The year 1848 occupies a mythical place in European history. Innsbruck was not one of the hotspots like Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Milan or Berlin, but even in the “Holy Land” of Tyrol the revolutionary year left its mark. In contrast to the rural surroundings, an enlightened educated bourgeoisie had developed in Innsbruck. Enlightened people no longer wanted to be subjects of a monarch or territorial prince, but citizens with rights and duties in relation to a modern state. Students and members of the liberal professions demanded political participation, freedom of the press and civil rights. Workers demanded better wages and working conditions. Particularly radical liberals and nationalists even questioned the absolute authority of the Church. In March 1848 this socially and politically highly explosive mixture erupted in uprisings and street fighting in many cities. In Innsbruck, some students and professors celebrated the newly granted freedom of the press with a torchlight procession. On the whole, however, the revolution proceeded quietly in the rather leisurely Tyrol. To speak of a spontaneous outburst of emotion or even a revolution would already be an exaggeration: the date of the procession was postponed from 20 to 21 March because of bad weather. There were hardly any anti-Habsburg riots or violent incidents; a stray stone thrown into a Jesuit window was one of the highlights of the Alpine version of the Revolution of 1848. The students even supported the city magistrate in maintaining public order, thereby demonstrating their gratitude to the monarch for the newly granted freedoms and their loyalty.

The initial enthusiasm for change among the bourgeois elites was soon replaced in Innsbruck by a surge of German-national patriotism. On April 6, 1848, the governor of Tyrol led a ceremonial procession in which the German flag was displayed. A German tricolour was also hoisted on the city tower. While students, workers, liberal-national citizens, republicans, supporters of a constitutional monarchy, and Catholic conservatives could not agree on social issues such as press freedom, they shared a common hostility toward the Italian independence movement, which had spread across northern Italy from Piedmont and Milan. Innsbruck students and riflemen, with the support of the imperial army leadership, marched into the Trentino to suppress unrest and uprisings at an early stage. Notable members of this corps included the already elderly Father Haspinger, who had fought alongside Andreas Hofer in 1809, and Adolf Pichler. Johann Nepomuk Mahl-Schedl, a wealthy owner of Büchsenhausen Castle, even equipped his own company and marched over the Brenner Pass to secure the border. However, the war did not remain confined to the southern borders. Innsbruck itself, as the political and economic center of the multinational crown land of Tyrol and home to many Italian speakers, became an arena of the conflict between nationalities. Combined with ample alcohol consumption, anti-Italian sentiment posed a greater threat to public order than the demand for civil liberties. A dispute between a German-speaking craftsman and an Italian-speaking Ladin escalated to such an extent that it nearly triggered a pogrom against the numerous businesses and inns of Italian-speaking Tyroleans.

The relative calm of Innsbruck suited the imperial court in Vienna, which was under pressure. As unrest in the capital continued after March, Emperor Ferdinand fled to Tyrol in May. According to contemporary press reports, he was enthusiastically welcomed by the population.

"“What is the name of the land to which such an honour falls, what is the people that enjoys such trust in these fateful times? Does the peace and security here rest solely on legend from ancient times, or is there also in the present a foundation on which one can build, which the wind cannot blow away and the storm cannot shake? This Alpine land is called Tyrol, do you like it? Yes, the Tyrolean people alone prove, in the midst of a shaken Europe, reverence and loyalty, courage and strength for their hereditary ruling house, while all around rebellion, contradiction, defiance and demands, often even revolt and upheaval rage; Tyrol alone stands firmly without wavering in custom and obedience, in religion, truth and law, while elsewhere insolence and falsehood, madness and passions prevail …”"

In June, a young Franz Joseph—still not yet emperor—also stopped at the Hofburg on his return from the battlefields of northern Italy instead of traveling directly to Vienna. Innsbruck once again became a royal residence, albeit only for one summer. While blood was shed in Vienna, Milan, and Budapest, the imperial family enjoyed rural Tyrolean life. Ferdinand, Franz Karl, his wife Sophie, and Franz Joseph received guests from foreign courts and were driven by carriage to excursion destinations such as Weiherburg, Stefansbrücke, Kranebitten, and even up to Heiligwasser, and went on hikes. This calm did not last long. Ferdinand, considered no longer fit to rule, handed over power under gentle pressure to Franz Joseph I. In July 1848, the first parliamentary session was held in Vienna, and a constitution came into force. However, the monarchy’s willingness to reform soon waned. The new parliament—the Reichsrat—could not pass binding laws, the emperor never attended it, and he did not understand why a monarchy ordained by God needed such a council.

The subtly initiated liberalization nevertheless ran its course in the cities. Innsbruck was granted the status of a city with its own independent charter (Statutarstadt). In 1850, the "Provisorische Gemeindegesetz für die Landeshauptstadt Innsbruck" ("Provisional Municipal Code for the State Capital of Innsbruck") came into force:

"The municipality is to provide for the sanitation police; it takes care of the paving and maintenance of streets, alleys, and paths, with the exception of those whose maintenance is the responsibility of the Imperial Treasury, as well as for street lighting, the maintenance and cleaning of the main drainage canals, and the maintenance of municipal bridges, fountains, aqueducts, and other facilities, as well as public bathing establishments. It administers the health, fire, market, building, and traffic police, oversees land boundaries, measures, and weights; it is charged with the provision of food supplies, and takes police precautions to avert threats to personal safety and property posed by flooding or other natural disasters."

Innsbruck's municipal law provided for citizenship rights that, while tied to property ownership or tax payments, legally guaranteed certain rights to members of the community. Right of domicile (Heimatrecht) could be acquired through birth, marriage, or extraordinary conferral, granting voting rights at the municipal level to at least adult males. If one fell into financial hardship, one was entitled to basic welfare provided by the city. Within the city government, the Greater German-liberal faction prevailed thanks to the census-based majority voting system, with merchants, tradesmen, industrialists, and innkeepers setting the tone. On June 2, 1848, the first edition of the liberal and Greater German-leaning Innsbrucker Zeitung was published—from which the above article on the emperor's arrival in Innsbruck is taken. Conservatives, on the other hand, read the Volksblatt für Tirol und Vorarlberg. Moderate readers who favored a constitutional monarchy preferred to consume the Bothe für Tirol und Vorarlberg. However, freedom of the press was short-lived. The previously abolished censorship was partially reinstated. Newspaper publishers were subjected to various forms of harassment by the authorities, and newspapers were strictly forbidden from printing content critical of the state government, the monarchy, or the Church.

"Anyone who, by means of printed matter, incites, instigates or attempts to incite others to take action which would bring about the violent separation of a part from the unified state... of the Austrian Empire... or the general Austrian Imperial Diet or the provincial assemblies of the individual crown lands.... Imperial Diet or the Diet of the individual Crown Lands... violently disrupts... shall be punished with severe imprisonment of two to ten years."

After Innsbruck had officially replaced Meran as the provincial capital in 1849 and had thus finally become the political centre of Tyrol, parties began to form. With the establishment of the Catholic-conservative faction and the liberals, a pair of opposing ideas emerged that would shape politics not only until the First World War. Associations of all kinds as political organisations in advance of parties, and newspapers, formed the lines along which society split in all questions of life from the cradle to the grave. From 1868 onwards, the liberal, greater German-oriented party provided the mayor of the city of Innsbruck. The influence of the Church declined in Innsbruck in contrast to the surrounding municipalities. Individualism, capitalism, nationalism and consumption stepped into the breach. New worlds of work, department stores, theatres, cafés and dance halls did not displace religion entirely even in the city, but the weighting shifted as a result of the civil freedoms won in 1848.

The probably most important legal change of 1848 was the land relief patent. In Innsbruck the clergy, especially Wilten Abbey, owned a large part of the agricultural land. The Church and the nobility were exempt from taxes. In 1848/49 feudal lordship and the relationship of subjection were abolished in Austria. Ground rents, tithes and compulsory labour were thus removed. The landowners received one third of the value of their land from the state within the framework of the reform, one third was regarded as tax relief, and one third of the compensation had to be borne by the peasants themselves. They could pay this amount in instalments over twenty years. The after-effects can still be felt today. The descendants of the peasants who were successful at the time enjoy, through inherited land ownership resulting from the 1848 reforms, the fruits of prosperity and also political influence through land sales for housing, leases and compensation payments by public authorities for infrastructure projects. The landowning nobility of the past had to come to terms with the humiliation of taking up bourgeois occupations. The transition from privilege by birth to privileged status within society through financial means, networks and education often succeeded. Many Innsbruck dynasties of academics have their origins in the decades after 1848.

Life also changed for the broader population. The previously unknown phenomenon of leisure time emerged and, together with disposable income available to a greater number of people, fostered hobbies. Civil organisations and associations—from reading circles to choral societies, fire brigades and sports clubs—were founded. The revolutionary year also manifested itself in the cityscape. Parks such as the English Garden at Ambras Castle or the Hofgarten were no longer reserved exclusively for the aristocracy but served citizens as local recreational areas. In St. Nikolaus the Waltherpark was created as a small oasis of calm. One floor above, the first swimming and bathing facility in Tyrol opened at Büchsenhausen Castle; soon afterwards another bath followed in Dreiheiligen. Excursion inns around Innsbruck flourished. Alongside high-end restaurants and hotels, a scene of taverns emerged in which workers and employees could also afford pleasant evenings with theatre, music and dancing.

In den 1920er und 30er wuchs und gedieh die NSDAP auch in Tirol. Die erste Ortsgruppe Innsbrucks wurde bereits 1923 gegründet. Mit „Der Nationalsozialist - Combat Gazette for Tyrol and Vorarlberg“ erschien ein eigenes Wochenblatt. 1933 erlebte die NSDAP mit dem Rückenwind aus Deutschland auch in Innsbruck einen kometenhaften Aufstieg. Die Modernität der und die Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten, die sie bot, sprach junge, ambitionierte Menschen an. Das Neue, das Aufräumen mit alten Hierarchien und Strukturen wie der katholischen Kirche und der allgemeine Um- und Aufbruch in eine neue Zeit waren mächtige Anziehungsfaktoren. Arbeiter, Angestellte und Unternehmer gleichermaßen sehnten sich nach dem Wirtschaftsaufschwung auch für das schwächelnde Österreich, der in Deutschland die Arbeitslosenzahlen massiv reduziert hatte. Akademiker hingegen sahen sich in der großdeutschen Zukunft dem politischen Ziel ihrer Träume entgegengehen. Die demokratische Republik war konservativen Eliten ein Gräuel. Wer bereits oben war, sehnte sich nach den Zeiten vor dem allgemeinen Wahlrecht zurück, als Sozialdemokraten noch nichts zu melden hatten. Dazu versprach der neue „deutsche Volkskörper“ den vielen auf der Strecke gebliebenen Menschen eine glanzvolle Zukunft in einer egalitären Gemeinschaft ähnlich den Sozialdemokraten. Das Versprechen, die deutschsprachigen Südtiroler Home to the realm zu holen und damit das Unrecht der Brennergrenze auszumerzen wurde von allen gerne gehört. Konnten die Nationalsozialisten bei ihrem ersten Antreten bei der Innsbrucker Gemeinderatswahl 1921 nur 2,8% der Stimmen erringen, waren es bei den Wahlen 1933 bereits 41%. Nicht nur die Wahl Hitlers zum Reichskanzler in Deutschland, auch Kampagnen, Fackelzüge, Spendenaktionen und Events aller Art verhalfen der ab 1934 in Österreich verbotenen Partei zu diesem Ergebnis. Neun Mandatare, darunter der spätere Innsbrucker Bürgermeister Egon Denz und Gauleiter Franz Hofer, zogen in den Gemeinderat ein.

Als der Anschluss Österreichs an Deutschland im März 1938 erfolgte, kam es in Innsbruck zu bürgerkriegsähnlichen Szenen. Über 1800 Innsbrucker waren Mitglied der SA, die ihr Quartier in der Bürgerstraße 10 hatte. Bereits im Vorfeld des Einmarsches war es immer wieder zu Aufmärschen und Kundgebungen der Nationalsozialisten gekommen, nachdem das Verbot der Partei aufgehoben worden war. Noch bevor Bundeskanzler Schuschnigg seine letzte Rede an das Volk vor der Machtübergabe an die Nationalsozialisten mit den Worten „God bless Austria“ am 11. März 1938 geschlossen hatte, rotteten sich bereits die Nationalsozialisten in der Innenstadt zusammen um den Einmarsch der deutschen Truppen vorzufeiern. Die Polizei war dem Aufruhr der organisierten Manifestationen teils gewogen, teils stand sie dem Treiben machtlos gegenüber. Landhaus und Maria-Theresien-Straße wurden zwar abgeriegelt und mit Maschinengewehrständen gesichert, an ein Durchgreifen seitens der Exekutive war aber nicht zu denken. „One people - one empire - one leader“ und das Horst-Wessel-Lied hallten durch die Stadt. Die Bedrohung des deutschen Militärs und der Aufmarsch von SA-Truppen beseitigten die letzten Zweifel. Mehr und mehr schloss sich die begeisterte Bevölkerung an. Am Tiroler Landhaus, damals noch in der Maria-Theresienstraße, sowie im provisorischen Hauptquartier der Nationalsozialisten im Gasthaus Old Innsprugg, wurde die Hakenkreuzfahne gehisst. Der Putsch, samt Festnahme amtsbekannter Unruhestifter und offiziellem Wechsel politischer Amtsträger geschah über Nacht. Am 12. März empfingen Tausende Innsbrucker das deutsche Militär frenetisch. Um die demonstrative Gastfreundschaft gegenüber den Nationalsozialisten sicherzustellen, ließ der neue Bürgermeister Egon Denz jedem Arbeiter einen Wochenlohn auszahlen.  Am 5. April besuchte Adolf Hitler persönlich Innsbruck, um sich von einer euphorischen Menschenmenge als heilsversprechender Führer feiern zu lassen. Auf der Nordkette wurden Bergfeuer in Hakenkreuzform entzündet. Die Volksbefragung am 10. April ergab eine Zustimmung von über 99% zum Anschluss Österreichs an Deutschland. Die Menschen waren nach der wirtschaftlichen Not der Zwischenkriegszeit, der Wirtschaftskrise und den Regierungen unter Dollfuß und Schuschnigg müde und wollten Veränderung. Welche Art von Veränderung, war im ersten Moment weniger wichtig als die Veränderung an und für sich. Wehrmacht und Industrie boten jungen Menschen eine Perspektive, auch denen, die mit der Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus an und für sich wenig anfangen konnten. Die Arbeitslosenquote sank nach dem Anschluss tatsächlich rapide von knapp 25 auf unter drei Prozent. Dass es immer wieder zu Gewaltausbrüchen kam, war für die Zwischenkriegszeit in Österreich ohnehin nicht unüblich. Anders als heute war Demokratie nichts, woran sich jemand in der kurzen, von politischen Extremen geprägten Zeit zwischen der Monarchie 1918 bis zur Ausschaltung des Parlaments unter Dollfuß 1933 hätte gewöhnen können. Was faktisch nicht in den Köpfen der Bevölkerung existiert, muss man nicht abschaffen.

Tirol und Vorarlberg wurden in einem Reichsgau zusammengefasst mit Innsbruck als Hauptstadt. Auch wenn der Nationalsozialismus von einem guten Teil der Bevölkerung mit der Zeit immer skeptischer gesehen wurde, gab es kaum organisierten oder gar bewaffneten Widerstand, dazu waren der katholische Widerstand OE5 und die Linke in Tirol nicht stark genug. Unorganisiertes subversives Verhalten der Bevölkerung, vor allem in den Landgemeinden rund um Innsbruck gab es vereinzelt. Zu allumfassend dominierte der Machtapparat den Alltag der Menschen. Viele Arbeitsstellen und sonstige Annehmlichkeiten des Lebens waren an eine zumindest äußerlich parteitreue Gesinnung gebunden. Eine Inhaftierung blieb dem größten Teil der Bevölkerung zwar erspart, die Angst davor war aber allgegenwärtig. Das Regime unter Hofer und Gestapochef Werner Hilliges leistete ganze Arbeit bei der Unterdrückung. Regimegegner Nummer eins war der Klerus, die katholische Kirche wurde deshalb auf allen Ebenen bekämpft. Katholische Schulen wurden umfunktioniert, Jugendorganisationen und Vereine verboten, Klöster geschlossen, der Religionsunterricht abgeschafft und eine Kirchensteuer eingeführt. Besonders hartnäckige Pfarrer wie Otto Neururer wurden in Konzentrationslager gebracht. Auch Lokalpolitiker wie die späteren Innsbrucker Bürgermeister Franz Greiter und Anton Melzer, der im Ersten Weltkrieg für Gott, Kaiser und Vaterland einen Arm verloren hatte, mussten flüchten oder wurden verhaftet. Gewalt und die Verbrechen an der jüdischen Bevölkerung, dem Klerus, politisch Verdächtigen, Zivilpersonen und Kriegsgefangenen auch nur überblicksmäßig zusammenzufassen würde den Rahmen sprengen. In der Klinik Innsbruck wurden Behinderte und vom System als nicht genehm empfundene Menschen wie Homosexuelle zwangssterilisiert. 1941 wurde in der Rossau in der Nähe des Bauhofs Innsbruck das Arbeitslager Reichenau errichtet. Etwa 120 Personen fanden in diesem Barackenlager den Tod durch Krankheit, die schlechten Bedingungen, Arbeitsunfälle oder Hinrichtungen. Die meist jüdischen, russischen oder italienischen Zwangsarbeiter wurden in den Messerschmitt Werken in Kematen und auf den vielen Baustellen wie der Errichtung der South Tyrolean settlements oder der Stollen zum Schutz vor den Luftangriffen im Süden Innsbrucks eingesetzt. Die Erinnerungsorte an die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus sind rar gesät. Das auffälligste Denkmal ist wohl das Tiroler Landhaus mit dem Befreiungsdenkmal. An der Alten Universität in der Herrengasse prangt eine Bronzetafel, die daran erinnert, dass die Gestapo hier einst ihr Hauptquartier hatte, wo Verdächtige unter Folter verhört, schwer misshandelt und teils mit Fäusten zu Tode geprügelt wurden. Der Vorplatz der Universität und eine kleine Säule am südlichen Eingang der Klinik wurden ebenfalls im Gedenken an das wohl dunkelste Kapitel Österreichs Geschichte gestaltet. In der Rossau wurde ein Gedenkort an das Arbeitslager Reichenau errichtet.

The appearance of a city is subject to constant change. Certain eras left particularly visible changes in Innsbruck's cityscape. The political, economic, and social upheavals from the 15th century onward, as well as in the second half of the 19th century, are also reflected in buildings and monuments. However, the most drastic event with the greatest impact on the cityscape was likely the air raids on the city during World War II, when the "home front" became an actual theater of war. For centuries, its location at the foot of the Brenner Pass had been a blessing for the city; now, it became its undoing. Innsbruck was an important supply station for reinforcements for the Italian front. On the night of December 15–16, 1943, the first Allied air raid struck the ill-prepared city. 269 people fell victim to the bombs, 500 were injured, and more than 1,500 were left homeless. Over 300 buildings, primarily in Wilten and the inner city, were destroyed and damaged. On Monday, December 18, the front page of the Innsbrucker Nachrichten—the predecessor to the Tiroler Tageszeitung—featured all kinds of propagandistic reports about the successful and heroic defensive struggle of the German Wehrmacht on all fronts against the alliance of the "Anglo-Americans" and "the Russian," but made no mention of the bombing raid on Innsbruck.

"Bombing Terror over Innsbruck"

December 16 will remain recorded in the history of Innsbruck as the day on which the air terror of the Anglo-Americans struck the Gau capital with all the severity of this mean and brutal method of warfare, which can no longer be called conduct of war. In several waves, enemy bomber formations approached the city and directed their attacks with numerous high-explosive and incendiary bombs against residential areas. Severe damage to residential buildings, hospitals, and other community facilities was the sad result—exceeding all previous damage—of this criminal assault, which brought severe suffering to numerous families in our city, a heavy burden on their way of life, the bitter fate of the destruction of cherished property, the destruction of hearth and home, and homelessness. Boundless hatred and the burning desire to retaliate against this inhuman atrocity with relentless severity are the sole sentiments moving all minds, alongside dealing with personal and community hardships. We all look upon our soldiers with complete trust and await with confidence the day on which the Führer will give the command to deploy their concentrated power with new weapons against the enemy in the West, who through his terror of murder and arson against the defenseless has once again proven that he differs in no way from the Asiatic beasts in the East—unless it be through greater cowardice. The city's air-raid protection facilities have proven their worth, as has the air-raid discipline of the population. Up to this hour, 26 fallen have been reported, a number that in all likelihood should not increase significantly. Relief measures began immediately and effectively under the leadership of the Party and with the active cooperation of the Wehrmacht.

This imaginatively crafted report barely made it onto page 3. The city's poor preparation for the foreseeable bombardment was likely something they preferred not to display too prominently, given the immense scale of the damage to the city and the tragic personal losses among the population. That the mortal remains of the victims of the December 15, 1943 air raid were laid out in state on what is today's Landhausplatz, directly in front of the newly constructed *Gauhaus*—the symbol of National Socialist power—carries a sad irony of fate. In January 1944, construction began on air-raid shelters and other protective measures. A large portion of the work was carried out by prisoners from the Reichenau concentration camp.

In total, Innsbruck was attacked twenty-two times between 1943 and 1945. In the process, nearly 3,833—almost 50%—of the buildings in the city were damaged, and 504 people died. In the final months of the war, any sense of normalcy had ceased to exist. The population lived in constant fear. Schools were closed as early as the morning hours. A regular daily routine was out of the question. Fortunately, the city was only subject to targeted attacks. German cities like Hamburg or Dresden were completely flattened by Allied firestorms within a matter of hours, leaving tens of thousands dead. Nevertheless, the toll was devastating. Many buildings, such as the Jesuit Church, Wilten Abbey, the Servite Church, and the public indoor pool on Amraserstraße, were hit. The attack on December 16, 1944—one year after the first strike—devastated the Cathedral and the Town Hall. Historical buildings and monuments in Innsbruck received special care and protection. The *Golden Roof* was protected with a specialized structure, as was Maximilian's sarcophagus in the Court Church (*Hofkirche*). The statues of the Court Church, the "*Schwarze Mander*" (Black Men), were relocated to Kundl. The painting of the Virgin of Succor by Lucas Cranach from the Innsbruck Cathedral was transferred to the Ötztal during the war.

Many years after the war, the city was still characterized by the rubble and damage of the air raids; today, very little remains to remind us of these events that were traumatic for so many Innsbruck residents. The air-raid shelter south of Innsbruck along the Brennerstraße and the markings on houses indicating air-raid cellars—with their black squares, white circles, and arrows—can still be seen today. Two of the anti-aircraft gun positions, now merely overgrown masonry ruins, can be visited on the *Lanser Köpfl* above Innsbruck. In Pradl, where along with Wilten most of the buildings were damaged, bronze plaques on the affected houses point to their post-war reconstruction. On the old Innsbruck Town Hall, a wall painting commemorates the direct bomb hit in December 1944.

With National Socialism, many political positions and posts in the public service were reassigned. The cult of the Führer and the ideology of the National Socialist Party were structurally cemented at all levels. Innsbruck's mayor Franz Fischer was replaced by Egon Denz upon the takeover of power. Edmund Christoph likewise replaced Governor (Landeshauptmann) Josef Schumacher (1894–1971) overnight, before Franz Hofer (1902–1975) took his place as Gauleiter in May 1938, becoming Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) from 1940. The young, ambitious careerist stands as a representative for many who made careers under National Socialism. Hofer was born in Bad Hofgastein in the province of Salzburg. His father, himself a staunch German nationalist, came to Innsbruck in 1909 to take over the Gasthof Breinößl. Hofer completed his schooling in Innsbruck before running a radio shop. As early as 1931, he became a member of the NSDAP in Austria. After a short time, he rose to Gauleiter—a title that initially brought him more trouble than credit. Following the ban on the party in Austria, Hofer was imprisoned, but was freed by members of the SA. Shot while fleeing to Italy, he subsequently traveled to the Altreich (Old Reich), where he became a German citizen and launched a rapid career within the party. After the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria, the loyal Hofer was appointed Gauleiter of Tyrol and Vorarlberg by Hitler's decree on May 24, 1938, and two years later as Reich Governor of Tyrol-Vorarlberg. His plans were as ambitious as his title, as Tyrol provided fertile ground for National Socialism. Relative to population size, no other district in the Ostmark had more party members than this one. By 1939, Hofer was already close to his goal of establishing the first completely 'Jew-free' Gau. A year later, only one Jew remained registered in Tyrol. Furthermore, Hofer enriched himself lavishly on a personal level with Aryanized property. In this way, he acquired the Villa Schindler—formerly belonging to the operator of the Café Schindler at Rennweg 10—as well as the Lachhof in Kleinvolderberg near Innsbruck, where he established a type of command center outside the city. The anti-Catholic Hofer also took severe action against church organizations; the Wilten Boys' Choir (Wiltener Sängerknaben) was as much a thorn in his side as the ubiquitous depictions of Mary in Innsbruck. Socialist and communist organizations played no role in Tyrolean society, posing less of a threat than stubborn Catholics. All religious orders were closed, and Catholic youth groups and associations were integrated into the National Socialist system. Between 1938 and 1945, 119 out of 570 priests were taken into custody at least once; eleven were executed or did not survive the conditions of their imprisonment. When Italy came under complete German control in 1943, Hofer took his next career step. He was appointed Supreme Commissioner of the Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills (Operationszone Alpenvorland), which comprised Tyrol-Vorarlberg and the Northern Italian provinces. It was also Franz Hofer who conceived the idea for the so-called 'Alpine Fortress' (Alpenfestung), the final bastion of the German people against the enemy. On April 12, 1945, less than a month before the end of the war, he presented this proposal in person to Adolf Hitler, who subsequently appointed him Reich Defense Commissioner of the Alpine Fortress.

When all hope was lost and the final dreams of an Alpine resistance stronghold collapsed, Hofer proved to be remarkably adaptable to changing circumstances. Following negotiations with the advancing Allied forces, Innsbruck was surrendered without resistance as an open city on 3 May 1945, thereby sparing it from the devastating battles that marked the final days of the war in many other places. Only a few days earlier, however, Hofer had still presented himself, at least outwardly, as a committed National Socialist. This is evident from a radio address he delivered on 30 April 1945:

"However, should the enemy, despite heroic fighting, be at the gates of Innsbruck, a defence of the Gau capital under the given circumstances would by no means save the worst, but rather destroy the last.... But we want to claw our way into our mountains all the more tenaciously..."

Hofer was arrested a few days later. In October 1948, he managed to escape from the internment camp at Dachau and flee to Germany, where he went into hiding in Mülheim an der Ruhr under a false name. It has never been conclusively proven, but it is entirely possible that American and British intelligence services assisted their former adversary in escaping. Such assistance may have been motivated by a desire to protect their own methods and networks that had been used against National Socialism in Tyrol and were now being deployed against the Soviet Union. Had Hofer stood trial, these activities might well have become public knowledge. In 1949, a court in Munich sentenced him in absentia to ten years in prison. In July 1953, this judgment was upheld in Munich, although the sentence was reduced to three years. Since the time he had already spent in custody was credited toward the sentence, Hofer remained a free man. In Austria, meanwhile, a court sentenced him to death in 1949. However, this sentence was never enforced, and no criminal prosecution followed. Among Hofer’s supporters were Johannes Baptist Geisler, Bishop of Brixen, and Alfons Weißgatterer, Governor of Tyrol. In legal proceedings held in Innsbruck in 1950, his assets were confiscated by the Republic of Austria. From 1954 onward, Hofer lived openly under his real name in Germany. He managed the company Ruhr Armatur GmbH, a supplier of sanitary equipment. Although legal proceedings were initiated concerning his involvement in Aktion T4 in Tyrol, the Nazi programme of the “destruction of life unworthy of life,” the case was ultimately dismissed in 1963. In a sense, Tyrol remained loyal to its former Gauleiter even after his emigration and until his death. Hofer had always been an admirer of Tyrolean traditions. As Gauleiter, he promoted folk music, traditional costumes, and the Tyrolean riflemen’s associations (Schützen). While these organizations were officially dissolved in 1938, under Hofer they were reorganized into the Standschützenverband. The conductor of the Wilten-Innsbruck Town Band, Sepp Tanzer, whom Hofer appointed head of the Department of Folk Music within the Reich Music Chamber, composed the Standschützen March in his honour. When Hofer was buried in Mühlhausen thirty years after the end of the war, a delegation of Tyrolean riflemen attended the funeral to pay their final respects. The Tyrolean Government Building (Tiroler Landhaus), which remains the seat of the Tyrol provincial government to this day, was constructed during Hofer’s rule and stands as a lasting architectural reminder of the Gauleiter of Tyrol.