Linz, Austria

Linz is a city and '' Statutarstadt '' in northeast Austria , on the Danube river. It is the capital of the State Upper Austria (''Oberösterreich''). Linz is located at . Area ''ca.'' 96 Km&² , population of the city is 188,968, but including the surrounding areas and suburbs about 271,000 (March 2005).

HISTORY

The city was founded by the Romans , who called it ''Lentia''.

The city was, for most of that time, only a provincial and local government city of the Holy Roman Empire but it was an important trading point connecting several routes, spanning the river Danube from the East to the West and Czechoslovakia and Poland from north to the Balkans and Italy to the south.

Being the city where the Habsburg Emperor Friedrich III spent his last years, it was, for a short period of time, the most important city in the empire. It lost its status to Vienna and Prague , after the death of the emperor in 1493 .

Another important inhabitant of the city was Johannes Kepler , who spent several years of his life in the city studying mathematics. He discovered, on May 15, 1618, the distance-cubed-over-time-squared - or 'third' - Law Of Planetary Motion . He first made the discovery on March 8, but rejected the idea at first, only to later accept its worth. Kepler is the namesake of the Local Public University , the only one in Austria that embraces the campus system.

Another honoured citizen of the city was Anton Bruckner , who spent the years between 1855 - 1868 working as a local composer and church organist in the city. The local concert hall and a local private music and arts university are named after him.

The parents of Adolf Hitler are buried near Linz, in the town of Leonding. He was enrolled in the same Linz school as the famous philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein .

During World War II , Linz became a major industrial area, manufacturing chemicals and steel for the Nazi war machine. Many of these factories had been dismantled in the newly-acquired Czechoslovakia , and then reassembled in Linz. Hitler had far-reaching Architectural Plans For Linz . He regarded it as his home town and wanted to turn it into the main cultural centre of the Third Reich.

The Mauthausen-Gusen camps, the last Nazi Concentration Camps to be liberated, are located near Linz, with the main camp in Mauthausen just 30 kilometres away.

After the war, the river Danube that runs around Linz - from the eastern side to the northern side - separated the Urfahr district in the north from the rest of Linz, and served as the border between the American and Russian occupation troops. The Niebelungen bridge that spans the Danube river from the Hauptlatz/Main Square was then Linz´s version of Checkpoint Charlie .

ECONOMY

Linz is still an industrial city. The VOEST ALPINE company is a large steel concern (Founded as " Hermann Göring Werke" during WWII, which is famous for the LD- ("Linz-Donawitz") procedure for the production of Steel ) and the former "Chemie Linz" chemical group, which has been split up into several companies. This has made Linz one of Austria's most important economical centres. Linz is also the home of the famous PEZ - makers of peppermint candy.

Linz also serves as an important transportation hub for the region of both Upper Austria and, to a lesser degree, southern Bohemia . The international airport (LNZ / LOWL) lies about 10 km southwest of the town center. Direct flights include London , Frankfurt , Zurich and Vienna with additional seasonal routes added during the summer and winter months. The city lies on Austria's main rail axis, the so-called 'Westbahn', linking Vienna with western Austria , Germany and Switzerland . There are also varying types of river transport on the Danube ; from industrial barges to tourist cruise ships.

SIGHTS

The main street "Landstrasse" leads from the "Blumauerplatz" to the main square. In the middle of this square the high "Pestsäule" (" Plague Column ", also known as "Dreifaltigkeitssäule" (Dreifaltigkeit = Holy Trinity) ) was built to remember the people who died in the Plague epidemics.

Near the castle, which is located on the same site as the old roman fortress Lentia was once built - and also being the former seat of Friedrich the III - the oldest Austrian church is located; Sankt/Saint Martins church. It was built during early medieval Carolingian times.

Other sights include:

St. Mary's Cathedral (Mariendom), Roman Catholic

Pöstlingberg-Kirche

Brucknerhaus - the concert hall named after the composer Anton Bruckner , who was born in "Ansfelden", a small town next to Linz

Gugl Stadium, is home to the LASK (Linzer Athletik Sport Klub), which is the third-oldest soccer club in Austria

CULTURE

The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his '' Symphony No. 36 '' (1783) in Linz for a concert to be given there, and the work is known today as the ''Linz Symphony''. The first version of Anton Bruckner 's ''Symphony No. 1 in C minor'' is known as the Linz version.

The city is now home to a vibrant music and arts scene that is well-funded by the city and the state of Upper Austria.

Ars Electronica Center on the north bank of the Danube (in the Urfahr district), across the river from the Hauptplatz (main square), which leads to the historical part of the city (Altstadt), is home to one of the few public 3D CAVE s in Europe . (The very first 3D CAVE world-wide that was publicly accessible) and attracts a large gathering of technologically-orientated artists every year for the Ars Electronica Festival .

Recently built (2003) was the new modern art gallery called "Lentos". It is situated on the banks of the river Danube. The building can be illuminated at night in blue, pink, red, and violet, due to its glass casing.

The Brucknerhaus , the most important Linz concert hall, named after Anton Bruckner , is situated just some 200 meters away from the "Lentos". It is home to the "Bruckner Orchester", and is frequently used for concerts, as well as balls and other events.

Between the "Lentos" and the "Brucknerhaus", is the "Donaulände", which is also referred to as "Kulturmeile" ("culture mile"). It´s a park alongside the river, which is used mainly by young people to relax and meet in summer. It is also used for the Ars Electronica Festival and the "Linz Fest".

Along with the Lithuanian capital Vilnius , Linz will be the European Capital Of Culture in 2009.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

At the northern outskirts of Linz, the local public university can be found (The Johannes Kepler University ), which hosts law, business, social sciences, engineering, and science faculties and currently has c. 11,000 students. A spinoff of the university as well as a '' Fachhochschule '' for different computer-related studies (polytechnic) can be found 20 miles north of linz in the small town of Hagenberg Im Mühlkreis . There are also three other universities in Linz:

University Of Arts And Industrial Design Linz , public, for arts and industrial design (c. 800 students)

Anton Bruckner Private University For Music, Drama, And Dance , private, for music (c. 800 students)

Catholic-Theological Private University Linz , private, for Catholic theology (c. 400 students), a Papal faculty since 1978

Amongst the many "Gymnasien" (High Schools), there is also the LISA - Linz International School Auhof, which is one of two IB ( International Baccalaureate ) schools in Austria, and uses English as the main language of instruction.

MISCELLANEOUS

Linz is twinned with: