City Center, Linz

The Hauptplatz, the original market square (220m/240yds long and 60m/65yds wide), surrounded by handsome Baroque buildings, forms the center of the old town. On the eastern side of the square stands the 17th C. Rathaus and opposite it, in the middle of the square, the Trinity Column (Dreifaltigkeitssäule), a 20m/66ft high column of Untersberg marble erected in 1723 in thanksgiving for the town's preservation from plague and Turkish attack. Obliquely across from the Rathaus (No. 18) is the Feichtingerhaus, with a beautifully arcaded courtyard.

Downstream from the bridge (the "Nibelungenbrücke") in Linz at the end of the Hauptplatz is the Boat Station (Schiffsstation). From here a boat trip can be taken along the Danube in either the Passau or Vienna direction.

On the Untere Donaulände (No. 6) in Linz will be found the house in which Adalbert Stifter the novelist lived from 1848 until his death in 1868. From 1850 until 1865 he was Inspector of Schools for Upper Austria; today his house is the headquarters of the Adalbert Stifter Institute.

Downstream from the Adalbert Stifter Institute in Linz stands the Brucknerhaus (by H. Siren, 1969-73), a multi-purpose building used for concerts and conference purposes, with modern sculptures on the lawns nearby. Bruckner worked as organist in Linz for a number of years. Every autumn the International Bruckner Celebrations and the Ars Electronica are held in Linz.

In the Pfarrplatz in Linz stands the parish church (Stadtpfarrkirche) of Mariä Himmelfahrt, originally Gothic but remodeled in Baroque style in 1648 (frescos by B. Altomonte); it received its characteristic helm roof in 1818. Anton Bruckner was organist here and also in the Old Cathedral from 1856 to 1868. Behind a red marble slab on the right of the high altar is buried the heart of the Emperor Frederick III; his body is interred in St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Note the Chapel of St Nepomuk in the south aisle, with a view of Linz in the year 1694 on St Florian's altar.The foundations of the church were laid in 1286, and the structure was originally a three-naved Romanesque basilica.The paintings in the church are impressive, including works by Karl von Resfeld, Bartolomeo Altomonte and Joachim von Sandrart.

Nearby the Parish Church of Mariä Himmelfahrt in Linz, to the south, is the twin-towered Jesuit church of St Ignatius (Ignatiuskirche), until 1909 the Cathedral (Alter Dom, Old Cathedral), an aiseless church richly decorated by Italian artists (1669-78). The organ, on which Bruckner played, has become known as the "Bruckner Organ". The high altar dates from 1683 and the pulpit from 1678. Note also the richly carved choir stalls (1633), depicting grotesque human and animal figures and strange dwarfs.

To the east of the Church of St Ignatius, at Museumstrasse 14 in Linz, will be found the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum (Landesmuseum). On display are natural history collections and a permanent exhibition "The Soil of Linz" (principal exhibits now in the castle).

A well-restored Baroque building of 1607 in Linz, known as Nordico, houses the Municipal Museum. The name "Nordico" recalls the time when boys from northern Europe were given a Catholic education here. The exhibits document the history of the city from its early beginnings to the present day.The museum was originally a suburban house, built between 1606 and 1610 by Francesco Silva. The house belonged to the Kremsmünster Monastery and was used to train Scandinavian men in the Jesuit faith. Conversion work also took place at the house between 1673 and 1675.Remains of frescos by Jakob Antonio Manta can still be seen in the main hall.

The Landhaus (seat of the provincial government of Upper Austria), to the southwest of the Linz Hauptplatz, was built in 1564-71 on the site of an earlier Monorite convent and rebuilt after a fire in the early 19th C. The magnificent doorway bears the coats of arms of the original Austrian provinces. The center-piece of the fine arcaded courtyard, in which serenaded concerts are given, is the octagonal Planet Fountain (1582). The astronomer Kepler (1571-1630) taught from 1612 to 1626 in the college which then occupied the building.

The little Linz Minorite Church (Minoritenkirche), a charming Roccoco building of 1758, has a massive high altar and three altars of red marble on each side, with paintings by M. J. Schmidt ("Kremser Schmidt"; see Krems).The present church was part of a monastery founded in 1236. It has a singlenaved structure includes beautiful stucco work by Kaspar Modler and a painting on the high alter by Bartolomeo Altomonte.

In the Linz street known as the Altstadt, which runs northwards from the Landhaus towards the Danube, can be seen the finest old houses in Linz.

To the west of the Landhaus in Linz stands the Theater (Landestheater), built in 1803 and extended by Clemens Holzmeister in 1956 to include a hall for chamber music.The site was originally a customs house compound but was turned into a riding school in 1670. The theater was added in 1803, with a facade in the Empire style. In 1909, the riding school was demolished, and the site became an open air practice area, while the adjacent Ballhaus became a building for indoor ball games.The theater itself was redesigned in 1957and extended to included a separate building for smaller theater productions.

This annual festival take place in July throughout the streets of Linz.