Braunau Am Inn - History

History

The town was first mentioned around 810 and received a statute in 1260, which makes it one of the oldest towns in Austria. It became a fortress town and important trading route junction, dealing with the salt trade and with ship traffic on the River Inn.

Throughout its history, it changed hands four times. As a major Bavarian settlement, the town played an outstanding role in the Bavarian uprising against the Austrian occupation during the War of the Spanish Succession, when it hosted the Braunau Parliament, a provisional Bavarian Parliament in 1705 headed by Georg Sebastian Plinganser (born 1680 in Pfarrkirchen; died 7 May 1738 in Augsburg). In 1779 it became an Austrian town under the terms of the treaty of Teschen, which settled the War of the Bavarian Succession. Under the terms of the Treaty of Pressburg, Braunau became Bavarian again in 1809. In 1816, during reorganisation of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, Bavaria ceded the town to Austria and was compensated by the gain of Aschaffenburg. Braunau has been Austrian ever since.

Braunau has a 15th century church with a 99m-high spire, the third highest in Austria. Its patron saint is St. Stephen. The remains of a castle house a museum and parts of the former town walls can still be seen. Another museum is housed in refurbished 18th century public baths.

Adolf Hitler was born in Ranshofen, later annexed to Braunau am Inn, on 20 April 1889. He and his family left Braunau and moved to Passau in 1892. In 1989, mayor Gerhard Skiba took the initiative and placed a memorial stone commemorating the victims of World War II in front of the building in which Hitler was born. The stone is made of granite from the Mauthausen concentration camp. It states, Für Frieden, Freiheit und Demokratie. Nie wieder Faschismus. Millionen Tote mahnen, or "For peace, freedom and democracy; millions of dead urge: never again fascism." It is often vandalised by members of neo-Nazi groups. In 2011, the town council revoked the honorary citizenship that had been awarded to Hitler by Ranshofen in 1933, despite the fact no historical evidence could be found it was granted.

In 1938, Ranshofen, which at that time had one of Austria's largest aluminium plants, was annexed to Braunau.

In 1948, Braunau had a population of 11,744.

Braunau has a full range of industries including electronics, metal (AMAG), woodworking, and glass. The town also has the largest aluminium works in Austria.

After two successful seasons, the local football team, SV Braunau, reached the Austrian 1st Division before suddenly going bankrupt in 2000. The team was refounded as FC Braunau.