Editing Linz (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Timeline of Linz}}{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2020}}
[[File:LINSVM AVSTRIAE Anno 1594.JPG|thumb|A depiction of the town in 1594]]
[[File:Blick über Linz von der Franz-Josefs-Warte.jpg|thumb|The central part of the town]]
[[File:View over Linz.jpg|thumb|View from [[Pöstlingberg]]]]

Linz originated as a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fort named ''Lentia'', established in the first century. The name reflects its location at a bend in the [[Danube]] ([[Celtic languages|Celtic]] root ''lentos'' = "bendable"). This strategic position on the river made it the first Roman fort in the [[Noricum]] region, protecting a vital transportation route.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Linz |first=Stadt |title=Geschichte der Stadt Linz |url=https://stadtgeschichte.linz.at/8187.php |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Stadt Linz |language=de}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite web |author=Paul Hofmann |title=Letting Linz Castle cast a spell |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9B0DEED9163BF936A35757C0A961948260&scp=5 |work=The New York Times |date=5 April 1987 |access-date=2 December 2008}}</ref>

The name "Linz" in its present form was first documented in 799.<ref name=":0" />

Linz was mentioned as a fortified city in 1236 and was granted city rights in 1324.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1955 |title=Linz an der Donau |encyclopedia=Der Große Brockhaus |publisher=[[F. A. Brockhaus AG]] |edition=16 |volume=7: L-Mij}}</ref>

[[Johannes Kepler]] spent several years of his life in the city teaching mathematics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Love |first=David |date=December 2009 |title=Who Was Johannes Kepler? |journal=Astronomy & Geophysics |volume=50 |issue=6 |pages=6.15–6.17 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-4004.2009.50615.x |bibcode=2009A&G....50f..15L |doi-access=free}}</ref> On 15 May 1618 he discovered [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion]]. The local public university [[Johannes Kepler University Linz]] is named for him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meilensteine |url=https://www.jku.at/die-jku/ueber-uns/meilensteine/ |access-date=15 October 2020 |website=www.jku.at |language=de}}</ref>

The ''[[Oeconomische Encyclopädie]]'' (also simply known as ''the Krünitz''), with the entry about Linz being written around 1800,<ref>{{cite web|title=Oeconomische Encyclopädie: Stichwortliste|url=https://www.kruenitz1.uni-trier.de/background/entries.htm}} </ref> describes the city as well built and fortified and its economy as growing, partially because of its location on the Danube and the connection to routes to Hungary and Vienna. When written, the city had a population of 16,000&ndash;17,000. Major industries were the productions of gunpowder, iron, steel, salt, firewood and predominantly, and the wool industry; a wool manufactory, established in 1672, was the biggest in then-Austria, or rather, the [[Federal states of Austria#Historical development|Austrian states]]. It was nationalized in 1754. Plans, made in 1770, of selling it to a tradesman were canceled. Although it kept production going, its ''golden era ''was over. 

When the ''Krünitz'' entry was written, the manufactuary had a yearly revenue of 1.5 million ''Gulden'' and was generating 100,000 in profit and was employing around 30,000 people.<ref>{{cite web| date=1800| first= Heinrich Gustav | last=Flörke |url=https://www.kruenitz1.uni-trier.de |title=Oeconomische Encyclopädie}}</ref>

[[Anton Bruckner]] spent the years between 1855 and 1868 working as a local composer and organist in the [[Old Cathedral, Linz]]. The [[Brucknerhaus]] is named for him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Philosophie & Geschichte |url=https://www.brucknerhaus.at/das-haus/philosophie-geschichte |access-date=15 October 2020 |website=www.brucknerhaus.at}}</ref>

[[Adolf Hitler]] was born in [[Braunau am Inn]] (an Austrian town near the German border) and moved to Linz during his childhood. The notorious [[Holocaust]] bureaucrat [[Adolf Eichmann]] also spent his youth in Linz. Until the end of his life, Hitler considered Linz to be his hometown.<ref>Ian Kershaw (1998) ''Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris''. New York: Norton. pg. 15</ref> Hitler effected the founding of the Bruckner Symphony Orchestra, which began presenting concerts in autumn 1943. His plan for one of the bell towers in Linz to play a theme from Bruckner's Fourth Symphony never came to pass.<ref>Richard J. Evans (2008) ''The Third Reich at War'' Penguin Books pg.579 {{ISBN|9780143116714}}</ref> 

During [[World War II]] Linz was a giant industrial complex in support of the Nazi war effort. [[Hermann Göring]] supervised the construction of the Voest complex, ultimately a gigantic construction site built by slave labour. The [[Mauthausen concentration camp]] was established to the east of Linz, but three Mauthausen sub-camps were within the Voest complex.<ref>{{cite book | author1= Raoul Bunschoten |title=Urban Flotsam: Stirring the City |publisher=010 Publishers |year=2001 |page=277 |isbn=9789064503870 }}</ref>

In addition to an ordnance depot Linz had a benzol plant which was bombed during the [[Oil Campaign of World War II]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Samuel W. Mitcham |title=Eagles of the Third Reich |year=2007 |publisher=Stackpole  |page=261 |isbn=9780811734059 }}</ref> The city's confrontation with its Nazi past resulted in the renaming of many streets. In 1945, immediately after the end of the Nazi dictatorship, 39 streets in Linz were renamed, but from 1946 to 1987, only two streets were renamed. However, since 1988, 17 new traffic areas were named after victims of National Socialism or resistance fighters.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}