CITY

Linz: City Flag, History and Identity

Linz is located on the Danube and is the capital of Upper Austria. The city connects older trade routes and historic urban spaces with industrial history and digital culture. Ars Electronica and the Pöstlingbergbahn show two very different sides of this development. The red-and-white banner with city coat of arms shown here, on the other hand, places the traditional urban symbolism in the foreground.

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Linz City Flag & Local History · supplied learning collection

Linz at a glance

Name: Linz
Country: Austria
Profile type: City
Urban river: Danube
Historically independent city: Driving since 1882
Former external settlement: Ebelsberg
Old town limits: Among other things, digging and promenade
Start of construction of mountain railways: 1897
Mountain railway technology: Electrical adhesion track
Festival starts: Ars Electronica 1979
Museum location: Ars Electronica Center on the north bank of the Danube

The Flag of Linz

The figure shows a long, vertical banner with red and white color tracks. On it sits the Linz coat of arms with a white castle representation above a watermark. The shape of the picture is important: you can see here expressly a hanging city banner, whose proportions are clearly different from an ordinary rectangular hoisting flag.

Red and white form the background, while the coat of arms allows for concrete city allocation. Castle and water should first be read as heraldic forms. A flag drawing is not a true-to-life view of today’s city. The banner is also a Linz city symbol and must not be equated with the flag of the federal state of Upper Austria.

Linz: Location and Territorial Role

Linz is located on both sides of the Danube. The river was crucial for the importance of the city as a waterway and crossing point. The older city centre and Urfahr on the other side belong to the same commune today. Historically, the circumstances were different: Urfahr had been a city of its own since 1882 and was only later incorporated into Linz.

The city history describes a formerly narrow core within the city walls. The parish square, trench, promenade and castle help to trace this area spatially today. Other places such as Ebelsberg, Kleinmünchen or St. Magdalena were originally separate from it. The current urban area was therefore also created by the connection of early independent settlements and not only by uniform development from the center.

Landscape, History and Culture

The Pöstlingberg opens up a view of the city and its Danube location. The development of his railway is at the same time a history of technology. A first proposal envisaged a steam-operated toothed track; however, an electrically operated adhesion track was realized. Construction began in 1897. Thus, the way to the mountain itself is one of the special historical experiences of the Linz cityscape.

Ars Electronica began as an event in 1979. The festival developed into an institution at the interface of art, technology and society. The history is closely linked to Linz, whose industrial character acquired new cultural perspectives during this time. The examination of digital technologies was understood not only as a technical topic, but also as a task of public communication.

The Ars Electronica Center is located on the northern bank of the Danube near the Nibelungen Bridge. Its emergence shows how cultural institutions can change the perception of a city. Linz cannot be explained only about earlier production sites: exhibitions, experiments and artistic debates open up a further access to the question of how people shape and understand technical changes.

Danube and Urfahr

The connection between the two banks makes an important part of Linz’s history visible. Urfahr was not always a mere quarter of the city, but at times an independent commune. Anyone who crosses the Danube therefore also moves between previously separated urban spaces, the growing together of which is fundamental for today's Linz.

Pöstlingbergbahn

The railway opens up the mountain and at the same time reminds of early electric transport technology. Particularly noteworthy is the decision for an adhesion path instead of the initially proposed gearwheel solution. This example shows that technical city history often consisted of several possible paths and the solution familiar today was the result of concrete planning decisions.

Ars Electronica

Festival and center stand for a concept of culture that treats technology not only as a tool. Here, digital media become the subject of artistic and social questions. The development since 1979 makes Ars Electronica a key for modern Linz and complements the historical reference points Danube trade, old town and mountain railway with an internationally oriented contemporary level.