Linz - Capital of Upper Austria

Linz is the place: the Upper Austria State capital has many faces. The wonderful old town with its famous famine column, the State Parliament, St.Martin's Church attract a large number of discerning tourists. And modern Linz also has a lot to offer: the Lentos Museum,  the Ars Electronica Center or the Bruckner House make for a lively arts scene. Pleasure and variety are on the agenda at the traditional Urfahraner market, a fairground on the banks of the Danube.

Linz is Austria's third biggest city with a population of 190,000. For a long time Linz was known as an industrial city, indeed mainly as a steel city. The city has developed into an attractive visitor destination thanks to numerous cultural initiatives. Cultural events such as the Linz Klangwolke (Sound Cloud) as part of the  Bruckner Festival, the Pavement Spectacular or the all-year round Prix Ars Electronica have bestowed a modern and interesting appearance on the city. The climax will come in 2009: Linz will then be the European Capital of Culture.

The holidaymaker can find the Landhaus (State Parliament) in the centre of town - it is an early Renaissance construction in the Italian style with its famous Planet Fountain. The main square has the Trinity Column and the old Town Hall to attract the visitors. If you go for a stroll along the main road you can admire the St. Urseline Church and the Carmelite Church – and spend time shopping. Linz Palace, built on the foundations of the Roman castle of Lentia, is also worth a visit.

The important religious buildings in Linz are:

• the New Linz Cathedral, a neo-gothic building;
• the Old Cathedral, a Jesuit church with two towers;
• City parish church, a Romanesque and later Baroque church  in which the heart and die guts of Kaiser Friedrich III (d.1493) are buried
• St Martins Church, one of Austria's oldest churches.

The main sights in Linz

A pilgrimage basilica on the Pöstlingberg hill watches over the city. The ascent is made easy thanks to the Pöstling mountain railway, the steepest cogless mountain railway in the world. It was built in 1898 and today is one of the City of Linz's main attractions. The grotto rail, built in 1906, awaits the visitor on the Pöstlingberg. This miniature railway wends its way through a childlike fairy tale world.

The most important City of Linz museums:

• Ars Electronica Center – Museum of the future
• Lentos – Museum for modern and classical art; spectacular architecture