Dank der Universität schnupperte Innsbruck schon im 18. Jahrhundert in der Ära Maria Theresias die Morgenluft der Aufklärung, wenn auch schaumgebremst von der jesuitischen Fakultätsleitung. 1741 gründete sich mit der Societas Academica Litteraria im Taxispalais ein Gelehrtenzirkel. 1777 begründete sich die Freimaurerlosge Zu den drei Bergen, vier Jahre später die Tirolische Gesellschaft für Künste und Wissenschaft. Angestachelt von der Französischen Revolution bekannten sich einige Studenten gar zu den Jakobinern. Unter Kaiser Franz wurden all diese Vereinigungen nach der Kriegserklärung an Frankreich 1794 aber verboten und streng überwacht.

Nach den Napoleonischen Kriegen begann Innsbruck sich zu erholen. Die kleine Stadt am Rande des Kaiserreiches hatte etwas mehr als 12.000 Einwohner, „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.

All das waren aber Randphänomene, die nur eine kleine Anzahl an wohlhabenden Menschen beschäftigte. Nachdem die Bergwerke und Salinen im 17. Jahrhundert ihre Rentabilität verloren hatten und auch der Transit ob der neuen Handelsrouten über den Atlantik an wirtschaftlicher Bedeutung verlor, war Tirol zu einem armen Landstrich geworden. Die Napoleonischen Kriege hatten über 20 Jahre lang gewütet. Die Universität, die junge Aristokraten in den Wirtschaftskreislauf der Stadt zog, wurde erst 1826 wieder eröffnet. Anders als Industriestandorte in Böhmen, Mähren, Preußen oder England war die schwer erreichbare Stadt in den Alpen erst am Anfang der Entwicklung hin zu einem modernen Arbeitsmarkt. Auch der Tourismus steckte noch in den Kinderschuhen und war keine Cash Cow.

Und dann war da noch ein Vulkan am anderen Ende der Welt, der die Geschicke der Stadt Innsbruck über Gebühr beeinflusste. 1815 war in Indonesien der Tambora ausgebrochen und hatte eine riesige Staub-, Schwefel- und Aschewolke um die Welt geschickt. 1816 ging als 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.

Nicht nur die Politik wurde von der Aufklärung erfasst. Auch im Sozialwesen ging der Trend weg von der Kirche, hin zum Staat. Die Armenfürsorge war im 19. Jahrhundert eine Aufgabe der Gemeinden, für gewöhnlich mit der Unterstützung wohlhabender Bürger, die als christliche Mäzen im Gedanken der Nächstenliebe Aristokratie und Kirche in dieser Rolle ergänzten. In Innsbruck trat eine Bettelordnung in Kraft, die besitzlosen Menschen ein Eheverbot auferlegte. Knapp 1000 Bürger waren als Almosenbezieher und Bettler klassifiziert. Als die Not immer größer wurde und die Stadtkassen leerer, kam es in Innsbruck zu einer Innovation, die für über 100 Jahre Bestand haben sollte: Die Neujahrs-Entschuldigungskarte.

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.