The first Four Hills Tournament with ski jumping took place on the "old" Bergisel ski jump in 1953. "Bubi" Bradl was victorious. It's hard to believe that there were no ski jumping suits or safety bindings back then. The equipment continued to develop, the ski jump and the stadium got on in years, but remain a striking eye-catcher in Innsbruck to this day, with many stories to tell.
However, Bergisel's history goes back even further. Over 200 years ago, brave Tyroleans fought for their freedom on the mountain. In 1927, the first Bergisel ski jumping competition (Tyrolean Championships) took place on the natural ski jump. The winner jumped 47.5 metres. Just one year later, the first wooden jumping tower was built with an inrun of 100 metres and a hill record of 53 metres.
On the occasion of the papal visit of John Paul II and the mass at Bergisel in 1988 with over 60,000 believers, the city of Innsbruck organised an international ideas competition for the redesign of the Bergisel stadium in 1990. However, several years were to pass before the realisation of the construction project took shape.
After the International Ski Federation announced that it was withdrawing the Bergisel ski jump's suitability for ski jumping, momentum was restored to the complex remodelling project. In co-operation with the city of Innsbruck, the Austrian Ski Association announced a competition for the "New Bergisel Ski Jump with viewing café" in 1999. The reconstruction was finally awarded to the star architect Zaha Hadid.
The Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016, was known above all for her precise, futuristic sketches and the curved lines of her buildings. In 2004, she was the first woman to receive the most prestigious honour in architecture, the Pritzker Architecture Prize. According to Zaha Hadid, the challenge of the Bergisel ski jump was to integrate an originally foreign element (café and viewing terrace) into a predetermined formula (the ski jump).
In 2001, the time had finally come and construction work could begin. On 25 March 2001, the spectacular demolition of the old ski jump tower took place, which turned out to be a complicated project due to the surrounding Brenner motorway and the railway tracks.
As soon as the "old" ski jump had been disposed of, construction of the new facility could begin. The plan: to mark the 50th anniversary of the Four Hills Tournament, the Tournament competition was to be held on the new facility. Work was carried out day and night to realise this goal, which today seems almost utopian.
If the steel used had been laid side by side, the raw material would have filled an entire football pitch. The material used totalled up to 13.5 million euros. You could buy a small island in New York with that amount. The construction was supported by the federal government, the state of Tyrol, the city of Innsbruck and the ÖSV.
The effort was worth it! In 2002, the ski jump was honoured with the Austrian State Prize for Architecture. Only the most outstanding architectural projects that set accents and impulses receive this special honour.
Despite numerous doubts, those responsible managed to complete the new ski jump in time for the 50th Bergisel Ski Jump "That's one of those things God gave us no wings, but he gave us the power to fly from the tower to glide", was the opening hymn composed by Dietmar Schönherr.
The German Sven Hannawald took the première victory, who went on to become the first ski jumper in history to win all four jumps in the course of the Four Hills Tournament. The native of the Black Forest won with distances of 134.5 and 128 metres. His words about the jump: "It's just a great feeling. It's pure enjoyment."
Wolfgang Loitzl's first Austrian home victory only came seven years after the first ski jumping competition on the new Bergisel. This finally broke the spell and in the following four years, three more ÖSV eagles triumphed in Innsbruck: Gregor Schlierenzauer, Thomas Morgenstern and Andreas Kofler.
The hill record for ski jumpers in winter is held by Austrian ski jumper Michael Hayböck (2015) with 138 metres. In summer, Adam Malysz (2004) tries to beat it with 136 metres. Every year, up to 22,500 fans travel to the Bergisel for the ski jumping tour, transforming the stadium into a veritable "witches' cauldron" and creating a unique atmosphere in the Ski Jumping World Cup.
The impressive architecture of the sports facility also has great appeal for people outside of top-class sport. The 50 metre high tower attracts visitors with its panoramic restaurant "Bergisel Sky" and a viewing platform with a 360° panoramic view of the city and the surrounding mountain scenery. The museum is just a few metres away Tirol Panorama with the circular painting, from where a panoramic trail also leads around the Innsbruck landmark.
To reach the viewing platform, guests can walk up 455 steps from the entrance to the stadium to the ski jump or take the inclined lift up to around 250 metres above Innsbruck in just 2 minutes.
The sports centre has already been used three times at the Olympic Games. In 1964, 1976 and at the Youth Olympic Games in 2012.
Despite the home advantage on the famous ski jump, the success rate of the ÖSV eagles is not particularly good. The Austrians have only competed for precious metal in 1933, 1985 and again in 2019 at the World Championships. The ÖSV team won three medals there.
The Bergisel is as versatile as a chameleon when it comes to the use of the ski jump. In 2004, a tennis arena was built in the outrun of the ski jump, where the Fed Cup was held. In the summer of 2008, the ski jump was transformed into a public viewing arena for the European Football Championships. That year, the "Red Bull 400" event took place there, with thousands of participants pushing themselves to their limits in the world's toughest 400 metres to conquer the legendary ski jump from the bottom to the top.
In January 2009, the snowboarding spectacle "Air & Style" returned to Bergisel for the first time since its renovation. This is one of the biggest freestyle snowboard festivals in the whole of Europe. It has been held annually since 1994 and is regarded as the first competition to focus on the so-called straight jump (big air). The response from the spectators was overwhelming: the stadium was completely sold out within seconds.
A particularly eye-catching feature of the Bergisel ski jump: it lights up at night. Its colour changes every ten minutes. Thanks to new controls, countless flag colour combinations can also be programmed, which can be used to showcase the respective countries during competitions, for example.
