Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz (Eduard-Wallnöfer Square), Innsbruck

The Eduard-Wallnofer Square, or Landhausplatz, in Innsbruck, is not an ancient forum from the golden age of empire. Originally, the area held a mansion, villas and gardens.

The Gauhaus building was built in 1938-1939 by Walter and Ewald Guth. In front of the building it was planned to make a square memorializing Tyrolean National Socialists (Nazis) who had died resisting the former Republic. Other changes were planned but World War II intervened.

After the war, the French occupiers thought it would be a good place for a Liberation Monument, designed by French Major Jean Pascaud. The monument mimics the front facade of the Landhaus building. It has five open spaces between flat columns. The columns are held within a squared arch.

On the flat top of the monument is an Austrian bronze eagle. In 1994 the square was named for Eduard-Wallnofer. Eduard had served as governor of Tyrol from 1963 to 1987. He died in 1989.

The square is a landscape of sculpted concrete. The area in front of the Landhaus building is an inviting space for any event. There are large fountains in the square. Further south in the square, the polished concrete sheet takes on various shapes. Monuments are spaced out around the square, leaving a wide longitudinal area in the center.

Eduard Wallnofer was a farmer and a lifetime politician. He was popular. In 2005 it was revealed that he had been a member of the Nazi party. The square is named for him but Locals mainly call it Landhaus Square.