Cultural Landmarks

No other Austrian city has undergone such a dramatic economic, social and demographical transformation in the 20th century as Linz. 

From the City of Industry to the City of Technology and Culture

The heart of the Austrian steel industry has been beating in Linz for over fifty years. The image of the Upper Austrian capital was defined almost exclusively by major industry for decades. Linz was the city of steel, pure and simple, marked by blast furnaces and carbon emissions. 

Decisive Transformation Through the Conjunction of Industry and Culture

Beginning in the 1970s, a new, dynamic understanding of culture led to a broadening of the city’s cultural policies. Since then, extremely productive networks between industry and commerce and art and culture have characterized the image of Linz. Building on this foundation, it has been possible to develop projects that arouse interest far beyond the borders of Upper Austria, and an extremely diverse and high quality art and culture scene has emerged. 

Future Orientation and Challenge: The Cultural Development Plan

Acknowledging this forward-looking development of the city in recent decades, fostering it and setting new impulses: all of this is brought together in the Cultural Development Plan that was agreed in 2000.
Here the City of Linz formulated guidelines and priorities for the cultural policies of the years to come. These are oriented to the strengths of the Capital of Culture 2009: a vision for Linz as a city of culture and technology of a European dimension with focal points in the sectors of culture for all, technology and new media, open spaces and the independent art scene.