Karwendel Bridge Innsbruck

The railway came to Europe at breakneck speed. In 1830, the world's first railway line was opened between Liverpool and Manchester. Just a few decades later, the Tyrol, which had been somewhat remote from the main trade routes for some time, was also connected to the world with spectacular railway constructions across the Alps. While travelling had previously been expensive, long and arduous journeys in carriages, on horseback or on foot, the ever-expanding railway network meant unprecedented comfort and speed.

In 1858, Innsbruck was connected to Munich by railway. Twenty years earlier, Alois von Negrelli (1799 - 1858), whose work on the Suez Canal is considered one of the greatest technical achievements of the 19th century, had already built a "Expert opinion on the railway from Innsbruck via Kufstein to the royal Bavarian border at the Otto Chapel near Kiefersfelden“ vorgelegt. Negrelli hatte in jungen Jahren in der k.k. Baudirektion Innsbruck Dienst getan, kannte die Stadt also sehr gut. Als Platz für den Hauptbahnhof hatte er die Triumphpforte und den Hofgarten ins Spiel gebracht. In einem Brief äußerte er sich über die Bahnlinie durch seine ehemalige Heimat mit diesen Worten:

"...I also hear with the deepest sympathy that the railway from Innsbruck to Kufstein is being taken seriously, as the Laage is very suitable for this and the area along the Inn is so rich in natural products and so populated that I cannot doubt its success, nor will I fail to take an active part in it myself and through my business friends when it comes to the purchase of shares. You have no idea of the new life that such an endeavour will awaken in the other side..."

From 1867, the railway also ran over the Brenner Pass. Until then, Innsbruck was a terminus station for trains arriving from the east. The station forecourt became one of the new centres. Engineer Carl von Etzel (1812 - 1865), who did not live to see the opening of the Brenner Railway due to his early death, had achieved a minor miracle of modernisation with the planning of the project.

With the opening of the Arlberg railway in 1884, Innsbruck had once again become a transport hub between Germany and Italy, France, Switzerland and Vienna.

The Stubai Valley railway was opened in 1904 and the Mittenwald railway in 1912. The steel truss bridge as part of the Mittenwald railway, which crosses the Inn at the Karwendelbögen in the west of the town, is an impressive testimony to the outstanding engineering achievements of the time, which we take for granted today. Josef Riehl planned both projects with the company he founded in 1870 (1842 - 1917). Born in Bolzano, Riehl had gained his first experience on the Brenner railway under Etzel. He was later involved in the Pustertal railway in what is now South Tyrol and railway projects in the east of the monarchy. The Karwendel railway, including all the tunnels, viaducts, work on the mountainous terrain and his own power station on the Ruetzbach, was his masterpiece. He invested his private fortune in the groundwork for this huge project, which could only be realised with the Austrian-Bavarian state treaty.

The railway was probably the most directly perceptible feature of progress for a large part of the population, and not just from a purely technical perspective. It brought immense social change. Innsbruck, which had been remote for some time due to its location in the middle of the inaccessible Alps. Labourers, students, soldiers and tourists flocked to the city in large numbers, bringing with them new lifestyles and ideas. By 1870, Innsbruck's population had risen from 12,000 to 17,000, partly due to the economic stimulus provided by the railway. It was now possible to reach the remote and exotic mountain world of the Tyrolean Alps. Health resorts such as Igls and entire valleys such as the Stubaital benefited from the development of the railway. For subjects who did not belong to the upper class, the railway made excursions into the surrounding area possible.

The Die Bundesbahndirektion der K.u.K. General-Direction der österreichischen Staatsbahnen in Innsbruck was one of only three directorates in Cisleithania. New social classes were created by the railway as an employer. People from all walks of life were needed to keep the railway running. Workers and craftsmen were able to climb the social ladder at the railway, similar to the state administration or the military. New professions such as railway attendant, conductor, stoker or engine driver emerged. Working for the railway brought with it a certain prestige. Not only were you part of the most modern industry of the time, the titles and uniforms turned employees and workers into respected figures.

With the development of the railway, goods could be transported more cheaply. New foods changed people's diets. The first department stores emerged with the appearance of consumer goods that were previously unavailable. The appearance of the people of Innsbruck changed with new, fashionable clothing, which became affordable for many for the first time. The transport of goods on the River Inn received its final death blow. In the 1870s, the city's last raft unloading site, where Waltherpark in St. Nikolaus is located today, was closed.

Die Bahn war auch von großer Bedeutung für das Militär. Schon 1866 bei der Schlacht von Königgrätz zwischen Österreich und Preußen war zu ersehen, wie wichtig der Truppentransport in Zukunft sein wird. Österreich war bis 1918 ein Riesenreich, das sich von Vorarlberg und Tirol im Südwesten bis nach Galizien, einem Gebiet im heutigen Polen und der Ukraine im Osten erstreckte. Um die unruhige Südgrenze zum sich neu konstituierenden Königreich Italien zu verstärken, musste die Brennerstrecke ausgebaut werden. Auch später im Ersten Weltkrieg waren Tiroler Soldaten in den ersten Kriegsjahren bis zur Kriegserklärung Italiens an Österreich in Galizien im Einsatz. Als es zur Öffnung der Frontlinie in Südtirol kam, war die Bahn wichtig, um Truppen schnell bewegen zu können.

Carl von Etzel is commemorated today by Ing.-Etzel-Straße in Saggen along the railway viaducts. Josef Riehl is commemorated by Dr.-Ing.-Riehl-Straße in Wilten near the Westbahnhof railway station. You can get a good impression of the golden age of the railway by visiting the ÖBB administration building in Saggen.