There were 115 eventful years in Innsbruck's history between the last Count of Andechs and the first Tyrolean sovereign from the House of Habsburg. For around 100 years after the last Count of Andechs, the Counts of Tyrol controlled the destiny of the province and thus to a large extent the city of Innsbruck.

Meinhard II of Tyrol (1239 - 1295) was able to expand his territory with skilful politics and a little luck. From his ancestral castle in Meran, he managed to unite the patchwork of what is now Tyrol into a more unified whole. Meinhard relied on a modern administration. He was assisted by Florentine merchants and bankers, the most modern business consultants in Europe at the time. In order to create a certain degree of legal certainty, he had a codified land law drawn up. For the first time, all properties in Tyrol were standardised and collected in a land register. Meinhard broke the episcopal minting sovereignty and had coins minted with the Tyrolean eagle as the coat of arms, following the Italian model. This curtailed the de facto power of the church. The bishops of Brixen and Trento were still landowners and landlords, but their fiefdoms were only formalised. In 1254, for the first time Land in the mountainsbut from the official Dominium Tirolisthe reign of Tyrol. He found his final resting place in Stams Abbey, where Tyrol's winter sports elite are trained today.

Sein Sohn und Nachfolger als Tiroler Landesfürst, Herzog Heinrich von Kärnten (1265 – 1335), zählte als König von Böhmen zu den wichtigsten Adeligen im Heiligen Römischen Reich. Heinrich war dank seiner Besitzungen in Südosteuropa einer der mächtigsten Fürsten. Er war ein eifriger Förderer der Städte, deren Bedeutung er erkannte. In Innsbruck förderte er den Bau des Bürgerspitals in der Neustadt. Ein männlicher Nachfolger allerdings war ihm nicht beschieden gewesen. Noch vor seinem Tod hatte Heinrich aber sichergestellt, dass seine Tochter Margarethe seine Nachfolge antreten konnte.

His daughter Margarethe of Tyrol-Görz (1318 - 1369) succeeded him as sovereign princess at the age of 17. The young woman thus became entangled in the maelstrom of the most powerful dynasties of her time: Habsburg, Wittelsbach and Luxembourg. She entered into a marriage with two of them, and at the end of her reign she was to bequeath the province of Tyrol, and with it the city of Innsbruck, to the third.

After the death of her father, she was married to Johann Heinrich from the House of Luxembourg, the son of the new King of Bohemia. Johann Heinrich was even younger than his wife and merely served as his father's foot in the door to the Tyrolean princely throne. He was a thorn in the side of the Habsburgs and Wittelsbachs, as well as the local nobility. His regency was a disaster. Strikes broke out at the Hall salt works, which were leased to Florentine financiers and were the centrepiece of the Tyrolean economy alongside the customs duties. Despite the financial problems, the courtly behaviour of Johann Heinrich, who was considered infantile, is said to have been lavish.

Without further ado, he was expelled from the country by the Tyrolean estates in 1341 with the support of Emperor Ludwig, a Wittelsbach, in a coup planned together with Margarethe. Described as beautiful but quick-tempered, domineering and sexually insatiable, Margarethe is said to have been less than enamoured of her childishly weak husband's horizontal performance. He is said to have bitten his wife's nipples during an unsuccessful sexual intercourse. A chronicler of the time who was sympathetic to the emperor spoke of Johann Heinrich's "inpotencia coeundi", probably caused by his youthful immaturity.

This news was skilfully spread throughout the empire to give the emperor the opportunity to appoint his son Louis of Brandenburg as Margaret's husband and thus as prince of the important transit country of Tyrol. The as Tyrolean marriage scandal The coup, which has gone down in history, caused a widespread crisis. Even the philosopher and papal critic William von Ockham, who is still well-known today, commented on it. The problem was not just the divorce in and of itself, but that Margarethe was not divorced from her first husband at the time of her second marriage. The emperor and his supporters considered the marriage between John Henry, who was considered impotent, and Margarethe to be unconsummated and therefore null and void.

The fourth important political power in Central Europe at the time, the Pope, saw things differently. Pope Benedict XII placed a curse on the emperor and his son because of the "unholy" marriage between the Tyrolean princess Margarethe and Ludwig of Wittelsbach. In addition to moral concerns, the Pope also had political reasons for doing so. Both he and the Habsburgs were in military conflict with the Wittelsbach emperor and wanted to weaken the influence of this dynasty.

This Interdictum was one of the harshest punishments for people in the Middle Ages. It forbade the holding of masses and the giving of communion in the country's churches. It was probably during this period that Margaret was nicknamed by the people Maultasch and was described as particularly ugly. There are no contemporary portraits that would indicate a deformed mouth. The images we have of Margarethe Maultasch today date from the late 15th century at the earliest, when the medieval marriage scandal was first historically reworked.

Margaret's reign was characterised by crises for which she was not responsible, but which were nevertheless blamed on her. The 14th century brought global warming, which resulted in a plague of locusts. This also led to crop failures and famines in Tyrol. But that was not all. From 1348 to 1350, Europe was ravaged by the plague. The disease travelled from Venice via Trento and the Adige Valley to Innsbruck. The Black death decimated the population dramatically. In some parts of Tyrol, the population was reduced by more than half. Not only the number of deaths, but also the gruesome way in which the victims died in great pain and physical deformity left an impression on the pious population. There is not much information on the outbreak of the plague in Innsbruck in the archives, but the consequences of the epidemic were devastating, as they were throughout Europe. In her will, an Innsbruck woman who fell ill with the plague spoke of the "common dying that is going on in the country".

People could not explain phenomena such as poor harvests and plague. Many saw the desolation of the country, which was plagued by wars, plague and climate, as a consequence of the papal curse and punishment from God and held Margarethe and her husband Louis responsible. The reasons for illness and misery were in fact probably to be found outside of papal curses and propaganda. Like many cities, Innsbruck had neither paved streets nor a sewage system or drinking water supply. Animals and people shared the cramped space within the city walls. The living conditions were unhygienic.

1350 was the first time the Lower city pool in today's Badgasse. Baths were not only used for cleansing, but medical care was also provided here by bathers according to the standards of the time. Bathers were travelling or local healers who treated the sick, stitched wounds or pulled teeth. The supernatural was considered real, even in medical care. The scientific approach of the few physicians of the time was not necessarily superior to that of the practice-orientated bathers. The prevailing doctrine at universities up until modern times was the Four juices doctrine. According to this theory, there was a balance of blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile in the body. An imbalance of these juices leads to illness. The balance was disturbed by a blasphemous lifestyle, poor diet, excessive sexual activity or miasmas in the air. Water also had a reputation for penetrating through the skin and destroying the Juice ratio in the human body, which is why you should be given a bath after bathing.

After the Wittelsbachs, Luxembourgers and Habsburgs had fought over Tyrol for decades, a happy ending was finally reached. Rudolf IV of the House of Habsburg intervened with the Pope and was able to negotiate the lifting of the interdict in 1359 in exchange for considerable financial compensation at the expense of Margaret and Louis. At the same time, a document is said to have been drawn up that is now considered a forgery: in this document, Margaret bequeathed the land of Tyrol to Rudolf IV and the Habsburg family.

This succession occurred soon afterwards. One year after Margaret's husband and Tyrolean sovereign Ludwig died in 1361, her son Meinhard III also passed away. If Filippo Villani's history is to be believed, although it was not written until around 1400, it is said that Meinhard III, who was already known during her lifetime as Kriemhild Margarethe, who was notorious for her deaths, may not have been innocent of both deaths together with a lover. As the mother of the last prince of the Tyrolean dynasty, Margarethe handed over the reins of government to Rudolf IV (1339 - 1365) of Habsburg in 1363 with the consent of the Tyrolean nobility. Tyrol was part of the dynasty that also ruled over the Archduchy of Austria.

The Dukes of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach refused to recognise this inheritance treaty, which declared their claims to Tyrol null and void. In 1363, they moved towards Innsbruck to rectify the law by force of arms. However, Rudolf IV had won over important local nobles to his side. The document confirming the Tyrolean inheritance may not have been genuine, but the real political balance of power favoured the Habsburgs. The citizens of Innsbruck, who were obliged to do military service, were able to successfully defend the city, which was fortified by Andechsburg Castle and the city walls. It may be an irony of fate that it was the Wittelsbach Ludwig who, as Prince of Tyrol, had the city walls raised and reinforced.

With the acquisition of Tyrol, the Habsburg family was able to close an important geographical gap within its sphere of power. By incorporating the city into the much larger territory of the Habsburgs, Innsbruck gained additional importance, while the actual capital of Merano was further marginalised. In addition to the north-south transport of goods, the city on the Inn had now also become a west-east transport hub between the eastern Austrian lands and the Habsburgs' old possessions in the west.

For the survivors of the great plague wave of 1348, there was an economic boom throughout Europe. Labour had become scarce due to the shrinking population, but greater resources were available per capita. For those Innsbruck residents who had survived the turbulent first half of the 14th century, better times were to come.

There are hardly any reminders of Margarethe Maultasch and her husbands in Innsbruck's cityscape, as her time was characterised by political and economic hardship. The wars and the plague almost brought customs revenue to a standstill. There was no money for grand buildings. Innsbruck was also not yet a royal seat.

But she is still alive in memories and legends. Margarethe "Maultasch" is one of the most famous female figures in Tyrolean history. Contradictory reports, motivated by various interests, which were written about her during her lifetime, leave room for interpretation. Her biography is suitable as a blueprint for a character in the TV series Games of Thrones. It is said to have been involved in the defence of Tyrol Castle against an approaching Veneto-Lombard army with "unbroken courage and manly determination“ and „with a small group of soldiers" led the defence and even led an escape attempt from the city. Her opponents, on the other hand, saw her as a man-hungry, insatiable and immoral vamp. Whether she was a ruthless murderer or an innocent pawn of foreign powers - we will probably never know.

Margarethe and her successor on the throne of Prince Rudolf IV of Habsburg are depicted at the fountain on the Rudolf's Fountain immortalised in stone on Boznerplatz, the former Margarethenplatz.

The abundance of churches, chapels, crucifixes and murals in public spaces has a peculiar effect on many visitors to Innsbruck from other countries. Not only places of worship, but also many private homes are decorated with depictions of the Holy Family or biblical scenes. The Christian faith and its institutions have characterised everyday life throughout Europe for centuries. Innsbruck, as the residence city of the strictly Catholic Habsburgs and capital of the self-proclaimed Holy Land of Tyrol, was particularly favoured when it came to the decoration of ecclesiastical buildings. The dimensions of the churches alone are gigantic by the standards of the past. In the 16th century, the town with its population of just under 5,000 had several churches that outshone every other building in terms of splendour and size, including the palaces of the aristocracy. Wilten Monastery was a huge complex in the centre of a small farming village that was grouped around it. The spatial dimensions of the places of worship reflect their importance in the political and social structure.

For many Innsbruck residents, the church was not only a moral authority, but also a secular landlord. The Bishop of Brixen was formally on an equal footing with the sovereign. The peasants worked on the bishop's estates in the same way as they worked for a secular prince on his estates. This gave them tax and legal sovereignty over many people. The ecclesiastical landowners were not regarded as less strict, but even as particularly demanding towards their subjects. At the same time, it was also the clergy in Innsbruck who were largely responsible for social welfare, nursing, care for the poor and orphans, feeding and education. The influence of the church extended into the material world in much the same way as the state does today with its tax office, police, education system and labour office. What democracy, parliament and the market economy are to us today, the Bible and pastors were to the people of past centuries: a reality that maintained order. To believe that all churchmen were cynical men of power who exploited their uneducated subjects is not correct. The majority of both the clergy and the nobility were pious and godly, albeit in a way that is difficult to understand from today's perspective.

Unlike today, religion was by no means a private matter. Violations of religion and morals were tried in secular courts and severely penalised. The charge for misconduct was heresy, which encompassed a wide range of offences. Sodomy, i.e. any sexual act that did not serve procreation, sorcery, witchcraft, blasphemy - in short, any deviation from the right belief in God - could be punished with burning. Burning was intended to purify the condemned and destroy them and their sinful behaviour once and for all in order to eradicate evil from the community.

For a long time, the church regulated the everyday social fabric of people down to the smallest details of daily life. Church bells determined people's schedules. Their sound called people to work, to church services or signalled the death of a member of the congregation. People were able to distinguish between individual bell sounds and their meaning. Sundays and public holidays structured the time. Fasting days regulated the diet. Family life, sexuality and individual behaviour had to be guided by the morals laid down by the church. The salvation of the soul in the next life was more important to many people than happiness on earth, as this was in any case predetermined by the events of time and divine will. Purgatory, the last judgement and the torments of hell were a reality and also frightened and disciplined adults.

While Innsbruck's bourgeoisie had been at least gently kissed awake by the ideas of the Enlightenment after the Napoleonic Wars, the majority of people in the surrounding communities remained attached to the mixture of conservative Catholicism and superstitious popular piety.

Faith and the church still have a firm place in the everyday lives of Innsbruck residents, albeit often unnoticed. The resignations from the church in recent decades have put a dent in the official number of members and leisure events are better attended than Sunday masses. However, the Roman Catholic Church still has a lot of ground in and around Innsbruck, even outside the walls of the respective monasteries and educational centres. A number of schools in and around Innsbruck are also under the influence of conservative forces and the church. And anyone who always enjoys a public holiday, pecks one Easter egg after another or lights a candle on the Christmas tree does not have to be a Christian to act in the name of Jesus disguised as tradition.

Anyone travelling in Austria will be familiar with the domes and onion domes of churches in villages and towns. This form of church tower originated during the Counter-Reformation and is a typical feature of the Baroque architectural style. They are also predominant in Innsbruck's cityscape. Innsbruck's most famous places of worship, such as the cathedral, St John's Church and the Jesuit Church, are in the Baroque style. Places of worship were meant to be magnificent and splendid, a symbol of the victory of true faith. Religiousness was reflected in art and culture: grand drama, pathos, suffering, splendour and glory combined to create the Baroque style, which had a lasting impact on the entire Catholic-oriented sphere of influence of the Habsburgs and their allies between Spain and Hungary.

The cityscape of Innsbruck changed enormously. The Gumpps and Johann Georg Fischer as master builders as well as Franz Altmutter's paintings have had a lasting impact on Innsbruck to this day. The Old Country House in the historic city centre, the New Country House in Maria-Theresien-Straße, the countless palazzi, paintings, figures - the Baroque was the style-defining element of the House of Habsburg in the 17th and 18th centuries and became an integral part of everyday life. The bourgeoisie did not want to be inferior to the nobles and princes and had their private houses built in the Baroque style. Pictures of saints, depictions of the Mother of God and the heart of Jesus adorned farmhouses.

Baroque was not just an architectural style, it was an attitude to life that began after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The Turkish threat from the east, which culminated in the two sieges of Vienna, determined the foreign policy of the empire, while the Reformation dominated domestic politics. Baroque culture was a central element of Catholicism and its political representation in public, the counter-model to Calvin's and Luther's brittle and austere approach to life. Holidays with a Christian background were introduced to brighten up people's everyday lives. Architecture, music and painting were rich, opulent and lavish. In theatres such as the Comedihaus dramas with a religious background were performed in Innsbruck. Stations of the cross with chapels and depictions of the crucified Jesus dotted the landscape. Popular piety in the form of pilgrimages and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints found its way into everyday church life.

The Baroque piety was also used to educate the subjects. Even though the sale of indulgences was no longer a common practice in the Catholic Church after the 16th century, there was still a lively concept of heaven and hell. Through a virtuous life, i.e. a life in accordance with Catholic values and good behaviour as a subject towards the divine order, one could come a big step closer to paradise. The so-called Christian edification literature was popular among the population after the school reformation of the 18th century and showed how life should be lived. The suffering of the crucified Christ for humanity was seen as a symbol of the hardship of the subjects on earth within the feudal system. People used votive images to ask for help in difficult times or to thank the Mother of God for dangers and illnesses they had overcome. Great examples of this can be found on the eastern façade of the basilica in Wilten.

The historian Ernst Hanisch described the Baroque and the influence it had on the Austrian way of life as follows:

„Österreich entstand in seiner modernen Form als Kreuzzugsimperialismus gegen die Türken und im Inneren gegen die Reformatoren. Das brachte Bürokratie und Militär, im Äußeren aber Multiethnien. Staat und Kirche probierten den intimen Lebensbereich der Bürger zu kontrollieren. Jeder musste sich durch den Beichtstuhl reformieren, die Sexualität wurde eingeschränkt, die normengerechte Sexualität wurden erzwungen. Menschen wurden systematisch zum Heucheln angeleitet.“

The rituals and submissive behaviour towards the authorities left their mark on everyday culture, which still distinguishes Catholic countries such as Austria and Italy from Protestant regions such as Germany, England or Scandinavia. The Austrians' passion for academic titles has its origins in the Baroque hierarchies. The expression Baroque prince describes a particularly patriarchal and patronising politician who knows how to charm his audience with grand gestures. While political objectivity is valued in Germany, the style of Austrian politicians is theatrical, in keeping with the Austrian bon mot of "Schaumamal".

Die Werke der Familie Gumpp bestimmen bis heute sehr stark das Aussehen Innsbrucks. Vor allem die barocken Teile der Stadt sind auf die Hofbaumeister zurückzuführen. Der Begründer der Dynastie in Tirol, Christoph Gumpp (1600-1672) war eigentlich Tischler. Sein Talent allerdings hatte ihn für höhere Weihen auserkoren. Den Beruf des Architekten gab es zu dieser Zeit noch nicht. Michelangelo und Leonardo Da Vinci galten in ihrer Zeit als Handwerker, nicht als Künstler. Der Ruhm ihrer Kunstwerke allerdings hatte den Wert italienischer Baumeister innerhalb der Aristokratie immens nach oben getrieben. Wer auf sich hielt, beschäftigte jemand aus dem Süden am Hof. Christoph Gumpp, obwohl aus dem Schwabenland nach Innsbruck gekommen, trat nach seiner Mitarbeit an der Dreifaltigkeitskirche in die Fußstapfen der von Ferdinand II. hochgeschätzten Renaissance-Architekten aus Italien. Auf Geheiß Ferdinands Nachfolger Leopold V. reiste Gumpp nach Italien, um dort Theaterbauten zu studieren- Er sollte bei den kulturell den Ton angebenden Nachbarn südlich des Brenners sein Wissen für das geplante landesfürstliche Comedihaus aufzupolieren. Gumpps offizielle Tätigkeit als Hofbaumeister begann 1633 und er sollte diesen Titel an die nächsten beiden Generationen weitervererben. Über die folgenden Jahrzehnte sollte Innsbruck einer kompletten Renovierung unterzogen werden. Neue Zeiten bedurften eines neuen Designs, abseits des düsteren, von der Gotik geprägten Mittelalters. Die Gumpps traten nicht nur als Baumeister in Erscheinung. Sie waren Tischler, Maler, Kupferstecher und Architekten, was ihnen erlaubte, ähnlich der Bewegung der Tiroler Moderne rund um Franz Baumann und Clemens Holzmeister Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, Projekte ganzheitlich umzusetzen. Johann Martin Gumpp der Ältere, Georg Anton Gumpp und Johann Martin Gumpp der Jüngere waren für viele der bis heute prägendsten Gebäude zuständig. So stammen die Wiltener Stiftskirche, die Mariahilfkirche, die Johanneskirche und die Spitalskirche von den Gumpps.  Neben Kirchen und ihrer Arbeit als Hofbaumeister machten sie sich auch als Planer von Profanbauten einen Namen. Viele der Bürgerhäuser und Stadtpaläste Innsbrucks wie das Taxispalais oder das Alte Landhaus in der Maria-Theresien-Straße wurden von Ihnen entworfen. Das Meisterstück aber war das Comedihaus, das Christoph Gumpp für Leopold V. und Claudia de Medici im ehemaligen Ballhaus plante. Die überdimensionierten Maße des damals richtungsweisenden Theaters, das in Europa zu den ersten seiner Art überhaupt gehörte, erlaubte nicht nur die Aufführung von Theaterstücken, sondern auch Wasserspiele mit echten Schiffen und aufwändige Pferdeballettaufführungen. Das Comedihaus war ein Gesamtkunstwerk an und für sich, das in seiner damaligen Bedeutung wohl mit dem Festspielhaus in Bayreuth des 19. Jahrhunderts oder der Elbphilharmonie heute verglichen werden muss. Das ehemalige Wohnhaus der Familie Gumpp kann heute noch begutachtet werden, es beherbergt heute die Konditorei Munding, eines der traditionsreichsten Cafés der Stadt.

Like the course of the city's history, its appearance is also subject to constant change. The years around 1500 and between 1850 and 1900, when political, economic and social changes took place at a particularly rapid pace, produced particularly visible changes in the cityscape. However, the most drastic event with the greatest impact on the cityscape was probably the air raids on the city during the Second World War.

In addition to the food shortage, people suffered from what the National Socialists called the "Heimatfront" in the city were particularly affected by the Allied air raids. Innsbruck was an important supply station for supplies on the Italian front.

The first Allied air raid on the ill-prepared city took place on the night of 15-16 December 1943. 269 people fell victim to the bombs, 500 were injured and more than 1500 were left homeless. Over 300 buildings, mainly in Wilten and the city centre, were destroyed and damaged. On Monday 18 December, the following were found in the Innsbrucker Nachrichten, dem Vorgänger der Tiroler Tageszeitung, auf der Titelseite allerhand propagandistische Meldungen vom erfolgreichen und heroischen Abwehrkampf der Deutschen Wehrmacht an allen Fronten gegenüber dem Bündnis aus Anglo-Amerikanern und dem Russen, nicht aber vom Bombenangriff auf Innsbruck.

Bombenterror über Innsbruck

Innsbruck, 17. Dez. Der 16. Dezember wird in der Geschichte Innsbrucks als der Tag vermerkt bleiben, an dem der Luftterror der Anglo-Amerikaner die Gauhauptstadt mit der ganzen Schwere dieser gemeinen und brutalen Kampfweise, die man nicht mehr Kriegführung nennen kann, getroffen hat. In mehreren Wellen flogen feindliche Kampfverbände die Stadt an und richteten ihre Angriffe mit zahlreichen Spreng- und Brandbomben gegen die Wohngebiete. Schwerste Schäden an Wohngebäuden, an Krankenhäusern und anderen Gemeinschaftseinrichtungen waren das traurige, alle bisherigen Schäden übersteigende Ergebnis dieses verbrecherischen Überfalles, der über zahlreiche Familien unserer Stadt schwerste Leiden und empfindliche Belastung der Lebensführung, das bittere Los der Vernichtung liebgewordenen Besitzes, der Zerstörung von Heim und Herd und der Heimatlosigkeit gebracht hat. Grenzenloser Haß und das glühende Verlangen diese unmenschliche Untat mit schonungsloser Schärfe zu vergelten, sind die einzige Empfindung, die außer der Auseinandersetzung mit den eigenen und den Gemeinschaftssorgen alle Gemüter bewegt. Wir alle blicken voll Vertrauen auf unsere Soldaten und erwarten mit Zuversicht den Tag, an dem der Führer den Befehl geben wird, ihre geballte Kraft mit neuen Waffen gegen den Feind im Westen einzusetzen, der durch seinen Mord- und Brandterror gegen Wehrlose neuerdings bewiesen hat, daß er sich von den asiatischen Bestien im Osten durch nichts unterscheidet – es wäre denn durch größere Feigheit. Die Luftschutzeinrichtungen der Stadt haben sich ebenso bewährt, wie die Luftschutzdisziplin der Bevölkerung. Bis zur Stunde sind 26 Gefallene gemeldet, deren Zahl sich aller Voraussicht nach nicht wesentlich erhöhen dürfte. Die Hilfsmaßnahmen haben unter Führung der Partei und tatkräftigen Mitarbeit der Wehrmacht sofort und wirkungsvoll eingesetzt.

Diese durch Zensur und Gleichschaltung der Medien fantasievoll gestaltete Nachricht schaffte es gerade mal auf Seite 3. Prominenter wollte man die schlechte Vorbereitung der Stadt auf das absehbare Bombardement wohl nicht dem Volkskörper präsentieren. Ganz so groß wie 1938 nach dem Anschluss, als Hitler am 5. April von 100.000 Menschen in Innsbruck begeistert empfangen worden war, dürfte die Begeisterung für den Nationalsozialismus nicht mehr gewesen sein. Zu groß waren die Schäden an der Stadt und die persönlichen, tragischen Verluste in der Bevölkerung. Im Jänner 1944 begann man Luftschutzstollen und andere Schutzmaßnahmen zu errichten. Die Arbeiten wurden zu einem großen Teil von Gefangenen des Konzentrationslagers Reichenau durchgeführt.

Innsbruck was attacked a total of twenty-two times between 1943 and 1945. Almost 3833, i.e. almost 50%, of the city's buildings were damaged and 504 people died. Fortunately, the city was only the victim of targeted attacks. German cities such as Hamburg or Dresden were completely razed to the ground by the Allies with firestorms and tens of thousands of deaths within a few hours. Many buildings such as the Jesuit Church, Wilten Abbey, the Servite Church, the cathedral and the indoor swimming pool in Amraserstraße were hit.

Historic buildings and monuments received special treatment during the attacks. The Goldene Dachl was protected with a special construction, as was Maximilian's sarcophagus in the Hofkirche. The figures in the Hofkirche, the Schwarzen Mannderwere brought to Kundl. The Mother of Mercy, the famous picture from Innsbruck Cathedral, was transferred to Ötztal during the war.

The air-raid shelter tunnel south of Innsbruck on Brennerstrasse and the markings of houses with air-raid shelters with their black squares and white circles and arrows can still be seen today. In Pradl, where next to Wilten most of the buildings were damaged, bronze plaques on the affected houses indicate that they were hit by a bomb.