Hotel Weisses Kreuz

Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 31

Panorama Innsbruck Bild Kopie
Worth knowing

The White cross is one of the oldest inns in Innsbruck. According to the hotel itself, the Gasthof Weisses Kreuz opened its doors as early as 1465, when Innsbruck began to rise to become the most important city in Tyrol under Siegmund the Rich. This is reliably confirmed White cross since the 16th century under its former owner Achazi Zürler.

The hotel's most famous guest was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), who stayed here on one of his trips to Italy. His manager and father wanted to showcase the talents of the young genius, who was already known throughout the empire in his youth, in Tyrol. Perhaps Austria's most successful export gave a concert at Palais Trapp in Innsbruck on 17 December 1769 at the tender age of 13.

To this day, guests can stop off and spend the night in this historic restaurant in Innsbruck's old town. Due to many renovations, little remains of the old Gothic building. The bar Blue Brigitte on the top floor is one of Innsbruck's favourite places for an aperitif with a fantastic view over the rooftops of the old town.

Siegmund der Münzreiche

On Friedl mit der leeren Tasche followed Siegmund der Münzreiche as Prince of Tyrol. Siegmund of Tyrol (1427 - 1496) had the worst possible start to his reign. When his father Frederick IV died, Siegmund was only 12 years old. His uncle Frederick III, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and father of Maximilian I, therefore took him into involuntary custody and guardianship. You could say that Siegmund began his career as a hostage of the emperor, his own cousin. Tyrol was now a rich county and the emperor was reluctant to relinquish direct control over it. It was only when the Tyrolean estates protested against this paternalism that Siegmund was able to take office. The Tyrolean Diet had taken over the affairs of government in the absence of a sovereign prince, thus demonstrating its political weight for the first time. At the age of 18, Siegmund moved to Innsbruck to take over the official duties. Four years later, he married Eleanor of Scotland (1433 - 1480), the unattractive 16-year-old daughter of King James of the House of Stewart. The marriage was to remain childless.

In the same year, Siegmund issued the Schwaz mountain regulationswhich was to become the model for all Habsburg mines. Mining officials were given more rights within their sphere of influence, similar to the universities. There were special regulations for miners within society, as they were a highly sought-after labour force. One can speak of an early social and labour law agreement. The miners worked hard, but earned relatively well. They formed a kind of middle class with greater purchasing power. The demand for meat increased. This led to a change in agriculture. In villages close to towns such as Pradl and Amras or in the Tyrolean lowlands near the Hall and Schwaz mines to the east of Innsbruck, farmers discovered livestock farming as a more profitable source of income than arable farming. To this day, the types of cultivation in the different regions of Tyrol vary greatly.

In 1484, Siegmund had the mint moved from Meran in South Tyrol to Hall, which earned him the nickname Siegmund der Münzreiche brought in. For the small town of Hall, which was located in the immediate vicinity of Innsbruck, as well as for Innsbruck itself, this meant an immense increase in value. In reality, however, despite the rich land he had inherited from Frederick IV, Siegmund was not particularly rich in coin, unlike his father, due to his opulent lifestyle. His second marriage was to Katharina of Saxony (1468 - 1524), a lady from a highly aristocratic electoral family. It was probably also thanks to the influence and court behaviour of Siegmund and his two wives that the expenditure of the Coin rich exceeded the income from taxes, salt works and mines in the long term. At the royal wedding in 1484, the bride's procession alone comprised 54 carriages. The guests had to be accommodated and catered for in Innsbruck. Even with a wife 40 years his junior, the now senile Siegmund was granted a male heir, which must have been particularly bitter for him considering the 30 children he was rumoured to have fathered out of wedlock.

Innsbruck flourished under Siegmund's court and coffers. During his opulent reign, the city became a centre of attraction for craftsmen, goldsmiths and artists. The city tower near the Old Town Hall as an expression of the city's prosperity and the first parts of the Hofburg were built under Siegmund. A glass painter settled in Innsbruck and established the tradition of glass painting in Innsbruck. Around 1900, the resulting Stained glass Innsbruck in today's Glasmalereistraße, one of the world's leading companies with branches in New York and Munich. The court library grew in step with Siegmund and Eleonore's humanistically scholarly guests. Both were considered art-loving and interested in literature. Before the invention of printing, books were an expensive hobby. Travellers and showmen were also welcome at court to entertain local and international guests.

At the same time, times became tougher for those who could not keep up with the new pace of life in the city. It can be assumed that there were around 2000 townspeople at this time. Sigmund's court probably consisted of 500 people. These "strangers" caused a sensation in Innsbruck. The gap between the social classes grew. The witch trial of 1485 took place in a climate of envy, resentment and scepticism towards the new customs that had arrived in Innsbruck.

Siegmund was not the most successful ruler of Tyrol, but is still fondly remembered today thanks to his services to the cultural upswing in Innsbruck. When he died, he had already lost his power and, under pressure from the estates, had to hand over rule over Tyrol to Maximilian I. At the end of his reign, his court was overly bloated and expensive. A lost war with the Swiss Confederates obliged him to make payments. Siegmund had to hand over Habsburg possessions in Alsace and what is now Breisgau to Charles the bold of Burgundy, the future father-in-law of Maximilian I. He sold the Austrian Forelands to the Duchy of Bavaria at a ridiculously low price and pledged the Tyrolean silver mines to Jakob Fugger.