LINZ, capital of Upper Austria, and see of a bishop, in 48° 19' N. lat., 14° 16' E. long., lies upon the right bank of the Danube, 98 miles west of Vienna, at the junction of the Kaiserin-Elizabeth Western Railway with a line from Prague and Budweis. The market-town of Urfahr, on the opposite side of the river, is connected with the city by an iron bridge 700 feet in length, constructed in 1872. Linz possesses two cathedrals, one dating from 1670, and another, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, commenced in 1862, and still unfinished, a Lutheran (1845) and several Roman Catholic churches, the new synagogue opened in 1877, and many religious houses. The old Laudeshaus, or House of the Estates (1562), the Bibliotheca Publica (1788), now (1882) containing 34,000 volumes, the Museum Francisco-Carolinum (1834), and a state theatre (1803) may also be noticed, with the episcopal and archducal palaces, and the castle now used as barracks. There are many educational establishments, including the theological diocesan lyceum, a new gymnasium and normal schools, and several hospitals and asylums. The principal manufactories are of tobacco (in 1880 employing 787 hands, and producing 25,286,050 cigars and 1850 tons of tobacco), and boot-varnish and blacking (2500 cwts.), the last chiefly exported to Hungary and Italy. Two breweries in 1881 produced 1,781,828 gallons of beer, and the other industries include iron-boat-building, and the manufacture of locomotives and agricultural implements. Trade and commerce are facilitated by the river. About forty-six thousand passengers embark or disembark at the steamboat landing stage, and the imports and exports there amount together to about 500,000 cwts. annually. There is a considerable traffic in woollen goods, carpets, linen ...fabrics, thread, prepared leather, iron wares, and salt. Cattle and meat markets are held twice a week. The Volksfest, a popular fair held generally every second September, is much resorted to by strangers. The surrounding country is highly picturesque. On the 31st December 1880 the population (exclusive of the garrison, 2799) was 36,116, or with the suburbs of Waldegg (1204) and Lustenau (1568) 38,888, chiefly Roman Catholics.
Linz is believed to stand on the site of the Roman station Lentium or Lentia. The authentic history of Linz cannot be traced farther back than 799. In 1140 it was purchased from Gottschalk, count of Kyrnberg, by Leopold I V., margrave of Austria; in 1324 it first received municipal rights, and in 1490 became the capital of the province above the Enns. Of various attacks which Linz from time to time successfully resisted the most notable was that by the insurgent peasants under Stephen Fadinger, 21st and 22d July 1626, when the suburbs were laid in ashes. At Linz (16th December 1645) peace was concluded between the emperor Ferdinand III. and the Transylvanian prince Râkôczy (see Hungary, vol. xii. p. 370). During the siege of Vienna iu 1683 the castle at Linz was the residence of Leopold I. The triple deliverance of Linz from war, fire, and pestilence was commemorated by Charles VI., in 1723, by the erection of a marble monument known as Trinity Column. In 1741, during the war of the Austrian succession, Linz was taken by the troops of the elector of Bavaria, but on the 23d January 1742 it was recovered by the Austrians. The bishopric was established by Pope Pius VI. in 1784. On the 15th of August 1800 many of the principal buildings were destroyed by fire. On the 17th May 1809 an Austrian force was defeated near the city in an engagement with Saxon and Wurtemberg troops. The chain of outlying forts, thirty-two in number, now abandoned, and to a great extent demolished, was constructed between 1828 and 1836 under the direction of Archduke Maximilian d’Este. A general assembly of the Catholic Union for Germany was held here 24th to 26th September 1850. Tramways were introduced in 1880, and a new line of railway through the Kremsthal was completed as far as Kremsmiinster in 1881.
See the anonymous Führer auf der Kremsthalbahn, mit Beschreibung von Linz, Linz, 1881; the Stgtisticher Bericht Oberösterreichs 1876-1880, Linz, J8S1, vol. iL pp. 243-283; the official Ergebnisse über die Volkszählung in Linz, Linz, 1881; F. Krackowizer, Die Landeshauptstadt Linz, Linz, 1875; and G. H. Heinse, Linz und seine Umgebungen, 2d ed., Linz, 1838.
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