Saggen & Kohlstatt

In the second half of the 19th century, Innsbruck expanded in all directions. If you compare maps from 1880 with maps from 1930, you can see the growth of the district, which is still bordered by a bend in the River Inn, the River Sill and the railway viaduct arches. The area was partially incorporated into the city as early as 1453. In 1495, Maximilian I acquired the part that is still known today as Kohlstatt in order to boost the armaments industry. An early industrial area developed around the armoury. Kohlstatt and Dreiheiligen between the city of Innsbruck and rural Pradl formed the Workers' neighbourhood the first industrialisation in the 16th century. The name Kohlstatt comes from the charcoal burners who were responsible for producing the coal that fuelled the ovens in the armoury. Unlike the peasant classes or the town's craftsmen organised in guilds, this was an early form of working class and their families. Not only simple labourers, but also technicians and foundrymen were employed here, highly qualified and sought-after key workers. The Sill Canal supplied water to the Kohlstaat's industrial plants, and the production site was connected to the city via the cobbled Silbergasse. In addition to the smelly and dirty factories, there was also the Infirmary and hospital settled here. When the standing army was established under Maria Theresa, space was needed for military purposes. The open space to the north and the former production facilities in Dreiheiligen were perfect for this purpose. In the 18th century, an aristocratic palace next to the Capuchin monastery became the monastery barracks and parade ground. Today, the Fennerareal and the police headquarters are located here.

At the same time, the south-west of today's Saggen presented a different picture. Starting in the reign of Ferdinand II, pleasure houses, gardens and menageries, including the Löwenhaus, were built around the meadows to the east of the . The court gardens began in the fishing and hunting grounds of the Tyrolean sovereigns. Meadows and fields stretched to the north of it. The area got its name from its location. Squeezed between the Inn and Sill rivers, the Landspitz without an exit reminded people of a sack. In 1581, Ferdinand II had a bridge built to connect Hall and Innsbruck via Mühlau for members of the court and guests of state. In 1643, the Mühlau Bridge was opened to commercial traffic as a toll road that could be used by the public. The one-way sack had become a popular entrance, but the name Saggen remained. After the old wooden bridge was repeatedly destroyed by floods, it was decided to build a stable alternative. The chain bridge was built in 1843. Two high gate towers towered clearly into the sky. Between them, chains weighing several tonnes spanned a length of 75 metres. The Chain Bridge was considered the most expensive of its kind in the entire Habsburg Empire and became an attraction and popular postcard motif.

Between 1830 and 1870, the city's population rose from 12,000 to 17,000. Students, soldiers and workers from all parts of the empire as well as newcomers in search of work from the surrounding area began to make Innsbruck grow. Pradl and Wilten, still independent communities at the time, were caught up in industrialisation. Farmers and their livestock, which were driven along the roads through these villages, mingled with the newly arrived labour force. Saggen, on the other hand, remained almost completely undeveloped until the 1880s, when it became a neighbourhood for upscale, middle-class living and entertainment. In the first ten years or so, it was mainly villas that were built before the city council decided to only build blocks of flats east of Claudiastrasse. On 24 February 1900, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten:

„In the eastern urban expansion area at Saggen, an extraordinarily lively building activity seems to be developing this year. Apart from the fact that 9 buildings are under construction in the section for closed construction and four villas in the cottage and will be completed this year, the further construction of 6 houses, including two extensive corner apartment buildings at Claudiaplatz and in Adolf-Pichlerstraße, is in prospect.“

In addition to the settlement, Innsbruck's leisure facilities were built between the Kettenbrücke bridge and the railway viaducts. The panorama building, the giant circular painting and the city's first sports complex with a cycling track, boxing ring and tennis courts were just as much a part of the Saggen as the Hungerburg railway, which opened shortly after 1900. This infrastructure was no longer created by the aristocracy and was therefore reserved exclusively for them, like the gardens, palaces and hunting grounds of times gone by. The palaces of the Saggen, the orphanage and the neoclassical-style asylum for the elderly were also donated by the wealthy privateer Johann von Sieberer, not by the church or the nobility. The streets were baptised by the largely German nationalist, educated middle-class public. Haydn, Bruckner, Schubert, Stifter, Goethe, Schiller, Wagner and Mozart were the inspiration for the new streets. The cultural figures after whom the streets were named were intended to reflect the shared history, culture and national unity of the German Empire and the Austrian Empire as well as the balance of power in the municipal council under Mayor Greil.

Today, the Saggen is perceived by most Innsbruckers as a time-honoured, upmarket district of Innsbruck and evokes the spirit of the Belle Epoque. This is true for the north-western part between Hofgarten and the trade fair centre, where, with very few exceptions, there are hardly any shops or restaurants. But this is only one side of the neighbourhood. If you add Dreiheiligen and Pradler Saggen, a neighbourhood full of contrasts is revealed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the abattoir was built on the Sillspitz. To the east of the railway viaduct, the Slaughterhouse block one of the largest housing estates for workers was built in the 1920s. The eastern section along the viaduct arches of Ing.-Etzel-Straße and the exhibition hall, the so-called Blocksaggen, has developed into a nightlife district over the last few decades. While the former working-class neighbourhood of Wilten is now mainly home to students in shared flats, Saggen has become a district for car mechanics, Barflies und Hipster geworden.