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 Inn, the Sill and the railway viaduct arches.  

Between 1830 and 1870, the number of inhabitants 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. One of the neighbourhoods that developed particularly strongly was Saggen. This part of Innsbruck was 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.

Until the 19th century, the Saggen subsequently grew only slowly. Then, as in the other neighbourhoods, exponential growth began here too. While many commercial enterprises settled in today's Pradl and Wilten from 1850, Saggen around Claudiaplatz was the neighbourhood for upscale middle-class living and entertainment. The panorama of the giant circular painting and a cycle racing track were just as much a part of Saggen as the Hungerburg railway, which opened shortly after 1900. The old chain bridge was a sensational construction.

This infrastructure was no longer donated by the aristocracy and reserved 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 donated by the wealthy privateer Johann von Sieberer.

In the east, one of the largest housing estates for workers was built in the 1920s with the now listed abattoir block, a great contrast to the western Saggen, the villa district at the turn of the century. These houses were built entirely in the style of the time. Tyrolean Heimatstil, Classicism and Art Nouveau all join hands in Saggen. This historicism characterised the architecture from the second half of the 20th century until the First World War as a revival and sometimes wild mixture of all kinds of styles from past centuries. A newspaper article from 24 February 1900 shows that people in Innsbruck at the turn of the century were delighted with the upscale expansion of the city:

„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.“

The street names were chosen by the bourgeois public who settled here. Haydn, Bruckner, Schubert, Stifter, Goethe, Schiller, Wagner and Mozart were the inspiration for the new streets. These street names also provide information about the balance of power in Innsbruck city politics at the turn of the century (105). The liberals, many of whom held the office of mayor, were of a Greater German persuasion. 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.

Heute gilt der Saggen in der Wahrnehmung der meisten Innsbrucker vor allem als altehrwürdiges Nobelviertel Innsbrucks. Auf breiten Alleen mit den sehenswerten Villen und der Szene im Blocksaggen bietet sich der Saggen als abwechslungsreicher Spaziergang an. Das Zeughaus und der nordwestliche Teil zwischen Hofgarten und Christuskirche lassen jede Geschäftigkeit vermissen. Das Viertel versprüht mit seinen Wohngebäuden, den kleinen Geschäften, vor allem aber dank seiner prächtigen Villen bis heute den Charme der Belle Epoque. There are only a few restaurants or cafés. You will search in vain for large shops here, not to mention a shopping centre. For the average Innsbrucker, it may be prohibitively expensive to even think about a house here.

But this is only one face of the Saggen. The eastern part around the viaduct arches of Ing.-Etzel-Straße and the exhibition hall, the so-called Blocksaggen, hat sich über die letzten Jahrzehnte zu einem hippen Grätzel entwickelt. In den Bögen haben sich Restaurants, Bars, Pubs, Kaffeeröster, Bierbrauer und Nachtclubs angesiedelt. Dazwischen bevölkern Werkstätten und kleine Shops die Geschäftslokale. Während im ehemaligen Arbeiterviertel Wilten mittlerweile vor allem Studenten in WGs hausen, ist der Saggen zum Viertel der Kfz-Mechaniker, Barflies und Hipster geworden.