In the 1990s, an Austrian television series caused a scandal. The Piefke Saga written by the Tyrolean author Felix Mitterer, describes the relationship between the German holidaymaker family Sattmann and their hosts in a fictitious Tyrolean holiday resort in four bizarrely amusing episodes. Despite all the scepticism about tourism in its current, sometimes extreme, excesses, it should not be forgotten that tourism was an important factor in Innsbruck and the surrounding area in the 19th century, driving the region's development in the long term, and not just economically.

The first travellers to Innsbruck were pilgrims and business people. Traders, journeymen on the road, civil servants, soldiers, entourages of aristocratic guests at court, skilled workers from various trades, miners, clerics, pilgrims and scientists were the first tourists to be drawn to the city between Italy and Germany. Travelling was expensive, dangerous and arduous. In addition, a large proportion of the subjects were not allowed to leave their own land without the permission of their landlord or abbot. Those who travelled usually did so on the cobbler's pony. Although Innsbruck's inns and innkeepers were already earning money from travellers in the Middle Ages and early modern times, there was no question of tourism as we understand it today. It began when a few crazy travellers were drawn to the mountain peaks for the first time. In addition to a growing middle class, this also required a new attitude towards the Alps. For a long time, the mountains had been a pure threat to people. It was mainly the British who set out to conquer the world's mountains after the oceans. From the late 18th century, the era of Romanticism, news of the natural beauty of the Alps spread through travelogues. The first foreign-language travel guide to Tyrol, Travells through the Rhaetian Alps by Jean Francois Beaumont was published in 1796.

In addition to the alpine attraction, it was the wild and exotic Natives Tirols, die international für Aufsehen sorgten. Der bärtige Revoluzzer namens Andreas Hofer, der es mit seinem Bauernheer geschafft hatte, Napoleons Armee in die Knie zu zwingen, erzeugte bei den Briten, den notorischen Erzfeinden der Franzosen, ebenso großes Interesse wie bei deutschen Nationalisten nördlich der Alpen, die in ihm einen frühen Protodeutschen sahen. Die Tiroler galten als unbeugsamer Menschenschlag, archetypisch und ungezähmt, ähnlich den Germanen unter Arminius, die das Imperium Romanum herausgefordert hatten. Die Beschreibungen Innsbrucks aus der Feder des Autors Beda Weber (1798 – 1858) und andere Reiseberichte in der boomenden Presselandschaft dieser Zeit trugen dazu bei, ein attraktives Bild Innsbrucks zu prägen.

Nun mussten die wilden Alpen nur noch der Masse an Touristen zugänglich gemacht werden, die zwar gerne den frühen Abenteurern auf ihren Expeditionen nacheifern wollten, deren Risikobereitschaft und Fitness mit den Wünschen nicht schritthalten konnten. Der German Alpine Club eröffnete 1869 eine Sektion Innsbruck, nachdem der 1862 Österreichische Alpenverein was not very successful. Driven by the Greater German idea of many members, the two institutions merged in 1873. Alpine Club is still bourgeois to this day, while its social democratic counterpart is the Naturfreunde. The network of paths grew as a result of its development, as did the number of huts that could accommodate guests. The transit country of Tyrol had countless mule tracks and footpaths that had existed for centuries and served as the basis for alpinism. Small inns, farms and stations along the postal routes served as accommodation. The Tyrolean theologian Franz Senn (1831 - 1884) and the writer Adolf Pichler (1819 - 1900) were instrumental in the surveying of Tyrol and the creation of maps. Contrary to popular belief, the Tyroleans were not born mountaineers, but had to be taught the skills to conquer the mountains. Until then, mountains had been one thing above all: dangerous and arduous in everyday agricultural life. Climbing them had hardly occurred to anyone before. The Alpine clubs also trained mountain guides. From the turn of the century, skiing came into fashion alongside hiking and mountaineering. There were no lifts yet, and to get up the mountains you had to use the skins that are still glued to touring skis today. It was not until the 1920s, following the construction of the cable cars on the Nordkette and Patscherkofel mountains, that a wealthy clientele was able to enjoy the modern luxury of mountain lifts while skiing.

New hotels, cafés, inns, shops and means of transport were needed to meet the needs of guests. Anyone who had running water and a telephone connection at home in London or Paris did not want to make do with an outhouse in the corridor or in front of the house when on holiday. The so-called first and second class inns were suitable for transit traffic, but they were not equipped to receive upscale tourists. Until the 19th century, innkeepers in the city and in the villages around Innsbruck belonged to the upper middle class in terms of income. They were often farmers who ran a pub on the side and sold food. As the example of Andreas Hofer shows, they also had a good reputation and influence within local society. As meeting places for the locals and hubs for postal and goods traffic, they were often well informed about what was happening in the wider world. However, as they were neither members of a guild nor counted among the middle classes, the profession of innkeeper was not one of the most honourable professions. This changed with the professionalisation of the tourism industry. Entrepreneurs such as Robert Nißl, who took over Büchsenhausen Castle in 1865 and converted it into a brewery, invested in the infrastructure. Former aristocratic residences such as Weiherburg Castle became inns and hotels. The revolution in Innsbruck did not take place on the barricades in 1848, but in tourism a few decades later, when resourceful citizens replaced the aristocracy as owners of castles such as Büchsenhausen and Weiherburg.

Opened in 1849, the Österreichischer Hof was long regarded as the top dog of the modern hotel industry, but was officially just a copy of a grand hotel. Only with the Grand Hotel Europa had opened a first-class establishment in Innsbruck in 1869. The heyday of the inns in the old town was over. In 1892, the zeitgeisty Reformhotel Habsburger Hof a second large business. Where the Metropolkino cinema stands today, the Kaiserhof was built as a new building. The Habsburg Court already offered its guests electric light, an absolute sensation. Also on the previously unused area in front of the railway station was the Arlberger Hof settled. What would be seen as a competitive disadvantage today was a selling point at the time. Railway stations were the centres of modern cities. Station squares were not overcrowded transport hubs as they are today, but sophisticated and well-kept places in front of the architecturally sophisticated halls where the trains arrived.

The number of guests increased slowly but steadily. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Innsbruck had 200,000 guests. In June 1896, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten:

„Der Fremdenverkehr in Innsbruck bezifferte sich im Monat Mai auf 5647 Personen. Darunter befanden sich (außer 2763 Reisenden aus Oesterreich-Ungarn) 1974 Reichsdeutsche, 282 Engländer, 65 Italiener, 68 Franzosen, 53 Amerikaner, 51 Russen und 388 Personen aus verschiedenen anderen Ländern.“

In addition to the number of travellers who had an impact on life in the small town of Innsbruck, it was also the internationality of the visitors who gradually gave Innsbruck a new look. In addition to the purely touristic infrastructure, the development of general innovations was also accelerated. The wealthy guests could hardly socialise in pubs with cesspits behind their houses. Of course, a sewerage system would have been on the agenda anyway, but the economic factor of tourism made it possible and accelerated the release of funds for the major projects at the turn of the century. This not only changed the appearance of the town, but also people's everyday and working lives. Resourceful entrepreneurs such as Heinrich Menardi managed to expand the value chain to include paid holiday pleasures in addition to board and lodging. In 1880, he opened the Lohnkutscherei und Autovermietung Heinrich Menardi for excursions in the Alpine surroundings. Initially with carriages, and after the First World War with coaches and cars, wealthy tourists were chauffeured as far as Venice. The company still exists today and is now based in the Menardihaus at Wilhelm-Greil-Strasse 17 opposite Landhausplatz, even though over time the transport and trading industry shifted to the more lucrative property sector. Local trade also benefited from the wealthy clientele from abroad. In 1909, there were already three dedicated Tourist equipment shops next to the fashionable department stores that had just opened a few years earlier.

Innsbruck and the surrounding towns were also known for spa holidays, the predecessor of today's wellness, where well-heeled clients recovered from a wide variety of illnesses in an Alpine environment. The Igler Hof, back then Grandhotel Igler Hof and the Sporthotel Igls, still partly exude the chic of that time. Michael Obexer, the founder of the spa town of Igls and owner of the Grand Hotel, was a tourism pioneer. There were two spas in Egerdach near Amras and in Mühlau. The facilities were not as well-known as the hotspots of the time in Bad Ischl, Marienbad or Baden near Vienna, as can be seen on old photos and postcards, but the treatments with brine, steam, gymnastics and even magnetism were in line with the standards of the time, some of which are still popular with spa and wellness holidaymakers today. Bad Egerdach near Innsbruck had been known as a healing spring since the 17th century. The spring was said to cure gout, skin diseases, anaemia and even the nervous disorder known in the 19th century as neurasthenia, the predecessor of burnout. The institution's chapel still exists today opposite the SOS Children's Village. The bathing establishment in Mühlau has existed since 1768 and was converted into an inn and spa in the style of the time in the course of the 19th century. The former bathing establishment is now a residential building worth seeing in Anton-Rauch-Straße. However, the most spectacular tourist project that Innsbruck ever experienced was probably Hoch Innsbruck, today's Hungerburg. Not only the Hungerburg railway and hotels, but even its own lake was created here after the turn of the century to attract guests.

One of the former owners of the land of the Hungerburg and Innsbruck tourism pioneer, Richard von Attlmayr, was significantly involved in the predecessor of today's tourism association. Since 1881, the Innsbruck Beautification Association to satisfy the increasing needs of guests. The association took care of the construction of hiking and walking trails, the installation of benches and the development of impassable areas such as the Mühlauer Klamm or the Sillschlucht gorge. The striking green benches along many paths are a reminder of the still existing association. 1888 years later, the profiteers of tourism in Innsbruck founded the Commission for the promotion of tourismthe predecessor of today's tourism association. By joining forces in advertising and quality assurance at the accommodation establishments, the individual businesses hoped to further boost tourism.

„Alljährlich mehrt sich die Zahl der überseeischen Pilger, die unser Land und dessen gletscherbekrönte Berge zum Verdrusse unserer freundnachbarlichen Schweizer besuchen und manch klingenden Dollar zurücklassen. Die Engländer fangen an Tirol ebenso interessant zu finden wie die Schweiz, die Zahl der Franzosen und Niederländer, die den Sommer bei uns zubringen, mehrt sich von Jahr zu Jahr.“

Postkarten waren die ersten massentauglichen Influencer der Tourismusgeschichte. Viele Betriebe ließen ihre eigenen Postkarten drucken. Verlage produzierten unzählige Sujets der beliebtesten Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt. Es ist interessant zu sehen, was damals als sehenswert galt und auf den Karten abgebildet wurde. Anders als heute waren es vor allem die zeitgenössisch modernen Errungenschaften der Stadt: der Leopoldbrunnen, das Stadtcafé beim Theater, die Kettenbrücke, die Zahnradbahn auf die Hungerburg oder die 1845 eröffnete Stefansbrücke an der Brennerstraße, die als Steinbogen aus Quadern die Sill überquerte, waren die Attraktionen. Auch Andreas Hofer war ein gut funktionierendes Testimonial auf den Postkarten: Der Gasthof Schupfen in dem Andreas Hofer sein Hauptquartier hatte und der Berg Isel mit dem großen Andreas-Hofer-Denkmal waren gerne abgebildete Motive.

1914 gab es in Innsbruck 17 Hotels, die Gäste anlockten. Dazu kamen die Sommer- und Winterfrischler in Igls und dem Stubaital. Der Erste Weltkrieg ließ die erste touristische Welle mit einem Streich versanden. Gerade als sich der Fremdenverkehr Ende der 1920er Jahre langsam wieder erholt hatte, kamen mit der Wirtschaftskrise und Hitlers 1000 Mark blockThe next setback came in 1933, when he tried to put pressure on the Austrian government to end the ban on the NSDAP.

It required the Economic miracle in the 1950s and 1960s to revitalise tourism in Innsbruck after the destruction. Between 1955 and 1972, the number of overnight stays in Tyrol increased fivefold. After the arduous war years and the reconstruction of the European economy, Tyrol and Innsbruck were able to slowly but steadily establish tourism as a stable source of income, even away from the official hotels and guesthouses. Many Innsbruck families moved together in their already cramped flats to supplement their household budgets by renting out beds to guests from abroad. Tourism not only brought in foreign currency, but also enabled the locals to create a new image of themselves both internally and externally. At the same time, the economic upturn made it possible for more and more Innsbruck residents to go on holiday abroad. The beaches of Italy were particularly popular. The wartime enemies of previous decades became guests and hosts.

Die Zeit der Napoleonischen Kriege bescherte dem Land Tirol ein nationales Epos und mit Andreas Hofer einen Helden, dessen Glanz bis in die heutige Zeit strahlt. Subtrahiert man allerdings die sorgsam konstruierte Legende vom Tiroler Aufstand gegen die Fremdherrschaft, war die Zeit vor und nach 1809 ein dunkles Kapitel in der Innsbrucker Stadtgeschichte, geprägt von wirtschaftlichen Nöten, Kriegsverheerung und mehreren Plünderungen. Das Königreich Bayern war während der Napoleonischen Kriege mit Frankreich verbündet und konnte in mehreren Auseinandersetzungen zwischen 1796 und 1805 das Land Tirol von den Habsburgern übernehmen. Innsbruck war nicht mehr Hauptstadt eines Kronlandes, sondern nur noch eine von vielen Kreishauptstädten der Verwaltungseinheit Innkreis. Einnahmen aus Maut und Zoll sowie auf das Haller Salz verließen das Land Richtung Norden. Die britische Kolonialsperre gegen Napoleon hatte zur Folge, dass der stets florierende und Wohlstand bringende Innsbrucker Fernhandel und das Transportwesen als Wirtschaftszweige einbrachen. Innsbrucker Bürger mussten bayerische Soldaten in ihren Häusern einquartieren. Die Aufhebung der Tiroler Landesregierung, des Guberniums und des Tiroler Landtags bedeuteten aber nicht nur den Verlust von Status, sondern auch von Arbeitsplätzen und finanziellen Mitteln. Ganz vom Geist der Aufklärung, der Vernunft und der Französischen Revolution beseelt, machten sich die neuen Landesherren daran, die althergebrachte Ordnung umzukrempeln. Während die Stadt, wie es zu jeder Zeit ist, unter dem Kriegstreiben finanziell litt, eröffneten sich gesellschaftspolitisch durch den Umbruch neue Möglichkeiten. Der Krieg ist der Vater aller Dinge, vielen Bürgern kam der frische Wind nicht ungelegen. Moderne Gesetze wie die Gassen-Säuberungs-Ordnung oder eine verpflichtende Pockenimpfung sollten Sauberkeit und Gesundheit in der Stadt zuträglich sein. Zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts verstarb noch immer eine beträchtliche Anzahl von Menschen an Krankheiten, die auf mangelnde Hygiene und verseuchtem Trinkwasser zurückzuführen waren. Ein neues Steuersystem wurde eingeführt und die Befugnisse des Adels weiter verringert. Die bayerische Verwaltung erlaubt das 1797 verbotene Vereinswesen wieder. Auch das Zurückdrängen der Kirche aus dem Bildungswesen gefiel liberalen Innsbruckern. Ein Beispiel für die Reformen war die Berufung des Benediktinerpaters und späteren Mitbegründers des Musikvereins Innsbrucks Martin Goller nach Innsbruck, um die musikalische und kulturelle Ausbildung in der Stadt zu forcieren.

These reforms were unpopular with a large portion of the Tyrolean population. Catholic processions and religious festivals fell victim to the Enlightenment‑driven agenda of the new rulers. In 1808, the Bavarian king introduced the Municipal Edict (Gemeindeedikt) throughout his entire realm. This decree obliged subjects to maintain public buildings, wells, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. For Tyrolean farmers—who for centuries had largely been exempt from compulsory labour—this represented an additional burden and an affront to their sense of social status. The spark that ignited the powder keg was the conscription of young men into the Bavarian‑Napoleonic army, despite the provisions of the Landlibell, a law issued by Emperor Maximilian I, which stipulated that Tyroleans could be called up only for the defence of their own borders. On 10 April 1809, a disturbance broke out during a conscription in Axams near Innsbruck, which ultimately led to an uprising. For God, Emperor, and Fatherland, units of the Tyrolean territorial defence assembled to expel the small Bavarian military contingent and administrative officials from Innsbruck. The marksmen were led by Andreas Hofer (1767–1810), an innkeeper and wine and horse trader from the Passeier Valley in South Tyrol near Meran. At his side stood not only other Tyroleans such as Father Haspinger, Peter Mayr, and Josef Speckbacher, but also—working behind the scenes—Habsburg Archduke Johann.

Once in Innsbruck, the Tiroler Schützen not only plundered official facilities. As with the peasants' revolt under Michael Gaismair, their heroism was fuelled not only by adrenaline but also by alcohol. The wild mob was probably more damaging to the city than the Bavarian administrators had been since 1805, and the "liberators" rioted violently, particularly against middle-class ladies and the small Jewish population of Innsbruck.

In July 1809, following the Peace of Znojmo concluded with the Habsburgs—a treaty still regarded by many as a Viennese betrayal of Tyrol—Bavarian and French forces regained control of Innsbruck. What followed was the episode that would enter the history books as the Tyrolean Uprising under Andreas Hofer, who by then had assumed supreme command of the Tyrolean territorial defence. In total, the Tyrolean insurgents managed to carry victory from the battlefield three times. The third battle, fought in August 1809 on Mount Isel, is particularly well known. A contemporary account records: “Innsbruck sees and hears what it has never seen or heard before: a battle of 40,000 combatants …” For a brief period, in the absence of regular authorities, Andreas Hofer served as Tyrol’s commander‑in‑chief, also responsible for civilian affairs. Innsbruck’s dire financial situation, however, did not improve. Instead of Bavarian and French soldiers, the city’s inhabitants now had to quarter and feed their own compatriots from the peasant regiments and pay taxes to the new provincial government. The city’s liberal and wealthy elites in particular were unhappy with the new rulers. The decrees issued by Hofer as provincial commander were more reminiscent of a theocratic state than of a nineteenth‑century legal code. Women were permitted to appear in public only when modestly veiled; dance events were forbidden; and revealing monuments, such as the nymphs on the Leopold Fountain, were removed from public space. Educational responsibilities were to be returned to the clergy. Liberals and intellectuals were arrested, while the praying of the rosary became mandatory. In autumn 1809, the fourth and final Battle of Mount Isel ended in a decisive defeat at the hands of the French forces. The government in Vienna had largely used the Tyrolean insurgents as a tactical buffer in its war against Napoleon. Even earlier, the Emperor had been forced to cede Tyrol officially in the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Between 1810 and 1814, Innsbruck once again came under Bavarian administration. The population itself was by then only weakly motivated to continue fighting. The district of Wilten suffered particularly severe damage during the hostilities, with its population shrinking from over 1,000 inhabitants to fewer than 700. At this time, Hofer himself was already a man visibly marked by physical strain and alcohol. He was captured and executed in Mantua on 20 January 1810. To compound matters, the country was divided: the Adige Valley and Trentino became part of Napoleon’s newly created Kingdom of Italy, while the Puster Valley was annexed to the French‑controlled Illyrian Provinces.

The “fight for freedom” continues to symbolise the Tyrolean self‑image to this day. For a long time, Andreas Hofer was regarded as an undisputed hero and the prototype of the resilient, patriotic, and steadfast Tyrolean—the underdog who resisted foreign domination and unholy customs. In reality, Hofer was likely a charismatic leader, but politically inept, conservative‑clerical, and simple‑minded. His tactical principle at the Third Battle of Mount Isel—“Grad nit aufferlassen tiat sie” (“You just must not let them come up”)—captures his character quite well. In conservative Tyrolean circles such as the marksmen (Schützen), Hofer continues to be venerated in an uncritical and quasi‑cultic manner. The Tyrolean marksmen tradition is a living form of heritage that has modernised in some respects, yet in many darker corners remains reactionary in orientation. To this day, marksmen from Wilten, Amras, Pradl, and Hötting march in harmony alongside clergy, traditional costume associations, and brass bands in church processions, firing rifles into the air to drive all evil away from Tyrol and the Catholic Church. Throughout the city, numerous monuments commemorate the year 1809. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the fighters were increasingly heroised as a German bulwark against foreign peoples. Mount Isel was made available to the city for the veneration of the freedom fighters by Wilten Abbey, the Catholic authority in Innsbruck. Streets in the Wilten district—incorporated into Innsbruck in 1904 during a period dominated by a Greater German liberal city council and long administered by the Abbey—were named after Andreas Hofer and his comrades Josef Speckbacher, Peter Mayr, Father Haspinger, and Kajetan Sweth. The short Rote Gassl (Red Alley) in the historic centre of Wilten commemorates the Tyrolean marksmen who—supposedly clad in red uniforms, probably erroneously attributed to them—are said to have paid mass homage at this spot to the victorious commander Hofer after the second Battle of Mount Isel. To this day, Andreas Hofer is frequently invoked in Tyrol in support of a wide range of initiatives and agendas. Especially during the nationalism of the nineteenth century, repeated reference was made to the idealised hero Andreas Hofer. Through paintings, pamphlets, and theatrical performances he was elevated to iconic status. Even today, one can still see the likeness of the senior marksman when Tyroleans protest against unpopular measures of the federal government, EU transit regulations, or—somewhat incongruously—when FC Wacker Innsbruck faces away teams. The slogan in such cases is: “Men, it’s time!” The legend of the battle‑hardened Tyrolean farmer—working the fields by day and training in the evening at the shooting range as a sharpshooter and defender of the homeland—is repeatedly revived to reinforce an image of “authentic” Tyrolean identity. The commemorations marking the anniversary of Andreas Hofer’s death on 20 February continue to draw large crowds from all parts of Tyrol to Innsbruck. Only in recent decades has a more critical reassessment emerged of this staunchly conservative marksman captain, likely overwhelmed by his role as Tyrol’s provincial commander, who—encouraged by elements of the Habsburg dynasty and the Catholic Church—sought not only to repel French and Bavarian forces but also to keep the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment firmly out of Tyrol.