FPÖ veteran recounts

30 years of Bergsilvester: Federspiel remembers

The Innsbruck Bergsilvester once started with 10,000 visitors. Its inventor Rudi Federspiel recalls the difficult start in an interview with the "Krone".

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

In 1994, Innsbruck FPÖ veteran Rudi Federspiel launched a success story that is still a huge visitor magnet today. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, he explains how it came about and the milestones he achieved.

The Innsbruck Bergsilvester will be 30 years old this year. A success story that deserves to be remembered. It was FPÖ veteran Rudi Federspiel who once created the event.

"It was on December 31, 1993, when I was walking through Rapoldipark with my wife Birgit at around 5 p.m.," Federspiel remembers as if it were yesterday. They were approached by tourists who asked him: "What can you do in Innsbruck on New Year's Eve?" Due to a lack of interesting events in Innsbruck, he sent them to Seefeld with a heavy heart.

Premiere in 1994
Unhappy with this solution, he came up with the idea of organizing a big event in Innsbruck at the turn of the year in the future. And after he became City Councillor for Tourism under Mayor Herwig van Staa in 1994, he got down to business: on December 31, 1994, the first Innsbruck Bergsilvester finally took place.

I am still proud of it today.

Rudi Federspiel

Despite all the prophecies of doom, the first event brought more than 10,000 visitors - locals and guests - to Innsbruck's old town and to the mile along the Inn with the big fireworks display on the Seegrube and also in Waltherpark. The breakthrough came with Federspiel's idea, following talks with ÖBB, to offer free train and bus tickets for the mountain New Year's Eve from all over Tyrol.

Up to 60,000 visitors
"The event was a complete success," recalls the thoroughbred tourism expert and politician in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. Up to 60,000 visitors attended the Bergsilvester at peak times. Over the years, in addition to the fantastic fireworks displays, there were also ballet performances on the Inn Bridge and concerts with the then little-known singer Semino Rossi and the Höttinger Big Band. "I'm still proud of that today," says Rudi Federspiel, alluding to the great added value of this unique event.