Imst

Imst is a town in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. It lies on the River Inn in western Tyrol, some 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Innsbruck and at an altitude of 828 metres (2,717 feet) above sea level. With a current population (2013) of 9,552, Imst is the administrative centre of Imst District.

History

Licensed since 1282 to hold a regular market. Until 1918, the town (named earlier also JMST) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), head of the district of the same name, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Tyrol province.

Imst received full town rights in 1898.

Luge track

In 1958, the first artificially refrigerated 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 and 1978 and it hosted the FIL European Luge Championships in 1956, 1971, and 1974.

Imst District

The Bezirk Imst is an administrative district (Bezirk) in Tyrol, Austria. It borders the district Reutte in the north, as well as sharing a small border with Bavaria (Germany). It borders the district Innsbruck-Land in the east, South Tyrol (Italy) in the south, and the district Landeck in the west.

Area of the district is 1,724.65 square kilometres (665.89 sq mi), which makes it by area rank 4 of the districts of Tyrol, with a population of 57,734 (as of January 1, 2012) (Number 6 in Tyrol), and a population density of 33 persons per km². The administrative center of the district is Imst.

Geography

The district comprises a part of the upper Inn valley, with its tributary valleys Ötztal, Pitztal, and Gurgltal, and the Mieming Plateau. The area is dominated by high alpine mountains. Mountain ranges include the Stubai Alps, Ötztal Alps, and Mieminger Mountains. The District is around 35 km from west to east and 80 km from north to south. The Highest mountain is the Wildspitze (3.768 meters), the second highest mountain of Tyrol and the highest mountain of North Tyrol (all districts of Tyrol without the Lienz District). The Imst District is the southeast District of North Tyrol and includes one of the three passes from North to South Tyrol (Province Bolzano-Bozen, Italy), the Timmelsjoch, which is also the highest pass of Tyrol.