Thanks to the university, Innsbruck was already sniffing the morning air of the Enlightenment in the 18th century in the era of Maria Theresa, even if the Jesuit faculty leadership put the brakes on it. 1741 saw the founding of the Societas Academica Litteraria a circle of scholars in the Taxispalais. In 1777, the Freemasons' Lodge was founded. To the three mountainsfour years later, the Tyrolean Society for Arts and Science. Spurred on by the French Revolution, some students even declared their allegiance to the Jacobins. Under Emperor Franz, however, all these associations were banned and strictly monitored after the declaration of war on France in 1794.

Innsbruck began to recover after the Napoleonic Wars. The small town on the edge of the empire had just over 12,000 inhabitants, „ohne die Soldaten, Studenten und Fremden zu rechnen“. University, grammar school, Reading casinomusic club, theatre and museum testified to a certain urban culture. There was a Deutsches Kaffeehaus, eine Restauration im Hofgarten und mehrere Gasthöfe wie den Österreichischen Hofwhich Grape, das Mouthingeach of which Goldenen Adler, Stern und Hirsch. 

The Bavarian occupation had disappeared after 1815, but the ideas of the thinkers of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution had taken root in some people's minds. Students, civil servants, members of the lower nobility and academics met in pubs and coffee houses to exchange modern ideas.

Antiquity and its thinkers celebrated a second renaissance in Innsbruck, as in the whole of Europe. Romantic thinkers of the 18th and early 19th centuries such as Winckelmann, Lessing and Hegel were influential. The Greeks were "Noble simplicity and quiet greatness" attested. Goethe wanted the "Search the land of the Greeks with your soul" and travelled to Italy in search of his longing for the good, pre-Christian times in which the people of the Golden Age cultivated an informal relationship with their gods. Roman virtues were transported into the modern age as role models and formed the basis for bourgeois frugality and patriotism, which became very fashionable. Philologists combed through the texts of ancient writers and philosophers and conveyed a pleasing "Best of" into the 19th century. Students and intellectuals such as the Briton Lord Byron were so taken by Panhellenism that they risked their lives in the Greek struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire. Columns, sphinxes, busts and statues with classical proportions adorned palaces, administrative buildings and museums such as the Ferdinandeum.

Chancellor Clemens von Metternich's (1773 - 1859) police state kept these social movements under control for a long time. Liberal ideas, newspapers, pamphlets, writings, books and associations were under the general suspicion of the authorities. Magazines and journals had to adapt or be distributed underground in order not to fall victim to censorship.

Writers such as Hermann von Gilm (1812 - 1864) and Johann Senn (1792 - 1857), both of whom are commemorated by streets in Innsbruck today, anonymously disseminated politically motivated literature and writings in Tyrol. The mix of Greater German nationalist ideas and Tyrolean patriotism presented with the pathos of Romanticism seems rather strange, harmless and pathetic today, but was neither comfortable nor acceptable to the Metternich state apparatus, even if it was only recognised by a tiny elite. All kinds of associations such as die Innsbrucker Liedertafel and student fraternities, even the members of the Ferdinandeum were strictly monitored. Despite their demonstrative loyalty to the emperor, the Schützen were also on the list of institutions to be monitored. They were considered too rebellious, not only towards foreign powers, but also towards the Viennese central government. The labour force was also targeted by Metternich's secret police. St Nicholas and Hötting in particular were regarded as "rote Pflaster" known.

However, all of these were marginal phenomena that only employed a small number of wealthy people. After the mines and salt works had lost their profitability in the 17th century and transit lost its economic importance due to the new trade routes across the Atlantic, Tyrol had become a poor region. The Napoleonic Wars had raged for over 20 years. The university, which drew young aristocrats into the city's economic cycle, was not reopened until 1826. Unlike industrial locations in Bohemia, Moravia, Prussia or England, the hard-to-reach city in the Alps was only just beginning to develop into a modern labour market. Tourism was also still in its infancy and was not a cash cow.

And then there was a volcano on the other side of the world that had an undue influence on the fate of the city of Innsbruck. In 1815, Tambora erupted in Indonesia and sent a huge cloud of dust, sulphur and ash around the world. In 1816 Year without summer into history. All over Europe, there were freak weather conditions, floods and failed harvests. The economic upheavals and price rises led to hardship and misery, especially among the poorer sections of the population.

Not only politics was affected by the Enlightenment. The trend in social welfare was also moving away from the church and towards the state. In the 19th century, caring for the poor was a task for the municipalities, usually with the support of wealthy citizens who, as Christian patrons in the spirit of charity, complemented the aristocracy and the church in this role. In Innsbruck, a begging ordinance came into force that imposed a marriage ban on people without property. Almost 1000 citizens were categorised as alms recipients and beggars. As the need grew and the city coffers became emptier, an innovation was introduced in Innsbruck that would last for over 100 years: The New Year's pardon card.

Even back then, it was customary to visit your relatives on the first day of the year to give each other a Happy New Year to make a wish. It was also customary for needy families and beggars to knock on the doors of wealthy citizens to ask for alms at New Year. The introduction of the New Year's relief card killed several birds with one stone. The buyers of the card were able to institutionalise and support their poorer members in a regulated way, similar to the way street newspapers are bought today. Twenty is possible. At the same time, the New Year's apology card served as a way of avoiding the unpopular obligatory visits to relatives. Those who hung the card on their front door also signalled to those in need that no further requests for alms were necessary, as they had already paid their contribution. Last but not least, the noble donors were also favourably mentioned in the media so that everyone could see how much they cared for their less fortunate fellow human beings in the name of charity.

The New Year's apology cards were a complete success. At their premiere at the turn of the year from 1819 to 1820, 600 were sold. Many communities adopted the Innsbruck recipe. In the magazine "The Imperial and Royal Privileged Bothe of and for Tyrol and Vorarlberg", the proceeds for Bruneck, Bozen, Trient, Rovereto, Schwaz, Imst, Bregenz and Innsbruck were published on 12 February. Other institutions such as fire brigades and associations also adopted the well-functioning custom to raise funds for their cause. The diverse designs ranged from Christian motifs to portraits of well-known personalities, official buildings, new buildings, sights and curiosities. Many of the designs can still be seen in the Innsbruck City Archives.