The ground breaking ceremony marks the start of the expansion of the Ars Electronica Center. It will gain an extra 4000 square meters of space by 2009, the year Linz is European Capital of Culture. During the extensive construction works the Museum of the Future will move to a location in the center of Linz.

The tropical greenhouse of the Botanical Gardens presents a butterfly and orchid exhibition. The colourful display attracts countless visitors year after year.

The decision is taken to build a new opera house in Linz. Of the three designs taken into final consideration, the jury chose the „Theatre by the Park“, a project by the architect Terry Powson of London. The deciding criteria were workability, architectural quality and urban value. The costs of the winning project, which includes an underground car park and a new traffic solution for the area around Blumau, were estimated at approximately 143 million Euros. A completion deadline was not set, although the theatre was certain not to be finished by 2009, Linz's year as cultural capital of Europe.

The decision was taken to expand the AEC. The Museum of the Future is to receive adequate exhibition space and be expanded into the Ars Electronica Future Park by 2009, the year when Linz will become European Capital of Culture. Of the 38 entries to the EU-wide competition the jury selected the project submitted by Treusch architecture of Vienna. The main thought behind these plans is to expand in the form of a sculptured building. The point being that this is a sculpture you can enter and so experience. The crystalline form of the steel and glass construction becomes one with its surroundings and simultaneously becomes an architectural landmark in the city. Construction is due to begin at the end of 2006, completion is anticipated in the third quarter of 2008.

Dr. Rupert Hartl, former Deputy Provincial Governor and recipient of the honorary ring of the City of Linz, died on Monday, 6th March at the age of 84.

Rupert Hartl was born in Reichenau on the 2nd April 1921. He attended the Kollegium Petrinum grammar school, and graduated from the Linz state grammar school on Spittelwiese. After his war service and spending time in captivity he studied law in Graz and Innsbruck and was awarded his doctorate in February 1948. He began a career as a judge and rose to the position of senate president of the Provincial Appeals Court in Linz.

Hartl entered politics via his activities as a trade unionist. In 1967 he was elected to first president of the Upper Austrian Provincial Assembly. Hartl was involved at the centre of the reform of the Upper Austrian constitution in this capacity. Two years later he joined the provincial government and took on the social security and health portfolios. The completion of the Upper Austrian plan for health institutions, the Upper Austrian plan for the elderly and the Upper Austrian social support bill during his time in charge of social security were trend setting for social and health policies for the whole of Austria.

Between 1974 and 1982 Dr. Hartl was Deputy Provincial Governor and responsible for local government. Having been provincial head of the Austrian Socialdemocratic Party for many years, he retired in 1982.

Meteorologically speaking, spring has already begun. Yet this weekend brought record amounts of snow. 25 cm of snow fell in the centre of Linz on Saturday night alone, a larger amount than has been seen in years. Many house owners are again concerned, for roofs had already had to bear heavy loads of snow in January and February.

The roof of the Intersport Arena beside the Linz Stadium had to be shovelled clear, too. More than twice the amount of salt has been spread on the West, Mühlkreis and Linz motorways than in previous years. In the area around Ansfelden more than 3000 tons were spread on the asphalt. 15 spreading vehicles were constantly in use between 10pm Saturday night and 3pm Sunday.
Meteorologists predict temperatures to rise significantly by the middle of March at the earliest.

The 4000 square metre area between the Ursulinenhof and the O.K. Center for Contemporary Art is to make place for a building several stories high. According to plans by the architect Peter Riepl, the area of the square will be reduced by a third and paved in coloured tiles. In the Ursulinenhof, the foyer will be extended, with a view onto the square. The new building will
house office space and at least two restaurants. In addition, an extra 160 seat 'Moviemento' screen directly connecting to the O.K. Is planned.

The ceremony marks the start of work on the redevelopment of the Franz Hillinger retirement home. A new building with over 120 care places and ten short-term care places will be constructed on the site  of the old Hillinger home, to plans by the Linz architect Herbert Karrer. This will significantly improve the quality of care and support in Urfahr.
The planned completion date is 2008.

The south wing of the Linz Castle was completely destroyed by fire in 1800. After many deliberations over the past decades, the Upper Austrian provincial government today decides to rebuild the south wing. This will create a space in which to house the Upper Austrian provincial museums' scientific collections, and the collections concerning the history of technology. In addition, a function room is planned including a restaurant overlooking the roofs of Linz.

The ground-breaking ceremony officially launches construction on the mobile flood protection dam in Alt-Urfahr West. The mobile dam will be built upstream starting at Nibelungen Bridge. First of all, an 80 cm high wall will be built as a foundation, upon which up to 4,000 mobile units can be placed, building a watertight wall. The mobile dam will be available as soon as May next year. Four high performance pumps will also be built, to be operational by 2007, in order to pump out water flowing from the hinterland as well as ground water seeping through.

All trains of the Linz Local Railway (LILO) have the Main Station as their terminal, with immediate effect. This concludes the upgrade of the Main Station into a local transport hub.

The old local railway station will be demolished by the middle of 2006 and the remaining tracks taken up.

Construction on the 63 metre high Tower of Knowledge reaches the roof section, after building started in February 2005. The distinctive building opposite the Main Station will combine the headquarters of the City Libraries and the Adult Education Centre under one roof.

In the early hours of 17th October former Governor and bearer of the Honorary Ring of the City of Linz, Dr. Erwin Wenzl, dies aged 84. Erwin Wenzl began his political career in 1952 as regional party secretary of the ÖVP. Three years later he became a member of the Upper Austrian provincial government and succeeded Heinrich Gleißner as Governor in 1971. He retired from this post in 1977 and became a director of OKA. He retired in 1989 after 13 years as Chairman of the energy company.

At the start of the winter semester 2005/06, 650 students start their courses at the new Advanced Technical College on Garnisonstraße.

5200 square metres of lecture theatres, seminar rooms, modern labs and a library are available to those courses offered in Linz: social work, social management, social services for people needing care, administration management and medical technology.

The Linz Advanced Technical College is ideally placed near the Linz General Hospital, the new Accident Hospital and the gespag Mother&Child Centre, and is therefore especially suited to the further development in the "Health and Social Welfare" field.

The 7th Speyer Quality Competition recognises the project of the municipal IT service  submitted in the category "Quality in Administration". The subject matter of the city's entry was the integrated use of new public management instruments in the field of internal municipal IT services. This award follows on from the prize the municipality received for its administrative modernisation in 1996.

Simon Wiesenthal dies in Vienna at the age of 96. Wiesenthal's research activities and significant contribution to processing the historical events surrounding the Holocaust began in Linz. Simon Wiesenthal received numerous awards for this work, including the Honorary Ring of the City of Linz on 29th May 1995.

In solarCity, 43 town houses of the WSG are handed over to the inhabitants . This concludes the construction of housing in solarCity, totalling 1300 housing units.

The visualised Linz Klangwolke 2005 reflects three anniversaries: 60 years since the Second Republic, 50 years since the State Treaty and 10 years of EU membership. Titled "Teilung am Fluss", the artist group lweine torrèn, led by director and choreographer Hubert Lepka, present a "history fiction": what would have happened, had the State Treaty not been signed, resulting in a divided Austria and a divided Linz as well?

On the one hand, "Teilung am Fluss" portrays the fate of two people divided by river and politics, on the other hand takes the form of a new station reporting and commenting. Live pictures, pre-recorded scenes and historical archive material are skilfully interwoven. Peter Valentin provides the music, inspired by signature tunes from radio and television, hymns and hits.

The extension of the tram line 2 to solarCity is completed three months ahead of  schedule.

The 2.3 km route leads from the previous terminal Hillerstraße along Traundorfer Straße via the Mona-Lisa tunnel to the tracks of the Westbahn. Here the No. 2 is connected to Ebelsberg station.

The two directors for the large-scale cultural project "Linz – European Capital of Culture" are introduced in a press conference. From September 2005 onwards Swiss-born Martin Heller (Artistic Director) and Linz's Walter Putschögl (Commercial Director)  will head Linz 2009 – Kulturhauptstadt Europas Organisations GmbH.

The opening of the commercial and service centre Lenauparkcity concludes the city development project, which was launched in 2001. The former site of voestalpine steel trading betweenLastenstraße, Rilkestraße, Raimundstraße and Hamerlingstraße is transformed into an attractive new "district in a district" to plans by the firm of architects Kneidinger and Stögmüller. It includes the two office blocks City Tower 1 and 2, the Sonnenhof-Lenaupark retirement home, which was built as part of the city's social strategy, as well as supported rental and rent-then-buy apartments.

After about half the residents of the care home had been transferred into the new retirement centre Sonnenhof-Lenaupark in June 2003, parts of the old building complex were stripped down or demolished entirely. In the course of the new development four living areas each with room for 32 residents could be built together with their own care support points. The return of the residents is planned for February 2007.

The adult education centre and the city library had already been merged into one organisation. By locating them in a single building, the strengths of both institutions can be accessed to their full potential, and new services can be created.
The Tower of Knowledge will offer self-education centres for life-long learning and represents a centre for reading, literature and media use.

The basic architectural concept was developed by the Linz architects Franz Kneidinger and Heinz Stögmüller. The building will meet the highest technological standards and set new standards for the use by people with special needs.
Building the Tower of Knowledge represents the completion of a further project named in the cultural development plan of 2000 and sends a strong signal in favour of education, life-long learning and culture.

After two years in construction, and costing a total of 45 million Euros, the new Linz Main Station is opened.

After the Linz City Council made the decision on the 1st July 2004, a delegation led by Governor Dr. Josef Pühringer, Mayor Dr. Franz Dobusch and Deputy Mayor and Spokesman for the Arts Dr. Erich Watzl deliver the application documents to Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak. The European Council is expected to make a decision on the application in May 2005.

Tram lines 1,2 and 3 now run via the Linz Main Station. Plans to connect the Linz Main Station directly to all tram lines were begun as early as 1976. Even then, putting the tram lines underground had seemed the most practical solution, although the suggested route was changed several times. Early on in the planning stage the entry and exit ramps were located at Schillerpark and the Unionkreuzung, later the route straight through the Volksgarten or under the Unionstraße/Pillweinstraße/ Brucknerstraße/Wiener Straße block was suggested. Finally entry at the Volksgarten and exit after the Sacred Heart Church was agreed on.

After the construction work to move the no. 3 line at the station forecourt was completed in March 2001, the ground-breaking was held in June for the underground tram system at the Main Station. In February the following year work began on the tunnel at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Sacred Heart Church) tram stop, with Mrs. Erna Stockinger, the wife of the CEO of LINZ AG, officiating. All the structural work on the tunnel is completed as early as December 2003. The underground tram section comes into use four months earlier than originally planned.

The Linz City Council commissioned the project "Our future: Linz 21" in October 2001. A team of experts was to examine possible future developments for the City of Linz and develop future strategies accordingly. The conclusions of the project are now available in a comprehensive final report.

Dr. Karl Grünner was born on the 30th December 1932 in Linz. After completing secondary school and studying at the Federal Institute for Teacher Training, Grünner taught as a primary and secondary school teacher in the districts of Linz-Stadt and Linz-Land. He completed a psychology degree at the University of Vienna while he was working, and was awarded his PhD in 1966.

Karl Grünner's political career began in 1954 as student teacher representative in the Socialist Union of Teachers. In 1973 he was elected to the Upper Austrian parliament, where as regional councillor he was spokesman on nature conservation, health and price monitoring between 1979 and 1982. Between 1982 and October 1993 he acted as Deputy Governor of Upper Austria.

During this period Dr. Karl Grünner was responsible for the well-being of Upper Austrian local authorities. The promotion of social, economic and socio-political life in Linz was of special importance to him.

Dr. Grünner received numerous awards for his dedication and political achievements, including the Honorary Ring of the City of Linz, and the Grand Gold Honorary Award of Upper Austria.

More than 90,000 vehicles use the A7 every day in the Bindermichl area. Noise pollution is reduced by lowering and covering the city motorway between the Lißfeld sports facility and Hanuschstraße, with the construction of a noise protection wall in the area of the Hummelhof junction as well as an overhead noise barrier in the area near the Wagner-Jauregg hospital.

Three quarters of the estimated costs of 100 million Euros were  covered by the federal Motorway and Road Financing Corporation (ASFINAG). The remaining costs were borne by the Province of Upper Austria and the City of Linz.

This modern care facility for elderly citizens of Linz marks the end of the  building programme of the City of Linz in this sector for the time being. The demand for in-patient care can now almost be met.

The City of Linz spent around 20 million Euros on this project.

The retirement centre was built by Baureform Wohnstätte, and the architects Stögmüller and Kneidinger were responsible for the design.  Sonnenhof-Lenaupark will be run by St. Vincent's Holy Family Community.

The art space by the Danube is ceremonially opened to the public with an exhibition titled: "Avantgarde and Tradition". Designed by the Swiss architectural firm Weber + Hofer, the three-storey, 130 metre long building was built in just 29 months. While the New Gallery, which had been located in the housing and commercial complex Lentia 2000 since 1979, had to make do with 3600 square metres of exhibition space, 8000 square metres are now available to ensure a modern and contemporary presentation of the collections. The entire top floor will be reserved for exhibitions. A continuous glass roof transforms the space into a daylight museum. The building's exterior skin consists of a reflective glass mantle, behind which numerous lamps are fitted. At night the facade can shine in a variety of colours.

The costs of the art museum ran to around 33 million Euros, of which the Province of Upper Austria contributed 7.27 million, and sponsors around three million.

From the end of 2003 onwards, the distinctive building, designed by the architectural firm Heinz-Mathoi-Strehli of Innsbruck, is to house three levels of doctor's surgeries, offices and the largest fitness centre in Linz, 4600 square metres, with an outdoor swimming pool.

Until about 1900 the area was used for sand mining and was partly used for agricultural purposes. At the turn of the century the "Society for the Beautification of the City of Linz and its Surroundings" began extending the public park, in order to provide the citizens of Linz with a new destination for outings.

After the grounds had been purchased by the City of Linz, the first Austrian competition for the design of a public space was advertised in 1911. Thanks to the generous financial support of the owner of the neighbouring villa complex, Ludwig Hatschek, a beautiful park was laid out over the following seven years.

After suffering heavy damage during World War II, the Department for Public Gardens began the large-scale alterations in the 1950s which shape the appearance of the park to this day.

The events of 1954 triggered the construction of generous embankments on both banks of the Danube. The city was therefore fairly well protected against flooding.

In 2002 the Danube reaches a high point of 8.20 metres. The motorway junction A7 and the areas of Plesching and Alt-Urfahr are critically affected by the flooding. 54 people have to be rescued after their vehicles are surrounded by  water on the A7 after a dam bursts on the river Krems.

The damming with sandbags of a  flood relief channel in Plesching is worked on feverishly to secure the already sodden base of the embankments and to prevent the threatened banks from bursting.

In western Alt-Urfahr the inhabitants of the Ottensheimer Straße are the worst affected. They receive provisions daily by dinghies manned by  the fire brigade.

The opening ceremony and the planned demolition of buildings Ia, XVIII, the pathology department and the boiler house mark the end of the modernisation period at the Linz General Hospital.

"Linz 21" is the name of a project dedicated to the future development of Linz. Representatives of the City Council and expert advisers are to highlight and discuss possible developments. The council for the future is supported by AEC, which provides a fundamental study of global, regional and local trends and delivers relevant data. The work will also incorporate concepts and programmes already under way, such as the cultural development plan, the local development concept, the social programme and the mission statement for traffic.

The first three of the 21 ordered lowered trams of the ‘Cityrunner’ type will run on this line.

The new retirement home was supported by the city of Linz to the tune of €1.3 m.