Imst is a city in the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n federal state

States of Austria

Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...

 of Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

. It lies on the River Inn

Inn River

The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres.- Geography :...

 in western Tyrol, some 55 km west of Innsbruck

Innsbruck

- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

 and at an altitude of 828 m above sea-level. With a current population (2006) of around 11,400, Imst is the administrative centre of Imst

Imst (district)

The Bezirk Imst is an administrative district in Tyrol, Austria. It borders the district Reutte in the north, as well as sharing a small border with Bavaria...

 District

Districts of Austria

Austria is divided into 84 political districts , and 15 Statutarstädte which form their own districts.-Function:The Austrian Bezirk is roughly equivalent to the Landkreis in Germany and County in the United States. The administrative office of a district, the Bezirkshauptmannschaft is headed by the...

.

History

Licensed since 1282 to hold a regular market, Imst received full town rights in 1898.

Luge track

In 1958, the first artificially refrigerated

Refrigeration

Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...

 track was completed at Imst. The track was 1000.9 meters long with 17 turns and a vertical drop of 124.8 meters, giving the track an average grade of 12.48%. No turn names were given for the track.

It hosted the FIL World Luge Championships in 1963

FIL World Luge Championships 1963

-Men's singles:-Women's singles:Geisler becomes the first woman to repeat as World Champion.-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

 and 1978

FIL World Luge Championships 1978

-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

 and it hosted the FIL European Luge Championships in 1956

FIL European Luge Championships 1956

The FIL European Luge Championships 1956 took place in Imst, Austria under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing under their "Section de Luge"...

, 1971

FIL European Luge Championships 1971

The FIL European Luge Championships 1971 took place in Imst, Austria for the second time after having previously hosted the championships in 1956. A record four countries won medals at these championships.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:...

, and 1974

FIL European Luge Championships 1974

The FIL European Luge Championships 1974 took place in Imst, Austria for the third time after previously hosting the event in 1956 and 1971.-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Medal table:-References:***...

.

SOS Children's Village

In 1949 Hermann Gmeiner

Hermann Gmeiner

Hermann Gmeiner was an Austrian philanthropist and the founder of SOS Children's Villages.- Life :...

 founded the first SOS Children's Village

SOS Children's Villages

SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental international development organisation which has been working to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of children since 1949. It was founded by Hermann Gmeiner in Imst, Austria...

in the Sonnberg district of Imst. The SOS-Kinderdörfer organization now runs over 450 such villages worldwide.

External links