Hierher gekommen, gleichsam gezwungen, endlich an einen Ruhepunkt, an einen stillen Ort, wie ich ihn mir nur hätte wünschen können. Es war ein Tag, den man jahrelang in der Erinnerung genießen kann.
(I reached at last as quiet a resting place as I could have hoped for. It has been one of those days which I shall remember with joy for many years.)
- - Goethe, Italian Journey, written on the Brenner Pass, 8 September 1786
There's not all that much in particular to see, in Innsbruck. It's the kind of city where you needn't feel obliged to see any specific museum, church or monument, but can content yourself with aimlessly wandering the pretty, colourful streets of the old town centre. Ideal for a rest day!
Though our wanderings were not quite aimless: our first priority was to get Annette to a doctor. Our friend and Camino Family member since 2019 had a bad blister on one heel that had turned red and bloody after yesterday's marathon. We asked for advice at the nearest Apotheke, and they sent her to a nearby medical clinic, the existence of which I had already noted on the internet. We all accompanied Annette as far as the reception desk, but when she was told she would have to wait an hour to see a doctor we left her in the waiting room and went off in search of a stamp for our pilgrim credentials. The tourist office didn't have one, and the grumpy lady at the desk had no idea where we could find a stamp in Innsbruck, responding in the negative when asked if any of the churches would have one.
Along the way, my Dad discovered that his reading glasses were broken, so quest number three became finding a new pair of reading glasses!
Annette rejoined us and we sat down and discussed what to do over a cup of coffee. The doctor told her: no more hiking for at least eight days! 😩 She was all set to go home, but I proposed an alternative plan: she could travel by bus to our next two stops, after which we were in any case planning a three-day break in Trentino. After five days of rest - six including today - she could decide whether to travel back to Germany with my Dad and Rossana or continue walking with me in Italy, depending on the condition of her foot.
We walked together to the cathedral, which should have been our first stop because that’s where the pilgrim stamp in Innsbruck is! Not only that, but a display of information for pilgrims, set up especially for the Jubilee year. And the staff at the tourist office know nothing about it! 😄
Innsbruck cathedral, dedicated to St James, was built between 1717 and 1724 on the site of an earlier church, and contains a much-venerated painting of Maria Hilf (Mary of Succor) painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder around the year 1530.
The site of Innsbruck has been inhabited continuously since the Stone Age, and a Roman army camp was established at Oenipons (the bridge over the river Oen, now Inn, hence Innsbruck) to protect the road connecting Augsburg with Verona via the Brenner Pass - the very road we are walking. The Brenner Pass has always been the easiest route over the Alps, a major transport and communications link between the north and the south of Europe. In the Middle Ages it became a part of the Via Imperii, an imperial road under special protection of the king; it was the revenues generated by serving as a transit station on this route that enabled the city to flourish.
One of Innsbruck's best-known sites is the Goldenes Dachs, a loggia decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles in 1500 to mark the wedding of Emperor Maximilian I to Bianca Maria Sforza. The Emperor and his wife observed festivals, tournaments, and other events in the square below from the loggia.
Our wanderings about the old town ended at the covered market, the Markthalle, where we bought salad ingredients, pickled herring and strawberries to eat back at the flat. An afternoon nap followed. Then we celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant by the river.
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| Stormy skies over Innsbruck |
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| Happy birthday to me! |
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