Books set in Innsbruck: Discover Tyrol through literature

14 November 2025

Post originally written in: Deutsch

Experiencing true adventures in my head, switching off and relaxing - I can do that while reading. It's one of my absolute favorite pastimes. I find it wonderful to simply enjoy the reading experience with a book in my hand. Unfortunately, I'm missing out on it far too much in my everyday life at the moment.

Nevertheless, my 6-year-old daughter calls me a bookworm. I work full-time in a bookshop, I volunteer at the local library and at home I love reading to my children or preparing for my library sessions. Books play a big role in my life.

When I read, I like to immerse myself in other worlds that have absolutely nothing to do with my everyday life. Fantastic stories in which magical creatures appear and the heroes have to overcome various challenges. But why not discover something familiar? For example, books set in Tyrol. I've discovered quite a few, both for children and adults.

With the Wimmelbücher of Innsbruck and Tyrol, we adults can discover very special places and details of the province and the provincial capital with the little ones that will amaze us. Maria Kittler and illustrator Bettina Egger have published two of these special picture books in 2019 and 2021 in the publishing house of the Wagner‘schen Universitätsbuchhandlung have published two of these very special picture books. The lovingly painted pictures show, for example, the Maria-Theresien-Straße in Innsbruck, Ambras Castle, the Arzler Alm or the old town with the golden roof. In the Tirol-Wimmelbuch you can discover the fortress Kufstein, Hall, the Achensee or the Telfer Schleicherlaufen. There are also hidden object books about the Alpine Zoo or the University of Innsbruck. I like looking at these kinds of books with the children: you always find new details - it's not only fun for the little ones, but also for the older ones, including my children - they discover more and more exciting details of their immediate surroundings.

Toni and Moni discover Tyrol

Children can discover Tirol together with Toni and Moni in the book series "Toni and Moni discover Tirol" from Hans Moser Tirol. Toni and Moni are siblings and are interested in tradition and history. In volume 1, they learn about 14 customs from Tyrolean life. In volume 2, they follow in the footsteps of famous Tyroleans such as Emperor Max, Margarethe Maultasch, Andreas Hofer & Co - while reading, you learn a lot about customs, important events and personalities. It is described in a simple and child-friendly way, but not only the children benefit from it, but also us adults.

A few weeks ago, I read a book by a dear friend who also lives in my home town Oberhofen - „Im Zeichen des Wolfmondes“ by Johann Kapferer. It's a young adult thriller set in my immediate surroundings, namely the Oberhofen, Telfs, Zirl, Innsbruck area. The main protagonist is 12-year-old Jakob. He is taken hostage during a petrol station robbery. There is an accident during the escape. Jakob suffers a traumatic brain injury. As a result of the robbery, the hostage-taking and the long stay in hospital, the boy is severely traumatized and loses the ability to speak. A wolf as an imaginary fantasy creature plays an important supporting role. I really enjoyed the dialog, some of it in dialect, the descriptions of Oberhofen and the other places in the area, as well as the suspense.

You can get to know the state capital from a completely different perspective in Christian Kösslers „Bestialisches Innsbruck“ . The author takes readers to real locations and plays with his imagination. He pulls readers out of their well-protected everyday lives and asks the question "What if?". With his twelve short stories, he creates a gruesome picture of the city, a stark contrast to the everyday city life we are used to. The book is not a new publication, it was published in 2007, but my tip for all those readers who are ready to get involved with a completely different Innsbruck.

Bernhard Aichner: An Innsbruck bestseller

Who hasn't heard of Brünhilde Blum, Bernhard Aichner's Totenfrau. The Tyrolean author's trilogy is known worldwide. The thrillers topped the bestseller lists for months, were sold in over 15 countries and were even filmed for ORF/Netflix. But what is it about? The mortician Brünhilde Blum, takes revenge after the violent death of her husband. She realizes that her husband was murdered and that supposed friends had a hand in it. Blum hunts down those responsible and takes the consequences - she kills them in a brutal manner and leads the investigators on the wrong track... In Aichner's novel, the funeral home Blum is set in the Innsbruck district of Saggen, and the story takes place many times in the provincial capital. The series was filmed in Tyrol, Vienna and Lower Austria. Filming took place in Kühtai - the home of the Blum family is located in the center of the village. Other filming locations included Ötztaler Gletscherstraße, the Inn at Roppen, Hotel Riml in Hochgurgl and the workshop of the Ötztal transport company. If you would like to find out more about famous Innsbruck film locations, you can also read the article "Innsbruck: famous film locations & films made in Tirol".

In „Café Schindler“, Meriel Schindler embarks on a search for the truth about her family and the café Schindler. The Café Schindler has been one of the most famous addresses in Innsbruck since it was founded in 1922. Back then, it was the meeting place par excellence - until the Nazis came. The granddaughter of one of the founders uses photos and papers to get to the bottom of her own family history and describes the time during, between and after the wars in great detail.

Some aspects were new to me and I also gained a different insight into the past of a town that I knew well.