Take a stroll, enjoy a spot of shopping, meet friends, have a drink in one of the pavement cafés, take in the wonderful Baroque architecture and savour the city panorama – it can all be done in the Maria-Theresien-Strasse. Originally, over 700 years ago, this street in Innsbruck’s “New Town” consisted of just a few farmhouses. The Old Town was enclosed by a well-fortified circular wall and could, from here, only be entered via the St. Jörgen gateway. It wasn’t long, however, before many members of the aristocracy began building their houses on this street in close proximity to the local rulers of the time. During the Baroque period, many of those houses were remodelled into opulent palatial residences that, today, are still a delight to behold - Palais Gumpp, for example, today houses the seat of the Tyrolean government and, directly opposite, is Palais Trapp with its charming inner courtyard and café.
Further impressive monuments to the city’s past include the St. Anne’s Column, the Chapel of St. George in the Palais Gumpp and the Triumphal Arch, while the Kaufhaus tyrol and Rathauspassagen shopping precincts provide a contemporary yet harmonious contrast. The actual street itself was also transformed in 2009 into an elegant promenade with granite paving and benches and street lamps made of brass and wood. The north end is fully pedestrianised while the south end has wide pavements. The many pavement cafés, outdoor restaurants and splendid buildings, along with attractive boutiques and the indoor shopping precincts Kaufhaus tyrol and Rathauspassagen, make the Maria-Theresien-Strasse the perfect place to stroll, linger, browse and shop. Our tip: Take in the view from St. Anne’s Column looking in a northerly direction. Here, towering majestically over the Golden Roof, are the imposing peaks of the Nordkette mountain range. The city panorama is rounded off by one of Innsbruck’s most modern landmarks, the Bergisel ski jump, located to the south of the city in front of the Serles and Habicht mountains.
