The Bergisel is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

(746 m) that lies to the south of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, in the area of

Wilten Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label= Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a ...

, where the

Sill river The Sill is a river in Tyrol, Austria. It is one of the larger tributaries of the Inn in Tyrol. It flows north through the Wipptal to Innsbruck. Its source lies east of the Brenner Pass. At the - the name of the point where it meets the Inn at ...

meets the

Inn Valley The Inn ( la, Aenus; rm, En) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The river is long. It is a right tributary of the Danube and it is the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is ...

. The word's first syllable ''Berg-'' doesn't correspond etymologically to the German word ''Berg'' with the meaning ''mountain''. The Bergisel's contemporary name is derived from the pre-Roman word ''burgusinus'' (elevated position), which then altered through

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

, causing the occasional spelling ''Berg Isel'' or its English equivalent ''Mount Isel''. Among its earlier uses were as a cremation site and as a habitation area during the Iron Age. In 1809, Bergisel was the site of the four

Battles of Bergisel The Battles of Bergisel were four battles fought between Tyrolese civilian militiamen and a contingent of Austrian government troops and the military forces of Emperor Napoleon I of France and King of Kingdom of Bavaria against at the Bergi ...

under the command of the

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

Andreas Hofer Andreas Hofer (22 November 1767 – 20 February 1810) was a Tyrolean innkeeper and drover, who in 1809 became the leader of the Tyrolean Rebellion against the Napoleonic and Bavarian invasion during the War of the Fifth Coalition. He was subs ...

. In 1892, the Andreas Hofer

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

was erected in order to commemorate the battles. Since 1952, Innsbruck has hosted one leg of the

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...

. The

Bergiselschanze The Bergisel Ski Jump (german: Bergiselschanze), whose stadium has a capacity of 26,000, is a ski jumping hill located in Bergisel in Innsbruck, Austria. It is one of the more important venues in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, annually hosting the ...

was built of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

for the 1964 Winter Olympics to replace an older, smaller ramp. It was also used for the 1976 Winter Olympics. A new ramp was opened in 2003, designed by the architect

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

, as the old one no longer conformed to contemporary requirements of

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

. Until an accident following a mass panic, which resulted in several

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

s, the Bergisel stadium was also the site of the

Air & Style The Air & Style is a European snowboard contest first held in Innsbruck, Austria in 1994 and now held annually. History Charly Weger and his snowboard photographer friend Andrew Hourmont first started the Air & Style Contest in Innsbruck. They on ...

snowboard festival. Both the Brenner railway and the

Brennerautobahn The Brenner Autobahn ( it, Autostrada del Brennero or it, AutoBrennero, en, Brenner motorway) refers to a major European truck route that connects Innsbruck in Austria to Verona in northern Italy. Numbered as the A13 in the Austrian section, t ...

have tunnels below the Bergisel. The Sill Gorge, a recreational site, is located at its base. The Bergisel can be reached by the Stubaitalbahn from

, exiting at Station Sonnenburgerhof, or by the Tram 1, at Station Bergisel.

References

{{Authority control Mountains of Tyrol (state) History of Tyrol (region)