Linz History, Austria

Linz History – The Imperial Period

Linz was firstly known as a Celtic settlement and was called “Lentos”, its first attestation dating back to 799 AD. The Romans called it “Lentia” and made it a provincial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, assuring a fast social and economical development for the community. Due to its location on the Danube, it was an important trade centre that made the connection between several routes, from Bohemia to Poland, and from the Balkans to Italy. The Habsburg Empire turned it into a focal point when the emperor Friedrich III spent the final years of his life there. This brought administrative responsibility and investors to the city, turning it into the most important city of the empire for a very short period of time, after which it lost its privileges to Vienna and Prague.

Linz History – Kepler and Bruckner

The history of Linz is closely connected to these two names, whose ideas and creativity made Linz famous and gave it a very important scientific and cultural inheritance. Jonannes Kepler, the 17th century mathematician, spent most of his life in Linz, where he created his theories. On May 15, 1618, he discovered the distance-cubed-over-time-squared law of planetary motion, which is now known as the third law of planetary motion. He gave his name to the Linz public university and is to this day a reason of pride and honor for the people of Linz.

The second important personality that Linz gave to the world is Anton Bruckner, who worked as a church organist and local composer in the city from 1855 to 1868. He represents the rebirth of cult music and the local private music and arts university, as well as the concert hall in Linz, bear his name.

Linz History – Hitler and World War II

Adolf Hitler lived in the area near Linz and studies in the same Linz school as philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. During World War II, the city became a major industrial machine that manufactured equipment for the Nazi army. Linz was programmed this way, as many of the factories were disassembled from Czechoslovakia and moved here. The Danube River in the area of Linz served as a natural border separating American and Russian territories after the war.

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