The Port of Linz is the third biggest city in Austria and the capital of the state of Upper Austria. It is located on the Danube about 30 kilometers from the border with the Czech Republic. In 2007, almost 190 thousand people lived in the city proper, and 271 thousand lived in Greater Linz.

The Romans who founded the Port of Linz called it Lentia. It was a provincial government seat for the Holy Roman Empire and an important trade center between Bohemia, Poland, the Balkans, and Italy. It was for a time a very important city in the Habsburg Empire, as Emperor Friedrich III lived there during the last years of his life. When the emperor died in 1493, the Port of Linz lost its status to the cities of Prague and Vienna.

Johannes Kepler spent several years in the city, and the local public university is named after him. Composer Anton Bruckner worked there as a church organist between 1855 and 1868. Today, the local concert hall is named “Brucknerhaus” in his honor.

Adolph Hitler spent most of his childhood in Linz, and it is said he wanted the Port of Linz to be a major cultural center in the Third Reich. Before and during World War II, Hitler undertook industrialization of the city. He dismantled factories in Czechoslovakia and had them re-assembled in the Port of Linz. Today, an important steel company still occupies one of them.

The Port of Linz manufactured chemicals and steel for the Nazis, and the nearby Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps were the last to be liberated. Much of the stone Hitler used for building his new Reich came from quarries where the camp prisoners worked. While it was bombed during the war, the Port of Linz was not damaged to the degree of other Nazi stronghold cities.

After the war, the Danube was the border between American and Russian occupation troops. Being on both sides of the river, and the Nibelungen Bridge became Linz’s version of Checkpoint Charlie.

Modern Linz is an industrial city, home to many steel and chemical plants, and one of Austria’s most important economic centers. It is also home to PEZ, the candy manufacturers.

The Port of Linz is the largest on the upper Danube, with about 5.5 million tons of cargo moving through its facilities each year. It boasts a state-of-the-art logistics service center. Located on 150 hectares (45 hectares are water), it has modern facilities for cargo-handling and storage.

The Port of Linz’s Combination Traffic Centre covers about 90 thousand square meters and contains a container depot and container repair workshops. The Centre is equipped with the latest technical equipment to facilitate efficient loading and unloading of cargo and efficient handling of combined traffic.

The Port of Linz offers about 110 thousand square meters of covered warehouse space, including special warehouses for frozen, refrigerated, heated, and hazardous goods. Located where water, rail, and roads meet, it is positioned for rapid, efficient movement of cargo.

The Linz Tanker Port is designed for the transport and storage of mineral oil products. With capacity for 300 thousand cubic meters, it is equipped with a tank ship to supply fuel to tankers.

The City of Linz has an impressive old town, although not on par with that of Salzburg or Vienna. Populated by students and factory workers, the Port of Linz is more a real Austrian city and less a fairy-tale vacation destination.

Linz is diversifying and encouraging tourism. Each year, it hosts the Ars Electronica Festival for electronic arts. In September, it hosts the Klangwolke, an open-air spectacle that mixes modern and traditional music with a fantastic light show.

Visitors can feel history in the Port of Linz. Old town lies at the foot of the old village castle, and its large baroque main square recalls old Europe. A city of churches, Linz is home to Austria’s largest church, the New Cathedral, with space for 20 thousand people. The pilgrimage basilica is an important city landmark. The Lentos Museum of Modern Art boasts a beautiful glass façade that glows with color at night.

Although Linz Castle existed in 799, it was rebuilt in 1477 by Emperor Friedrich III. Some of its defensive walls, bastions, and the west entrance still stand. In the 1600s, the castle was redesigned by Rudolph II and expanded to a four-story block containing two inner courtyards and the city’s main gate. It was a hospital during the Napoleonic wars. In the early 1800s, it was used as a provincial prison and as a barracks from 1851 to 1945. The fortress was rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s, and today it is a museum with art exhibits from the middle Ages to today and displays of historic musical instruments and weapons.

Europe’s steepest mountain railroad, the Postlingberg tram, is scheduled to open in Linz in 2009. The Grotto Railway is located in fortifications built by Emperor Maximilian, and this mini-train is shaped like a mythological dragon. Located in the cellar of the citadel tower, it takes visitors through a landscape of fairy tales.

Housing more than 800 animals, the Linz Zoo is a favorite spot for children. In the Port of Linz, the Botanical Gardens are said to be some of the most beautiful in Europe. Covering 43 thousand square meters, they display over eight thousand species of plants, and they include five greenhouses full of exotic plants.

Visitors who want to visit the Port of Linz can find a comprehensive list of cruises on the Cruise Compete website.