Vill
Vill is a location in the capital city of Tyrol, Austria’s municipality of Innsbruck, It also is a hamlet, cadastral community, and district. Though it joined Innsbruck in 1942, the rural feel and character of the town are still evident today. About 820 meters south of Innsbruck, Vill is at the base of the renowned ski resort known as Patscherkofel, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976. The settlement rests on the slope of a low mountain range. Meeting the five-kilometer-long Ramsbach in Vill, the Viller Bach little brook runs through the town. It then falls down the Sill at the Sill Gorge. The Ramsbach comes from Igls. The well-known winter sports resort and town of Innsbruck, Igls lies about 1.5 kilometers south of Vill.
Among the agricultural interests pursued in Vill are farming, fruit growing, beekeeping, and dairy production. While Handlhof and Zenzenhof are south on the Sill below Igls, Grillhof and Poltenhütte lie northeast of the hamlet on the Lanser Kopf (930 m above sea level). One could also locate them amid the Vill farms. Apart from the Ahrnwald, a forested area including hiking trails and wildlife, Vill also include the municipal areas around it all the way to the Brenner Railway bus stop Unterberg-Stefansbrücke on the southern edge of Innsbruck.
Vill has a rich and distinguished history beginning in pre-Roman antiquity. Vill has unearthed coins from the La Tène period, bronze objects, and pottery that show to the presence of Celtic peoples formerly in the area. Stone relics from an ancient house on the neighboring hill of Goarmbichl show that Vill has been occupied at least from the Iron Age. The word Vill derives from the Romance language used by the Romans that occupied the territory. Originally documented in 1141 in the (forged) records of the Wilten Abbey, a monastery with most of the land in the area, the “Villertal” (as the valley of the Viller Bach) was initially The settlement’s present name comes from a document mentioning the “villa Ville” in 1251. The same document also notes the Viller Straße (“via tendens ad villam Ville”), a cart road that once ran from the Wiltener Sillbrücke to Vill but now travels a different path. Vill was named a field and tax town in 1313 by the Sonnenburg court, a feudal government in charge of local tax collecting and judicial administration.
Vill also has a mediaeval background as the Counts of Tyrol built the Straßfried Castle in the 13th century to guard the road passing through Vill and Igls from Innsbruck to Patsch. Rising as a tower guarded with a moat and drawbridge, the castle was a home and toll station for traders and visitors. The local family started to die in the sixteenth century; by the nineteen century the castle was starting to fall apart. It was eventually destroyed. All that remains of the castle these days are its walls and foundation.
Built in 1397, St. Martin, Vill’s parish church, boasts a long and distinguished history. Built in the Gothic fashion, it included a tower, choir, and nave. During its Rococo style remodeling in 1790, the church received fresh fresco, altar, and pulpit additions. The church features a crucifix, paintings, and sculptures among other pieces of art. Originally belonging to the parish of Patsch, both Vill and Igls were sought for by Wilten Abbey since 1259. Igls and Vill became curates in 1808; they were constituted a parish in 1891. Both of these organizations stayed under Wilten Abbey.
