Alpine emperor's city — Golden Roof, ski slopes minutes from the old town
Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and one of Europe's most dramatically situated cities — the Inn River valley squeezes the old town between two walls of the Alps, so the snow-capped Nordkette ridge forms the permanent backdrop to every café terrace and cobbled square. Emperor Maximilian I made it his favourite residence in the 15th century, and the city has hosted the Winter Olympics twice (1964 and 1976).
Innsbruck rose to prominence when Emperor Maximilian I chose it as the seat of Habsburg power in 1490, building the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) as a royal box for watching court festivities in the square below. The city controlled the Brenner Pass — the lowest Alpine crossing and the main trade route between Italy and northern Europe — which made it strategically and commercially indispensable for centuries. Its role as the Tyrolean capital survived the breakup of the Habsburg Empire and two World Wars.