The 13 m high St. Anne's Column in the middle of Maria-Theresien-Strasse in Innsbruck was erected to commemorate the defeat of the Bavarian invasion in 1703. It provides an excellent view of the Hafelekar mountain, from where the snow glistens well into spring. The Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria, son-in-law of Emperor Leopold I, joined in the War of the Spanish Succession on the side of the French, and invaded Tyrol with an army. After the fall of Kufstein Fortress, the Bavarians marched into Innsbruck without meeting any resistance. However, the victory of the Tyrolean Landsturm under Landrichter Martin Sterzinger at the Pontlatzbrucke beyond Landeck triggered a popular uprising. The Bavarians encountered fierce resistance and the Elector withdrew to Bavaria again. It was on the Feast of St. Anne (July 26) 1703 that the enemy left Innsbruck.
On March 15, 1704, the Tyrolean Estates resolved to erect a monument as a sign of gratitude for the deliverance from the enemy. They also pledged to make an annual procession on July 26, the Feast of St. Anne, from what was then the Municipal Church of St. Jacob (now the Cathedral) to the commemorative column. The 4000 Guilder commission was awarded to the Trento sculptor Christophoro Benedetti (1660 – 1735). The column was made of red Tyrolean marble, also known as Kramsach marble, and erected between 1704 and 1706 on the site of an earlier marble fountain with a statue of the Virgin. How long the pledge to make an annual procession was kept is not known. But even today, the lantern mounted below the statue of St. Anna is lit every Saturday evening.
It was the St, Anne's day pledge that gave the column its name. Actually, it ought to be called the Column of St. Mary, since the Corinthian marble column bears a statue of Maria Immaculata, a copy of course, the original having been moved to the monastery church of Fiecht in 1958. At the foot of the column stand the statues of the saints venerated in Tyrol: St. Anne (the mother of Mary), St. Kassian (legendary founder of the Diocese of Saben), St. George (patron saint of Tyrol until 1772) and St. Vigilius (one of the first bishops of Trento).
