The City of Linz / Austria

Linz is the capital of Upper Austria and Baroque style. It is the third largest city situated on the picturesque banks of the Danube River. The population is 210 thousand people. The area of the city is 96 thousand square kilometers. Linz is the third Austrian city after Vienna and Graz. In the first century AD there was a fortress founded by Romans and called Lentia in the place of modern Linz. The name Linz was first recorded in the chronicles dating back to 799.

From 1489 to 1493 Linz was the residence of Friedrich III, the Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

Up to the twentieth century Linz was a town where small and middle-sized enterprises were popular. Salt trade and textiles industry had a great impact on the economic development of the town. In 1672 the first Austrian textile factory was founded in Linz.

Nowadays Linz is a dynamic industrial, economic and commercial center with a 1000-year history and culture. Linz is the largest Austrian port on the Danube River. It also has an international airport - Herming that is an important transportation hub.

There are lots of different kinds of production that are well-developed in the city, such as mechanical engineering (production of machines, tools, equipment for mining, electrical, woodworking and textile industries), and transport engineering (production of marine and river vessels).

Linz is a part of a new industrial center in Austria, so called the triangle Linz - Wels - Steir. The largest industrial enterprises are the United Austrian Iron and Steel Plant and the Austrian nitrogen fertilizer plant.

Linz is the second largest city in Austria in economic terms. In the city there are 6400 companies, providing more than 190,000 jobs. About 75% of them are in the sector of trade and services.
In Linz tourism industry is developed. In 2003 the city was visited by 580 thousand tourists. The city has a large number of hotels, including 11 four-star and 13 three-star ones.

The main educational institutions are the University of Linz, the Johannes Kepler University of Arts, the Private University, the Anton Bruckner Private and Catholic-Theological University. About 16 thousand students are enrolled in higher educational institutions.

The most important sights are the Castle of Linz, St. Martin's church, an indoor area with the building of the old Town Hall and Trinity Column, the New and Old Cathedral, Mozart's house.
Design Center built in 1994 makes Linz a truly modern city. A lot of international congresses and conferences take place in that Center.

The Brucknerhous situated on the banks of the Danube River is a center of concerts and gala events. Every October a famous Bruckner international music festival is held there. Thousands of performers and spectators come to Linz to take part in an unusual festival "Klangenvolka" ("Cloud of Sounds") in the Danube Park as well as in an avant-garde festival "Ars Electronica" or Pflastershpektakl (a festival of street actors, which is held in the pedestrian zone). Open-air concerts are held annually at the city stadium.

In 2009 Linz was a Cultural Capital of Europe.

The webpage of the city www.linz.at and www.linz09.at