yet have an official manifestation. The ambiguities in the religious beliefs and practices of this period before the official schism are reflected in Cranach's works. Despite Luther and Melanchthon's rejection of the veneration of saints, the cult of the Virgin Mary and iconographic representations in churches, Cranach continued to paint for his patrons according to their taste.

Just as unclear as the transition from one denomination to another in the 16th century is the date of origin of the The miraculous image of Mariahilf. Cranach painted it sometime between 1510 and 1537 either for the household of Frederick's sister-in-law, Duchess Barbara of Saxony, or for the Church of the Holy Cross in Dresden. Art experts are still divided today. The friendship between Cranach and Martin Luther suggests that Cranach painted it after his conversion to Lutheranism and that this secularised depiction of a mother and child is an expression of a new religious world view. However, it is entirely possible that the business-minded artist painted the picture without any ideological background, but as an expression of the fashion of the time even before Luther's arrival in Wittenberg.

After Frederick's death, Cranach entered the service of his successor, John Frederick I of Saxony. When his employer was taken prisoner by the emperor after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, court painter Cranach followed him to Augsburg and Innsbruck despite his advanced age. After five years in the wake of the hostage, who was probably housed in luxury, Cranach returned to Wittenberg, where he succumbed to his biblical age by the standards of the time.

The Gnadenbild Mariahilf was transferred to the Kunstkammer of the Saxon sovereign during the turbulent years of the confessional wars, probably to save it from destruction by zealous iconoclasts. Almost 65 years later, like its creator before it, it was to find its way to Innsbruck along winding paths. When the art-loving Bishop of Passau from the House of Habsburg was a guest at court in Dresden in 1611, he chose Cranach's miraculous painting as a gift and took it with him to his prince-bishop's residence on the Danube. His cathedral dean saw it there and was so impressed that he had a copy made for his home altar. A pilgrimage cult quickly developed around the picture.

When the Bishop of Passau became Archduke Leopold V of Austria and Prince of Tyrol seven years later, the popular painting moved with its owner to the court in Innsbruck. His Tuscan wife Claudia de Medici kept the cult of the Virgin Mary in the Italian tradition alive even after his death. Both the Servite Church and the Capuchin monastery were given altars and images of the Virgin Mary. However, nothing was more popular than Cranach's miraculous image. In order to protect the city during the Thirty Years' War, the image was often taken from the court chapel and displayed for public veneration. During these mass prayers, the desperate population of Innsbruck shouted a loud "Maria Hilf" ("Mary Help") at the small painting, a practice that had become part of popular belief thanks to the Jesuits. In 1647, at the moment of greatest need, the Tyrolean estates swore to build a church around the painting to protect the country from devastation by Bavarian and Swedish troops. The fact that the reformed depiction of St Mary, painted by a friend of Martin Luther, was invoked to protect the city from Protestant troops is probably not without a certain irony.

Although the Mariahilf church was built, the painting was exhibited in 1650 in the parish church of St Jakob within the safe city walls. The newly built church received a copy made by Michael Waldmann. It was not to be the last of its kind. The motif and Cranach's depiction of the Mother of God became extremely popular and can still be found today not only in churches but also on countless private houses. Art became a mass phenomenon through these copies. The image of the Virgin Mary had migrated from the private property of the Saxon prince to the public sphere. Centuries before Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Cranach and Dürer had become widely copied artists and their paintings had become part of public space and everyday life. The original of the The miraculous image of Mariahilf may hang in St Jacob's Cathedral, but the copy and the parish that grew up around it gave its name to an entire district.

The abundance of churches, chapels, crucifixes and murals in public spaces has a peculiar effect on many visitors to Innsbruck from other countries. Not only places of worship, but also many private homes are decorated with depictions of the Holy Family or biblical scenes. The Christian faith and its institutions have characterised everyday life throughout Europe for centuries. Innsbruck, as the residence city of the strictly Catholic Habsburgs and capital of the self-proclaimed Holy Land of Tyrol, was particularly favoured when it came to the decoration of ecclesiastical buildings. The dimensions of the churches alone are gigantic by the standards of the past. In the 16th century, the town with its population of just under 5,000 had several churches that outshone every other building in terms of splendour and size, including the palaces of the aristocracy. Wilten Monastery was a huge complex in the centre of a small farming village that was grouped around it. The spatial dimensions of the places of worship reflect their importance in the political and social structure.

For many Innsbruck residents, the church was not only a moral authority, but also a secular landlord. The Bishop of Brixen was formally on an equal footing with the sovereign. The peasants worked on the bishop's estates in the same way as they worked for a secular prince on his estates. This gave them tax and legal sovereignty over many people. The ecclesiastical landowners were not regarded as less strict, but even as particularly demanding towards their subjects. At the same time, it was also the clergy in Innsbruck who were largely responsible for social welfare, nursing, care for the poor and orphans, feeding and education. The influence of the church extended into the material world in much the same way as the state does today with its tax office, police, education system and labour office. What democracy, parliament and the market economy are to us today, the Bible and pastors were to the people of past centuries: a reality that maintained order. To believe that all churchmen were cynical men of power who exploited their uneducated subjects is not correct. The majority of both the clergy and the nobility were pious and godly, albeit in a way that is difficult to understand from today's perspective.

Unlike today, religion was by no means a private matter. Violations of religion and morals were tried in secular courts and severely penalised. The charge for misconduct was heresy, which encompassed a wide range of offences. Sodomy, i.e. any sexual act that did not serve procreation, sorcery, witchcraft, blasphemy - in short, any deviation from the right belief in God - could be punished with burning. Burning was intended to purify the condemned and destroy them and their sinful behaviour once and for all in order to eradicate evil from the community.

For a long time, the church regulated the everyday social fabric of people down to the smallest details of daily life. Church bells determined people's schedules. Their sound called people to work, to church services or signalled the death of a member of the congregation. People were able to distinguish between individual bell sounds and their meaning. Sundays and public holidays structured the time. Fasting days regulated the diet. Family life, sexuality and individual behaviour had to be guided by the morals laid down by the church. The salvation of the soul in the next life was more important to many people than happiness on earth, as this was in any case predetermined by the events of time and divine will. Purgatory, the last judgement and the torments of hell were a reality and also frightened and disciplined adults.

While Innsbruck's bourgeoisie had been at least gently kissed awake by the ideas of the Enlightenment after the Napoleonic Wars, the majority of people in the surrounding communities remained attached to the mixture of conservative Catholicism and superstitious popular piety.

Faith and the church still have a firm place in the everyday lives of Innsbruck residents, albeit often unnoticed. The resignations from the church in recent decades have put a dent in the official number of members and leisure events are better attended than Sunday masses. However, the Roman Catholic Church still has a lot of ground in and around Innsbruck, even outside the walls of the respective monasteries and educational centres. A number of schools in and around Innsbruck are also under the influence of conservative forces and the church. And anyone who always enjoys a public holiday, pecks one Easter egg after another or lights a candle on the Christmas tree does not have to be a Christian to act in the name of Jesus disguised as tradition.

Maximilian the German master (1558 - 1618) officially took up his post as Gubernator of Tyrol and Vorderösterreich in 1602. Unlike his predecessors, he was the administrator of the land and not its owner. This was reflected in his demeanour. He was a pious and deeply religious man who had to reconcile Christian charity with the political office of regent in a peculiar way. He regularly withdrew for long periods into the seclusion of his study in the Capuchin monastery, founded in 1594, in order to live there in the most modest and austere conditions. He did not organise any lavish parties. Ferdinand's bloated court was reduced by almost half. Under him, strict customs were introduced in Innsbruck. According to legend, children were forbidden to play in the streets. As a fervent representative of the Counter-Reformation, the enforcement of the Catholic faith was of particular concern to him. Unlike his predecessors, he wanted to achieve this through moral rigour rather than ostentatious building projects. He limited himself to completing churches that had already been started, such as the Servite Church or the Jesuit Church. The Innsbruck district of St Nicholas was also given its own parish priest, who watched over the salvation of the less well-off subjects. Maximilian did not organise lavish concerts in theatres, but together with the widow of his predecessor, Anna Katharina Gonzaga, promoted church singing. Nativity scenes and Easter graves began to establish themselves as an expression of popular faith. Whether it was his example as a pious prince, his moderate and prudent religious policy or counter-reformatory suppression, Protestant ideas died a quiet death in the Holy Land of Tyrol under Maximilian's reign, while they continued to simmer in many German principalities.

However, his piety did not exclude scientific interest and the practical measures derived from it for the good of the city. The 17th century was a time when open-minded aristocrats turned to alchemists to replenish the state coffers and had horoscopes cast by scientists such as Johannes Keppler, while they violently campaigned against the "heresy" of the Protestants. The Jesuit, physicist and astronomer Christoph Scheiner, one of the discoverers of sunspots alongside Galileo Galilei, spent three years at Maximilian's court in Innsbruck and researched the function of the human eye at the Inn. Maximilian had him set up a telescope and carried out astronomical research together with Scheiner. Educational institutions also benefited from him. During his reign, the Jesuits expanded their educational mission to include the study of theology and dialectics, which was the first step towards a university.

However, the beginning of the Enlightenment was not just a matter for the princely study room, but was also reflected in the everyday life of the citizens of Innsbruck. The city's fire-fighting system and the hygiene of the Ritschenwhich served as a sewerage system and water source within the city walls, were improved under Maximilian according to the latest knowledge of the time. The second measure in particular was intended to protect the city from a repeat of the great catastrophe under Maximilian's aegis. During his reign, he had to deal with the outbreak of a plague epidemic. The Dreiheiligenkirche church in Kohlstatt, the working-class neighbourhood of the early modern period near the Zeughaus, was built under his patronage to ensure heavenly patronage as well as protection through better hygiene.

The year of Maximilian's death in 1618 marked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in Europe. As boring as his pious and peaceful reign without ostentation and drama may seem today, the years of peace were probably a blessing for his contemporaries. The moralising Habsburg took the thankless middle seat between the eccentrics Ferdinand II and Leopold V and could hardly leave his mark on the city's memory. Alongside the Dreiheiligenkirche, his final resting place is his most conspicuous legacy. Maximilian's tomb in Innsbruck Cathedral is one of the most remarkable tombs of the Baroque period.

It also tells the interesting story of the Teutonic Order. Maximilian was not only Gubernator of Tyrol and Vorderösterreich, but also Archduke of Austria, Administrator of Prussia and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Another Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from the House of Habsburg with a connection to Innsbruck is also buried next to him. Archduke Eugene was the supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian army on the Italian front during the First World War. The German Orders vividly illustrates the theological mindset and the connection between pious faith and secular power in the early modern period. In the period up to 1500, devout piety and the fear of God often met with the exercise of secular power.

The order was founded as an order of knights in Jerusalem around 1120 as part of the Crusades. Church and chivalry united to enable pilgrims to visit the holy cities, especially the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, without danger. After the expulsion from Palestine, the knights of the Teutonic Order became involved on the side of Christian Magyars in Transylvania in what is now Romania against pagan tribes. In the 13th century, under Hermann von Salza, the Order was able to gain a lot of land in the Baltic region in the fight against the pagan Prussians and conquer the Teutonic Order state establish. This brotherhood acted as a kind of state that, like religious fundamentalists today, invoked God and wanted to establish his order on earth. It was ideals such as Christian charity and the protection of the poor and helpless that also characterised the Teutonic Order at its core. This made it an ideal fit for the Habsburg dynasty. After the decline of the Order in north-east Europe in the 15th century, the Order retained its possessions and power through skilful liaison with the nobility and the military, particularly in the Habsburg Empire.

In the 1950s, Innsbruck began to recover from the crisis and war years of the first half of the 20th century. On 15 May 1955, Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl declared with the famous words "Austria is free" and the signing of the State Treaty officially marked the political turning point. In many households, the "political turnaround" became established in the years known as Economic miracle in die Geschichte eingingen, moderater Wohlstand. Zwischen 1953 und 1962 erlaubte ein jährliches Wirtschaftswachstum von über 6% es einem immer größeren Teil der Bevölkerung von lange Zeit exotischen Dingen wie Kühlschränken, einem eigenen Badezimmer oder gar einem Urlaub im Süden zu träumen. Diese Zeit brachte nicht nur materielle, sondern auch gesellschaftliche Veränderung mit sich. Die Wünsche der Menschen wurden mit dem steigenden Wohlstand und dem Lifestyle, der in Werbung und Medien transportiert wurde, ausgefallener. Das Phänomen einer neuen Jugendkultur begann sich zart inmitten der grauen Gesellschaft im kleinen Österreich der Nachkriegszeit breit zu machen. Die Begriffe Teenager und Schlüsselkind hielten in den 1950er Jahren im Sprachgebrauch der Österreicher Einzug. Über Filme kam die große Welt nach Innsbruck. Kinovorführungen und Lichtspieltheater gab es zwar schon um die Jahrhundertwende in Innsbruck, in der Nachkriegszeit passte sich das Programm aber erstmals an ein jugendliches Publikum an. Ein Fernsehgerät hatte kaum jemand im Wohnzimmer und das Programm war mager. Die zahlreichen Kinos warben mit skandalträchtigen Filmen um die Gunst des Publikums. Ab 1956 erschien die Zeitschrift BRAVO. Zum ersten Mal gab es ein Medium, das sich an den Interessen Jugendlicher orientierte. Auf der ersten Ausgabe war Marylin Monroe zu sehen, darunter die Frage: „Haben auch Marylins Kurven geheiratet?“ Die großen Stars der ersten Jahre waren James Dean und Peter Kraus, bevor in den 60er Jahren die Beatles übernahmen. Nach dem Summer of Love klärte Dr. Sommer über Liebe und Sex auf. Die allmächtige Deutungshoheit der Kirche über das moralische Verhalten Pubertierender begann zu bröckeln, wenn auch nur langsam. Die erste Foto-Love-Story mit nacktem Busen folgte erst 1982. Bis in die 1970er Jahre beschränkten sich die Möglichkeiten heranwachsender Innsbrucker Großteils auf Wirtshausstuben, Schützenverein und Blasmusik. Erst nach und nach eröffneten Bars, Discos, Nachtlokale, Kneipen und Veranstaltungsräumlichkeiten. Veranstaltungen wie der 5 o'clock tea dance im Sporthotel Igls lockten paarungswillige junge Menschen an. Das Cafe Central wurde zur „zweiten Heimat langhaariger Jugendlicher“, wie die Tiroler Tageszeitung 1972 entsetzt feststellte. Etablissements wie der Falconry cellar in the Gilmstraße, the Uptown Jazzsalon in Hötting, der Jazzclub in der Hofgasse, der Clima Club in Saggen, the Scotch Club in the Angerzellgasse and the Tangent in der Bruneckerstraße hatten mit der traditionellen Tiroler Bier- und Weinstube nichts gemeinsam. Die Auftritte der Rolling Stones und Deep Purples in der Olympiahalle 1973 waren der vorläufige Höhepunkt des Innsbrucker Frühlingserwachens. Innsbruck wurde damit zwar nicht zu London oder San Francisco, zumindest einen Hauch Rock´n´Roll hatte man aber eingeatmet. Das, was als 68er Bewegung im kulturellen Gedächtnis bis heute verankert ist, fand im Holy Land kaum statt. Weder Arbeiter noch Studenten gingen in Scharen auf die Barrikaden. Der Historiker Fritz Keller bezeichnete die 68er Bewegung Österreichs als „Mailüfterl“. Trotzdem war die Gesellschaft still und heimlich im Wandel. Ein Blick in die Jahreshitparaden gibt einen Hinweis darauf. Waren es 1964 noch Kaplan Alfred Flury und Freddy mit „Leave the little things“ and „Give me your word" and the Beatles with their German version of "Come, give me your hand die die Top 10 dominierten, änderte sich der Musikgeschmack in den Jahren bis in die 1970er. Zwar fanden sich auch dann immer noch Peter Alexander und Mireille Mathieu in den Charts. Ab 1967 waren es aber internationale Bands mit fremdsprachigen Texten wie The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, The Monkees, Scott McKenzie, Adriano Celentano oder Simon und Garfunkel, die mit teils gesellschaftskritischen Texten die Top Positionen in großer Dichte einnahmen.

Diese Veränderung rief eine Gegenreaktion hervor. Die Speerspitze der konservativen Konterrevolution war der Innsbrucker Bischof Paulus Rusch. Zigaretten, Alkohol, allzu freizügige Mode, Auslandsurlaube, arbeitende Frauen, Nachtlokale, vorehelicher Geschlechtsverkehr, die 40-Stundenwoche, sonntägliche Sportveranstaltungen, Tanzabende, gemischte Geschlechter in Schule und Freizeit – das alles war dem strengen Kirchenmann und Anhänger des Herz-Jesu-Kultes streng zuwider. Peter Paul Rusch war 1903 in München zur Welt gekommen und in Vorarlberg als jüngstes von drei Kindern in einem gutbürgerlichen Haushalt aufgewachsen. Beide Elternteile und seine ältere Schwester starben an Tuberkulose, bevor er die Volljährigkeit erreicht hatte. Rusch musste im jugendlichen Alter von 17 in der kargen Nachkriegszeit früh für sich selbst sorgen. Die Inflation hatte das väterliche Erbe, das ihm ein Studium hätte finanzieren können, im Nu aufgefressen. Rusch arbeitete sechs Jahre lange bei der Bank for Tyrol and Vorarlberg, um sich sein Theologiestudium finanzieren zu können. 1927 trat er ins Collegium Canisianum ein, sechs Jahre später wurde er zum Priester des Jesuitenordens geweiht. Seine steile Karriere führte den intelligenten jungen Mann als Kaplan zuerst nach Lech und Hohenems und als Leiter des Teilpriesterseminars zurück nach Innsbruck. 1938 wurde er Titularbischof von Lykopolis und Apostolischer Administrator für Tirol und Vorarlberg. Als jüngster Bischof Europas musste er die Schikanen der nationalsozialistischen Machthaber gegenüber der Kirche überstehen. Obwohl seine kritische Einstellung zum Nationalsozialismus bekannt war, wurde Rusch selbst nie inhaftiert. Zu groß war die Furcht der Machthaber davor, aus dem beliebten jungen Bischof einen Märtyrer zu machen.

After the war, the socially and politically committed bishop was at the forefront of reconstruction efforts. He wanted the church to have more influence on people's everyday lives again. His father had worked his way up from carpenter to architect and probably gave him a soft spot for the building industry. He also had his own experience at BTV. Thanks to his training as a banker, Rusch recognised the opportunities for the church to get involved and make a name for itself as a helper in times of need. It was not only the churches that had been damaged in the war that were rebuilt. The Catholic Youth under Rusch's leadership, was involved free of charge in the construction of the Heiligjahrsiedlung in the Höttinger Au. The diocese bought a building plot from the Ursuline order for this purpose. The loans for the settlers were advanced interest-free by the church. Decades later, his rustic approach to the housing issue would earn him the title of "Red Bishop" to the new home. In the modest little houses with self-catering gardens, in line with the ideas of the dogmatic and frugal "working-class bishop", 41 families, preferably with many children, found a new home.

By alleviating the housing shortage, the greatest threats in the Cold WarCommunism and socialism, from his community. The atheism prescribed by communism and the consumer-orientated capitalism that had swept into Western Europe from the USA after the war were anathema to him. In 1953, Rusch's book "Young worker, where to?". What sounds like revolutionary, left-wing reading from the Kremlin showed the principles of Christian social teaching, which castigated both capitalism and socialism. Families should live modestly in order to live in Christian harmony with the moderate financial means of a single father. Entrepreneurs, employees and workers were to form a peaceful unity. Co-operation instead of class warfare, the basis of today's social partnership. To each his own place in a Christian sense, a kind of modern feudal system that was already planned for use in Dollfuß's corporative state. He shared his political views with Governor Eduard Wallnöfer and Mayor Alois Lugger, who, together with the bishop, organised the Holy Trinity of conservative Tyrol at the time of the economic miracle. Rusch combined this with a latent Catholic anti-Semitism that was still widespread in Tyrol after 1945 and which, thanks to aberrations such as the veneration of the Anderle von Rinn has long been a tradition.

Ein besonderes Anliegen war dem streitbaren Jesuiten Erziehung und Bildung. Die gesellschaftliche Formung quer durch alle Klassen durch die Soldaten Christi konnte in Innsbruck auf eine lange Tradition zurückblicken. Der Jesuitenpater und vormalige Gefängnisseelsorger Alois Mathiowitz (1853 – 1922) gründete 1909 in Pradl den Peter-Mayr-Bund. Sein Ansatz war es, Jugendliche über Freizeitgestaltung und Sport und Erwachsene aus dem Arbeitermilieu durch Vorträge und Volksbildung auf den rechten Weg zu bringen. Das unter seiner Ägide errichtete Arbeiterjugendheim in der Reichenauerstraße dient bis heute als Jugendzentrum und Kindergarten. Auch Rusch hatte Erfahrung mit Jugendlichen. 1936 war er in Vorarlberg zum Landesfeldmeister der Pfadfinder gewählt worden. Trotz eines Sprachfehlers war er ein charismatischer Typ, und bei seinen jungen Kollegen und Jugendlichen überaus beliebt. Nur eine fundierte Erziehung unter den Fittichen der Kirche nach christlichem Modell konnte seiner Meinung nach das Seelenheil der Jugend retten. Um jungen Menschen eine Perspektive zu geben und sie in geordnete Bahnen mit Heim und Familie zu lenken, wurde das Youth building society savings strengthened. In the parishes, kindergartens, youth centres and educational institutions such as the House of encounter am Rennweg errichtet, um von Anfang an die Erziehung in kirchlicher Hand zu haben. Der allergrößte Teil des sozialen Lebens der Stadtjugend spielte sich nicht in verruchten Spelunken ab. Den meisten Jugendlichen fehlte schlicht und ergreifend das Geld, um regelmäßig in Lokalen zu verkehren. Viele fanden ihren Platz in den halbwegs geordneten Bahnen der katholischen Jugendorganisationen. Neben dem ultrakonservativen Bischof Rusch wuchs eine Generation liberaler Kleriker heran, die sich in die Jugendarbeit einbrachten. In den 1960er und 70er Jahren agierten in Innsbruck zwei kirchliche Jugendbewegungen mit großem Einfluss. Verantwortlich dafür waren Sigmund Kripp und Meinrad Schumacher, die mit neuen Ansätzen in der Pädagogik und einem offeneren Umgang mit heiklen Themen wie Sexualität und Rauschmitteln Teenager und junge Erwachsene für sich gewinnen konnten. Für die Erziehung der Eliten im Sinne des Jesuitenordens sorgte in Innsbruck seit 1578 die Marian Congregation. This youth organisation, still known today as the MK, took care of secondary school pupils. The MK had a strict hierarchical structure in order to give the young Soldaten Christi von Anfang an Gehorsam beizubringen. 1959 übernahm Pater Sigmund Kripp die Leitung der Organisation. Die Jugendlichen errichteten unter seiner Führung mit finanzieller Unterstützung durch Kirche, Staat, Eltern und mit viel Eigenleistung Projekte wie die Mittergrathütte samt eigener Materialseilbahn im Kühtai und das legendäre Jugendheim Kennedyhaus in der Sillgasse. Bei der Grundsteinlegung dieses Jugendzentrums, das mit knapp 1500 Mitgliedern zum größten seiner Art in Europa werden sollte, waren Bundeskanzler Klaus und Mitglieder der amerikanischen Botschaft anwesend, war der Bau doch dem ersten katholischen, erst kürzlich ermordeten Präsidenten der USA gewidmet.

The other church youth organisation in Innsbruck was Z6. The city's youth chaplain, Chaplain Meinrad Schumacher, took care of the youth organisation as part of the Action 4-5-6 to all young people who are in the MK or the Catholic Student Union had no place. Working-class children and apprentices met in various youth centres such as Pradl or Reichenau before the new centre, also built by the members themselves, was opened at Zollerstraße 6 in 1971. Josef Windischer took over the management of the centre. The Z6 already had more to do with what Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda were doing on the big screen on their motorbikes in Easy Rider was shown. Things were rougher here than in the MK. Rock gangs like the Santanas, petty criminals and drug addicts also spent their free time in Z6. While Schumacher reeled off his programme upstairs with the "good" youngsters, Windischer and the Outsiders the basement to help the lost sheep as much as possible.

Ende der 1960er Jahre beschlossen sowohl die MK wie auch das Z6 sich auch für Nichtmitglieder zu öffnen. Mädchen und Bubengruppen wurden teilweise zusammengelegt und auch Nicht-Mitglieder wurden eingelassen. Die beiden Jugendzentren hatten zwar unterschiedliche Zielgruppen, das Konzept aber war gleich. Theologisches Wissen und christliche Moral wurden in spielerischem, altersgerechtem Umfeld vermittelt. Sektionen wie Schach, Fußball, Hockey, Basketball, Musik, Kinofilme und ein Partykeller holten die Bedürfnisse der Jugendlichen nach Spiel, Sport und der Enttabuisierung der ersten sexuellen Erfahrungen ab. Die Jugendzentren boten einen Raum, in dem sich Jugendliche beider Geschlechter begegnen konnten. Besonders die MK blieb aber eine Institution, die nichts mit dem wilden Leben der 68er, wie es in Filmen gerne transportiert wird, zu tun hatte. So fanden zum Beispiel Tanzkurse nicht im Advent, Fasching oder an Samstagen statt, für unter 17jährige waren sie überhaupt verbotene Früchte.

Nevertheless, the youth centres went too far for Bishop Rusch. The critical articles in the MK newspaper We discuss, die immerhin eine Auflage von über 2000 Stück erreichte, fanden immer seltener sein Gefallen. Solidarität mit Vietnam war das eine, aber Kritik an Schützen und Bundesheer konnten nicht geduldet werden. Nach jahrelangen Streitigkeiten zwischen Bischof und Jugendzentrum kam es 1973 zum Showdown. Als Pater Kripp sein Buch Farewell to tomorrow veröffentlichte, in dem er von seinem pädagogischen Konzept und der Arbeit in der MK berichtete, kam es zu einem nicht öffentlichen Verfahren innerhalb der Diözese und des Jesuitenordens gegen den Leiter des Jugendzentrums. Trotz massiver Proteste von Eltern und Mitgliedern wurde Kripp entfernt. Weder die innerkirchliche Intervention durch den bedeutenden Theologen Karl Rahner noch eine vom Künstler Paul Flora ins Leben gerufene Unterschriftenaktion oder regionale und überregionale Empörung in der Presse konnte den allzu liberalen Pater vor dem Zorn Ruschs retten, der sich für die Amtsenthebung sogar den päpstlichen Segen aus Rom zusichern ließ.

Im Juli 1974 war es vorübergehend auch mit dem Z6 vorbei. Artikel über die Antibaby-Pille und Kritik der Z6-Zeitung an der katholischen Kirche waren zu viel für den strengen Bischof. Rusch ließ kurzerhand die Schlüssel des Jugendzentrums austauschen, eine Methode, die er auch bei der Catholic Student Union when it got too close to a left-wing action group. The Tiroler Tageszeitung noted this in a small article on 1 August 1974:

"In recent weeks, there had been profound disputes between the educators and the bishop over fundamental issues. According to the bishop, the views expressed in "Z 6" were "no longer in line with church teaching". For example, the leadership of the centre granted young people absolute freedom of conscience without simultaneously recognising objective norms and also permitted sexual relations before marriage."

It was his adherence to conservative values and his stubbornness that damaged Rusch's reputation in the last 20 years of his life. When he was consecrated as the first bishop of the newly founded diocese of Innsbruck in 1964, times were changing. The progressive with practical life experience of the past was overtaken by the modern life of a new generation and the needs of the emerging consumer society. The bishop's constant criticism of the lifestyle of his flock and his stubborn adherence to his overly conservative values, coupled with some bizarre statements, turned the co-founder of development aid into a Brother in needthe young, hands-on bishop of the reconstruction, from the late 1960s onwards as a reason for leaving the church. His concept of repentance and penance took on bizarre forms. He demanded guilt and atonement from the Tyroleans for their misdemeanours during the Nazi era, but at the same time described the denazification laws as too far-reaching and strict. In response to the new sexual practices and abortion laws under Chancellor Kreisky, he said that girls and young women who have premature sexual intercourse are up to twelve times more likely to develop cancer of the mother's organs. Rusch described Hamburg as a cesspool of sin and he suspected that the simple minds of the Tyrolean population were not up to phenomena such as tourism and nightclubs and were tempted to immoral behaviour. He feared that technology and progress were making people too independent of God. He was strictly against the new custom of double income. People should be satisfied with a spiritual family home with a vegetable garden and not strive for more; women should concentrate on their traditional role as housewife and mother.

In 1973, after 35 years at the head of the church community in Tyrol and Innsbruck, Bishop Rusch was made an honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck. He resigned from his office in 1981. In 1986, Innsbruck's first bishop was laid to rest in St Jakob's Cathedral. The Bishop Paul's Student Residence The church of St Peter Canisius in the Höttinger Au, which was built under him, commemorates him.

After its closure in 1974, the Z6 youth centre moved to Andreas-Hofer-Straße 11 before finding its current home in Dreiheiligenstraße, in the middle of the working-class district of the early modern period opposite the Pest Church. Jussuf Windischer remained in Innsbruck after working on social projects in Brazil. The father of four children continued to work with socially marginalised groups, was a lecturer at the Social Academy, prison chaplain and director of the Caritas Integration House in Innsbruck.

The MK also still exists today, even though the Kennedy House, which was converted into a Sigmund Kripp House was renamed, no longer exists. In 2005, Kripp was made an honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck by his former sodalist and later deputy mayor, like Bishop Rusch before him.

Like the course of the city's history, its appearance is also subject to constant change. The years around 1500 and between 1850 and 1900, when political, economic and social changes took place at a particularly rapid pace, produced particularly visible changes in the cityscape. However, the most drastic event with the greatest impact on the cityscape was probably the air raids on the city during the Second World War.

In addition to the food shortage, people suffered from what the National Socialists called the "Heimatfront" in the city were particularly affected by the Allied air raids. Innsbruck was an important supply station for supplies on the Italian front.

The first Allied air raid on the ill-prepared city took place on the night of 15-16 December 1943. 269 people fell victim to the bombs, 500 were injured and more than 1500 were left homeless. Over 300 buildings, mainly in Wilten and the city centre, were destroyed and damaged. On Monday 18 December, the following were found in the Innsbrucker Nachrichten, dem Vorgänger der Tiroler Tageszeitung, auf der Titelseite allerhand propagandistische Meldungen vom erfolgreichen und heroischen Abwehrkampf der Deutschen Wehrmacht an allen Fronten gegenüber dem Bündnis aus Anglo-Amerikanern und dem Russen, nicht aber vom Bombenangriff auf Innsbruck.

Bombenterror über Innsbruck

Innsbruck, 17. Dez. Der 16. Dezember wird in der Geschichte Innsbrucks als der Tag vermerkt bleiben, an dem der Luftterror der Anglo-Amerikaner die Gauhauptstadt mit der ganzen Schwere dieser gemeinen und brutalen Kampfweise, die man nicht mehr Kriegführung nennen kann, getroffen hat. In mehreren Wellen flogen feindliche Kampfverbände die Stadt an und richteten ihre Angriffe mit zahlreichen Spreng- und Brandbomben gegen die Wohngebiete. Schwerste Schäden an Wohngebäuden, an Krankenhäusern und anderen Gemeinschaftseinrichtungen waren das traurige, alle bisherigen Schäden übersteigende Ergebnis dieses verbrecherischen Überfalles, der über zahlreiche Familien unserer Stadt schwerste Leiden und empfindliche Belastung der Lebensführung, das bittere Los der Vernichtung liebgewordenen Besitzes, der Zerstörung von Heim und Herd und der Heimatlosigkeit gebracht hat. Grenzenloser Haß und das glühende Verlangen diese unmenschliche Untat mit schonungsloser Schärfe zu vergelten, sind die einzige Empfindung, die außer der Auseinandersetzung mit den eigenen und den Gemeinschaftssorgen alle Gemüter bewegt. Wir alle blicken voll Vertrauen auf unsere Soldaten und erwarten mit Zuversicht den Tag, an dem der Führer den Befehl geben wird, ihre geballte Kraft mit neuen Waffen gegen den Feind im Westen einzusetzen, der durch seinen Mord- und Brandterror gegen Wehrlose neuerdings bewiesen hat, daß er sich von den asiatischen Bestien im Osten durch nichts unterscheidet – es wäre denn durch größere Feigheit. Die Luftschutzeinrichtungen der Stadt haben sich ebenso bewährt, wie die Luftschutzdisziplin der Bevölkerung. Bis zur Stunde sind 26 Gefallene gemeldet, deren Zahl sich aller Voraussicht nach nicht wesentlich erhöhen dürfte. Die Hilfsmaßnahmen haben unter Führung der Partei und tatkräftigen Mitarbeit der Wehrmacht sofort und wirkungsvoll eingesetzt.

This news item, which was imaginatively designed by censorship and media synchronisation, barely made it onto page 3. There was probably no more prominent way of presenting the city's poor preparation for the foreseeable bombardment to the public. The enthusiasm for National Socialism was no longer quite as great as in 1938 after the Anschluss, when Hitler was enthusiastically welcomed by 100,000 people in Innsbruck on 5 April. The damage to the city and the personal, tragic losses among the population were too great. In January 1944, the construction of air-raid tunnels and other protective measures began. The work was largely carried out by prisoners from the Reichenau concentration camp.

Innsbruck was attacked a total of twenty-two times between 1943 and 1945. Almost 3833, i.e. almost 50%, of the city's buildings were damaged and 504 people died. In the final months of the war, normality was out of the question. The population lived in constant fear. Schools were closed in the mornings. A regular everyday life was no longer conceivable.

Fortunately, the city was only the victim of targeted attacks. German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden were completely razed to the ground by the Allies with firestorms that claimed tens of thousands of lives within a few hours. Many buildings such as the Jesuit Church, Wilten Abbey, the Servite Church, the cathedral and the indoor swimming pool in Amraserstraße were hit.

Historic buildings and monuments received special treatment during the attacks. The Goldene Dachl was protected with a special construction, as was Maximilian's sarcophagus in the Hofkirche. The figures in the Hofkirche, the Schwarzen Mannderwere brought to Kundl. The Mother of Mercy, the famous picture from Innsbruck Cathedral, was transferred to Ötztal during the war.

The air-raid shelter tunnel south of Innsbruck on Brennerstrasse and the markings of houses with air-raid shelters with their black squares and white circles and arrows can still be seen today. In Pradl, where next to Wilten most of the buildings were damaged, bronze plaques on the affected houses indicate that they were hit by a bomb.