Igls is a village, a district, a cadastral community and a part
of the city of Innsbruck. On April 1, 1942, the community of Igls
was incorporated into both the township and Innsbruck; Igls only
became a separate village again from the 1961 local directory.
The place is located at 870 m on a low mountain range south of
the center of Innsbruck, at the foot of the Patscherkofel. In Igls,
the Ramsbach flows to the Viller Bach, and from there, roughly along
the Sill-Vill-Steige, into the Sill Gorge to the Sill.
Igls
has around 500 buildings with around 2000 residents. The local area
also includes Heiligwasser (pilgrimage church with alpine inn) and
the Hohenburg and Taxburg castles.
The area of the district
stretches southeast up to the Patscherkofel, but ends a little below
the mountain station of the Patscherkofelbahn. West of Heiligwasser,
on the road to Patsch, lies the Goldbichl, a 1064 m high foothill of
the Patscherkofel massif.
Row graves were uncovered in Igls, which probably date
from the migration period. The 1064 m high Goldbichl in the south of
Igls is an important archaeological site.
The name comes
either from the 11th century by Vogt Eigilis from the Tegernsee
monastery, which had possessions in Igls, or from the 8th century
from the parish patron, Saint Giles, abbot of Saint-Gilles in
Provence, called Gilles. Another possible origin of the name is also
discussed ecclesia (Latin for church), as the Roman settlement
Veldidena (today Wilten) is located in nearby Innsbruck and the
so-called Roman road is still to this day in the south.
Hohenburg
The former Romanesque parish church has been known from
a letter of indulgence since 1286; in the 15th century it was
rebuilt in the late Gothic style and consecrated in 1479. In 1705 it
was rebuilt and given a baroque style.
The pilgrimage church
Heiligwasser (Maria Schnee / Hl. Ottilie), built in 1662, is located
above Igls at an altitude of 1240 m. The pilgrimage goes back to an
apparition of Mary, and the spring near the small baroque church is
said to have healing properties.
In the 19th century the
rural village developed into a summer retreat for Innsbruckers who
had their villas there. The first hotels were built.
Igls
became internationally known through the Olympic Winter Games in
1964 and 1976 with the artificial ice bobsleigh and toboggan run and
the Olympic downhill run from Patscherkofel. The facilities are
still used today for international sports competitions (such as the
2012 Youth Olympics).
In spring 2019, the Schlosshotel Igls
was demolished, except for the surrounding property.
Attractions
The terminus "Igls Bahnhof" of tram line 6
("Igler" Mittelgebirgsbahn) of the Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe is
in Igls. The village is also connected to the public transport
network in the Tyrolean public transport system by bus lines J and
N7 as well as by regional bus lines 4132 and 4141 operated by
ÖBB-Postbus GmbH. The valley station of the Patscherkofelbahn is
also located in Igls. At Heiligwasser there is a middle station, the
mountain station - which, like the summit, is in the Patscher
municipality - offers a beautiful view of Innsbruck and the Inn
Valley.
In the southern forest of Igls there is a freely
accessible glacier pot. Hiking signs indicate this under the term
glacier mill.