Innsbruck made itself fit for the Olympics

The dawn of modernity

The 1964 Winter Olympics laid the foundations for some fundamental changes in Innsbruck and brought a surge of modernisation. At the beginning of the 1960s, Innsbruck was still primarily known and popular with summer holidaymakers, while there was hardly any tourism in the winter months. The Olympic Games were therefore also intended as an initial spark to boost (winter)tourism in and around Innsbruck.

As soon as the bid was accepted in 1959, it was clear that the Olympic Games would require a significantly more modern infrastructure in terms of housing, road construction and sports facilities.

12 years later - when the Olympic flame was to burn for the second time in Innsbruck - many sports facilities and a good infrastructure were already in place, but a lot had to be invested again for the 1976 Olympic Games in order to meet the requirements of the Games as well as the demands of modern times.

The city, state and federal authorities implemented the necessary infrastructure measures as part of the Winter Olympics and thus successfully created a city worth living in and loving.

The 1964 and 1976 Olympic Games also laid the foundations for Innsbruck as a modern sports city in the Alps. Every year, major sporting events take place in and around Innsbruck, which is home to a particularly suitable infrastructure and a population with an affinity for sport.

Development since the 1960s

Olympic Village

Built in 1964 and expanded in 1976, the Olympic Village was much more than just a place to sleep for athletes from all over the world from the very beginning. The Olympic Village created urgently needed living space in Innsbruck and alleviated the housing shortage in the provincial capital.

Another 15 years after the Second World War, Innsbruck was still suffering from the devastating consequences of the war. Less than half of the flats in Innsbruck remained undamaged and the housing shortage was great.

A suitable site was found in the east of Innsbruck for the "Olympic Village" to reduce the housing shortage and provide temporary accommodation for athletes, judges and other Olympic staff.

Eight high-rise buildings with a total of 689 flats were built - jointly financed by the city and the federal government. Construction of O-Dorf 1 began on 1 July 1961 and was opened on 15 January 1964. By 1965, the O-Dorf already had around 6,000 inhabitants.

In May 1973, the foundation stone was laid for the second Olympic Village, which initially served as accommodation for the 1976 Olympic Games. The successful expansion included 642 flats as well as a main school building, an indoor swimming pool and a reception building.

Road construction

At the beginning of the 1960s, Innsbruck was a densely built-up city that had grown over the centuries. All roads led directly through the city centre, there were no bypasses and bottlenecks repeatedly caused extensive traffic jams. Innsbruck's road infrastructure was simply no longer up to date. It was therefore necessary to adapt the roads in and around Innsbruck accordingly, to react appropriately to the increase in private transport and to make the new Olympic sports venues in the surrounding area more accessible.

For this reason, around 12.8 kilometres of roads in the city were significantly rebuilt or newly constructed, such as the Hohe Weg as Innsbruck's northern bypass. Even more important, however, was the Olympic Bridge, which closed the Südring south of the railway station as a new Innsbruck bypass and was opened to traffic after 16 months of construction.

Around 25 kilometres of federal roads were built or rebuilt in the area surrounding Innsbruck. The newly created Bundesstraße 1 led Olympic traffic behind the airport to Zirl and from there to Seefeld, the centre of the Nordic competitions.

In the south of Innsbruck, the first section of the Brenner motorway was opened to traffic in 1963 - the Europabrücke bridge was seen as a clear signal to all visitors to the Winter Olympics that Innsbruck had committed itself to the dawn of modernity.

In the run-up to the 1976 Olympic Games, some road construction projects that were already in the planning stage were brought forward. These included roadworks in the Seefeld area, in Axams, in the Hallerstrasse area and the new Reichenauer Bridge.

Axamer Lizum

A ski area was developed in the Axamer Lizum for the 1964 Olympics. Around 18 hectares of forest had to be cleared and considerable earthmoving work carried out in order to be able to present pistes that met Olympic standards. The Hoadl funicular railway with significantly increased transport capacity was built for the 1976 Winter Games.

Patscherkofel

Investments also had to be made on Innsbruck's local mountain, the Patscherkofel, before the 1964 Olympics in order to meet the Olympic requirements. A two-lane cable car system was built and investments were made in the Olympic downhill runs.

Nordic facilities

In Seefeld, the town expanded the Nordic cross-country and biathlon venues. The ski jump in Seefeld had to be renovated for 1976.

Ice stadium, bobsleigh and luge track

One of the largest sports facilities built for the 1964 Olympics was the 23 metre high ice stadium in Innsbruck, which could hold 10,000 spectators and was opened in November 1963. However, the ice stadium no longer met modern requirements for the 1976 Olympic Games. The speed skating track had to be replaced, the seating capacity expanded and the lighting and spectator protection reinstalled. In 1964, the bobsleigh and luge tracks in Igls were also among the major investments. by 1976 , these no longer met the requirements and were replaced by modern artificial ice rinks.

Bergisel ski jump

The now legendary ski jump at Bergisel had been in use since 1947, but had to be enlarged for the 1964 Olympic Games. The arena had to accommodate 60,000 guests, which also required structural measures. For the 1976 Games, the ski jump was once again under pressure to modernise. The judges' tower was rebuilt and the wooden inrun tower was replaced by a new reinforced concrete structure.

Press centres

For the 1964 Winter Olympics, the university's newly built Chemical Institute served as a press centre. The extended international student residence in Rechengasse and the Technikerhaus in Fischnalerstraße served as interim journalist hotels. For 1976, the construction of the Pedagogical Academy and the IVB halls was brought forward, which ultimately served as press and television centres during the Olympic Games.

Olympic infrastructure costs

Sports facilities 1964

• Olympic ice stadium: 75.7 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Bergisel ski jump: 15.25 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Igls bobsleigh run: 10.1 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Lifts in the Axamer Lizum: 24.1 million schillings (sponsor Axamer Lizum Aufschließungs-AG; federal government, city, state)
• Patscherkofel cable car: 22 million schillings (sponsored by the City of Innsbruck/IVB)

Roads 1964

• Federal roads: 117 million Schilling
• Provincial roads: 26 million schillings
• Roads in Innsbruck: 22.45 million schillings
• Olympic bridge: 23.2 million schillings

Sports facilities 1976

• Renovation of the Olympic ice stadium (plus new high-speed skating rink): 40 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Bergisel and Seefeld ski jumps: 12.7 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Igls bobsleigh and toboggan run: 110 million schillings (sponsored by the Republic of Austria)
• Axamer Lizum funicular railway: 125 million schillings (sponsored by Axamer Lizum Aufschließungs-AG; federal government, city, state)

Construction 1976

• Pedagogical Academy: 110 million schillings
• IVB hall: 160 million schillings
• Reichenau Bridge: 24 million schillings
• Provincial sports centre: around 90 million shillings

Olympic Village 1

• 190.488 million schillings

Olympic Village 2

• 394 million schillings