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.

Initially, it was the mountain peaks of the Alps that attracted visitors. For a long time, the area between Mittenwald in Bavaria and Italy was only a kind of transit corridor. Although Innsbruck's inns and innkeepers were already earning money from merchants and the entourage of the court's aristocratic guests in the Middle Ages and early modern times, there was still no question of tourism as we understand it today. 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 the 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.

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 wenig erfolgreich war. Angetrieben vom großdeutschen Gedanken vieler Mitglieder fusionierten die beiden Institutionen 1873. Der Alpenverein ist bis heute bürgerlich geprägt, sein sozialdemokratisches Pendant sind die Naturfreunde. The network of trails grew through its development, as did the number of huts that could accommodate guests. The Tyrolean theologian Franz Senn (1831 - 1884) and the writer Adolf Pichler (1819 - 1900) were instrumental in surveying Tyrol and creating 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.

The number of guests increased slowly but surely. 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. New hotels, cafés, inns, shops and means of transport were needed to meet the needs of the guests. The working world of many people changed. 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.“

Mit dem Grand Hotel Europa hatte 1869 auch in Innsbruck ein Haus ersten Ranges geöffnet und löste die oft in die Jahre gekommenen Gasthöfe in der Altstadt als die Unterkünfte erster Wahl ab. 1892 folgte mit dem Reformhotel Habsburger Hof ein zweiter großer Betrieb, der mit der Nähe zum Bahnhof warb. Was heute eher als Wettbewerbsnachteil angesehen würde, war zu dieser Zeit ein Verkaufsargument. Bahnhöfe waren die Zentren moderner Städte. Die Bahnhofsplätze waren keine überfüllten Verkehrsknotenpunkte wie heute, sondern mondäne und gepflegte Orte vor den architektonisch anspruchsvoll gestalteten Hallen, in denen die Züge ankamen. Der Habsburg Court konnte seinen Gästen auch bereits elektrisches Licht bieten, eine absolute Sensation.

Innsbruck and the surrounding villages were also known for spa holidays, the predecessor of today's wellness, where wealthy clients recovered from various illnesses in an Alpine environment. The Igler Hof, at that time 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 in 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 baths in Mühlau have existed since 1768 and were 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.

1888 gründeten die Profiteure des Fremdenverkehrs in Innsbruck die Commission for the promotion of tourism, den Vorgänger des heutigen Tourismusverbands. Durch vereinte Kräfte in Werbung und Qualitätssicherung bei den Beherbergungsbetrieben hofften die einzelnen Betriebe, den Tourismus weiter anzukurbeln. Ab 1880 sorgten neben Werbung in Zeitungen auch Messen dafür, dass Innsbruck und Tirol international Bekanntheit erlangten.

„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. 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. Tourism not only brought in foreign currency, but also enabled the locals to create a new image of themselves both internally and externally. The war enemies of past decades became guests and hosts.

The Napoleonic Wars gave the province of Tyrol a national epic and a hero whose splendour still shines today. The reason for this was once again a conflict with its northern neighbour and its allies after 1703. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Bavaria was, as it had been during the War of the Spanish Succession allied with France and was able to conquer Tyrol between 1796 and 1805. Innsbruck was no longer the provincial capital of Tyrol, but only one of many district capitals of the administrative unit Innkreis.

Taxes were increased and powers reduced. Processions and religious festivals of the conservative and pious Tyroleans fell victim to the Enlightenment programme of the new rulers, who were influenced by the French Revolution. Strict Catholics like Father Haspinger were also opposed to measures such as the smallpox vaccinations ordered by the Bavarians. There was great dissatisfaction among large sections of the Tyrolean population.

The spark that set off the powder keg was the conscription of young men for service in the Bavarian-Napoleonic army, although Tyroleans had been in the army since the LandlibellThe law of Emperor Maximilian stipulated that soldiers could only be called up for the defence of their own borders. On 10 April, there was a riot during a conscription in Axams near Innsbruck, which ultimately led to an uprising.

For God, Emperor and Fatherland Tyrolean defence units came together to drive the small army and the Bavarian administrative officials out of Innsbruck. The riflemen were led by Andreas Hofer (1767 - 1810), an innkeeper, wine and horse trader from the South Tyrolean Passeier Valley near Meran. He was supported not only by other Tyroleans such as Father Haspinger, Peter Mayr and Josef Speckbacher, but also by the Habsburg Archduke Johann in the background.

Once in Innsbruck, the marksmen plundered houses, some of whose liberal inhabitants were not entirely averse to the modern Bavarian administration. Some of the citizens would have preferred this fresh wind blowing over from revolutionary France to the conservative Habsburgs. The wild mob was probably more harmful to the city than the Bavarian administrators had been since 1805, and the "liberators" rioted violently against Innsbruck's small Jewish population in particular.

One month later, the Bavarians and French had regained control of Innsbruck. What followed was what was known as the Tyrolean survey under Andreas Hofer, who had meanwhile assumed supreme command of the Tyrolean defence forces, was to go down in the history books. The Tyrolean insurgents were able to carry victory from the battlefield a total of three times. The 3rd battle in August 1809 on Mount Isel is particularly well known. "Innsbruck sees and hears what it has never heard or seen before: a battle of 40,000 combatants...“

For a short time, Andreas Hofer was Tyrol's commander-in-chief in the absence of regular facts, also for civil matters. Innsbruck had to bear the costs of board and lodging for this peasant regiment. The city's liberal and wealthy circles in particular were not happy with the new city rulers. The decrees issued by him as provincial commander were more reminiscent of a theocracy than a 19th century body of laws. Women were only allowed to go out on the streets wearing a chaste veil, dance events were banned and revealing monuments such as the one on the Leopoldsbrunnen nymphs on display were banned from public spaces. Educational agendas were to return to the clergy. Liberals and intellectuals were arrested, but the Praying the rosary to the bid.

In the end, the fourth and final battle on Mount Isel in autumn 1809 resulted in a heavy defeat against the French superiority. The government in Vienna had used the Tyrolean rebels primarily as a tactical bruiser in the war against Napoleon. The Emperor had already had to officially cede the province of Tyrol in the peace treaty of Schönbrunn. Innsbruck was again under Bavarian administration between 1810 and 1814. By this time, Hofer himself was already a man marked by the effects of alcohol. He was captured and executed in Mantua on 20 January 1810.

Der „Fight for freedom" symbolises the Tyrolean self-image to this day. For a long time, Andreas Hofer, the innkeeper from the South Tyrolean Passeier Valley, was regarded as an undisputed hero and the prototype of the Tyrolean who was brave, loyal to his fatherland and steadfast. The underdog who fought back against foreign superiority and unholy customs. In fact, Hofer was probably a charismatic leader, but politically untalented and conservative-clerical, simple-minded. His tactics at the 3rd Battle of Mount Isel "Do not abandon them" (Ann.: You just mustn't let them come up) probably summarises his nature quite well.

In conservative Tyrolean circles such as the Schützen, Hofer is uncritically and cultishly worshipped. Tyrolean marksmanship is a living tradition that has modernised, but is still reactionary in many dark corners. Wiltener, Amraser, Pradler and Höttinger marksmen still march in unison alongside the clergy, traditional costume societies and marching bands in church processions and shoot into the air to keep all evil away from Tyrol and the Catholic Church.

In Tyrol, Andreas Hofer is still used today for all kinds of initiatives and plans. The glorified hero Andreas Hofer was repeatedly invoked, especially during the nationalist period of the 19th century. Hofer was stylised into an icon through paintings, pamphlets and plays. But even today, you can still see the likeness of the head marksman when Tyroleans defend themselves against unwelcome measures by the federal government, the transit regulations of the EU or FC Wacker against foreign football clubs. The motto is then "Man, it's time!". The legend of the Tyrolean farmer who is fit for military service, who tills the fields during the day and trains as a marksman and defender of his homeland at the shooting range in the evening, is often brought out of the drawer to strengthen the "real" Tyrolean identity.

It was only in the last few decades that the arch-conservative and probably overburdened with his task as Tyrolean provincial commander began to be criticised. Spurred on by parts of the Habsburgs and the Catholic Church, he not only wanted to keep the French and Bavarians out of Tyrol, but also the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment.

Many monuments throughout the city commemorate the year 1809. Andreas Hofer and his comrades-in-arms Josef Speckbacher, Peter Mayer, Father Haspinger and Kajetan Sweth were given street names, especially in the Wilten district, which became part of Innsbruck in 1904 and had long been under the administration of the monastery. To this day, the celebrations to mark the anniversary of Andreas Hofer's death on 20 February regularly attract crowds of people from all parts of Tyrol to the city.