Timeline of Bolzano

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bolzano/Bozen in the Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy.

Prior to 20th century

• 14 BC – A military settlement called "Pons Drusi" is founded by Romans.
• 679 – Settlement and region ruled by the Duke of Bavaria ("comes Baiuvariorum, quem illi gravionem dicunt, qui regebat Bauzanum et reliqua castella").
• 769 – Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria issues in Bolzano the foundation charter of the Innichen Abbey.
• 996–1000 – Settlement called "in Pauzana valle, quae lingua Teutisca Pozana nuncupatur".
• 1027 – Bozen county "given by the emperor Conrad II to the bishop of Trent."
• 1170 – Likely birthplace nearby of Walther von der Vogelweide, a German lyrical poet.
• 1170–80 ca. – The town is founded by the bishop of Trent.
• 1195 – The town's parson Rudolf is mentioned.
• 1237 – Franciscan Friary active.
• 1272 – (hospital) established.
• 1363 – Habsburg Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria in power.
• 1437 – The borough rights (Stadtrecht) issued.
• 1442 – Town council established by King Frederick III.
• 1443 and 1483 – Two great town fires destroy large parts of the inner city.
• 1472 – The Bozner Stadtbuch (Liber civitatis) instituted by mayor Konrad Lerhueber as the towns official register of legal acts.
• 1519 – The openwork spire of the Parish church (now Cathedral) finished by the stonemasons Burkhard Engelberg and Hans Lutz von Schussenried.
• 1551 – The Bozner Bürgerbuch, a register of the new citizens, instituted.
• 1635 – established.
• 1750 – Henry of Bolzano, a local layman of the early 14th century, also patron of Treviso, beatified by pope Benedict XIV.
• 1805 – Town becomes part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, first Civic Theatre established.
• 1810 – Town becomes part of French client Kingdom of Italy.
• 1813 – Town becomes part of Austria again.
• 1837 – Population: 10,499.⁽⁾
• 1842 – ' newspaper begins publication.
• 1845 – Muri-Gries Abbey has been founded, as an offshoot of the former Swiss Muri abbey in Aargau.
• 1859 – Brenner Railway (Verona-Bozen) begins operating; Bozen railway station opens.
• 1861 – 10 November: held.
• 1862 – (sport club) formed.
• 1867 – Brenner Railway (Innsbruck-Bozen) begins operating.
• 1874 – (Austro-Hungarian war cemetery) established.
• 1882 – Der Tiroler newspaper begins publication.
• 1889 – erected in the .
• 1894 – ' newspaper begins publication.
• 1895 – Julius Perathoner becomes mayor.
• 1898 – Überetsch Railway begins operating.
• 1900 – Population: 23,521.⁽⁾

20th century

• 1907 – (funicular) and Rittnerbahn (railway) begin operating.
• 1909 – Bolzano Tramway begins operating.
• 1912 – (funicular) begins operating.
• 1915 – Tiroler Soldaten-Zeitung newspaper begins publication.
• 1918
• The new Civic Theatre (Stadttheater) opens.
• Italian forces take South Tyrol region during World War I and rename it as "Alto Adige"
• 1921 – 24 April: Fascist unrest (Bloody Sunday).
• 1922 – 1–2 October: Fascist occurs.
• 1923
• Bolzano becomes part of the Province of Trento.
• Italianization of South Tyrol begins.
• 1925 – German-language daily newspapers are banned.
• 1925 – 2 November: becomes part of Bolzano.
• 1926
• Bolzano Airport opens.
• Dolomiten newspaper in publication.
• 1927 – The Province of Bolzano established and separated from the Trento Province.
• 1928 – The Fascist Bolzano Victory Monument inaugurated.
• 1930 – Stadio Druso (stadium) opens.
• 1931 – Associazione Calcio Bolzano (football club) formed.
• 1933 – HC Bolzano (ice hockey club) formed.
• 1936 – Population: 45,505.⁽⁾
• 1936 – The today's Corso della Libertà-Freiheitsstraße (Liberty Avenue), a major civic boulevard adorned by buildings in monumentalist style, has been created by the fascist regime (then called Corso IX Maggio).
• 1939–40 – The South Tyrol Option Agreement leads to the emigration of parts of the german-speaking population into the Third Reich.
• 1939–42 – The local Casa del Fascio built displaying a monumental Mussolini basrelief, recontextualized in 2017.
• 1943
• September: South Tyrol region annexed by Germany; Bolzano becomes part of the Nazi German Operationszone Alpenvorland (district).
• Allied air raids on Bolzano begin.
• 1944 – Bolzano Transit Camp begins operating.
• 1945 – Town liberated by allied forces from the nazifascist occupational forces on May 4
• December: "Official sanction of the German language" begins.
• South Tyrolean People's Party headquartered in Bolzano.
• Dolomiten and Alto Adige newspapers begin publication.
• 1948
• Bolzano becomes part of the newly formed Trentino-Alto Adige province.
• November: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regional election, 1948 held.
• Bolzano Tramway closes.
• 1950 – (theatre) founded.
• 1951 – Population: 70,898.⁽⁾
• 1960 – Rai Südtirol (radio) begins broadcasting.
• 1961 – Night of fire happened.
• 1964 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen established.
• 1966 – Rai Südtirol (TV channel) begins broadcasting.
• 1967 – Haus der Kultur „Walther von der Vogelweide“ (Waltherhaus), a theatre and culture venue inaugurated.
• 1968 – becomes mayor.
• 1971 – Population: 105,757.⁽⁾
• 1972 – The Second Autonomy Statute implements measures of local self-government.
• 1974 – F.C. Südtirol (football club) formed.
• 1977 – Radio Tandem begins broadcasting.
• 1985 – Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (museum) founded.
• 1988 – Mattino dell'Alto Adige newspaper begins publication.
• 1992 – Eurac Research (European Academy Bozen-Bolzano), a transdisciplinary research centre, founded.
• 1995
• becomes mayor.
• Regional Civic Network of South Tyrol (website) launched.
• 1996
• Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung (newspaper) begins publication.
• F.C. Bolzano 1996 (football club) formed.
• 1997 – Free University of Bozen-Bolzano founded.
• 1998
• South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology established.
• opens.
• 1999 – (theatre) opens.

21st century

• 2003 – ' newspaper begins publication.
• 2005 – Luigi Spagnolli becomes mayor.
• 2008 – New Museion (museum of contemporary arts) building opens.
• 2013
• October: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol provincial elections held.
• University's (regional history institute) founded.
• Population: 103,891.
• 2014 – BZ ’18–’45: one monument, one city, two dictatorships, a permanent exhibition within the fascist Monument to Victory is inaugurated.
• 2015 – The so-called Stolpersteine, Holocaust victims commemorative markers, are laid out.
• 2016 – held; Renzo Caramaschi becomes mayor.
• 2017 – The former Casa del Fascio historicized.
• 2018 – NOI Techpark Südtirol/Alto Adige, a large science and technology park within the former industrial zone, opens.
• 2019 – WaltherPark, a large urban renewal project designed by David Chipperfield starts.
• 2021 – The town is granted the annual City of Memory status by the Interior Ministry.
• 2024 – After the Benko Group cracked, the Bavarian Schoeller Group takes over the WaltherPark construction project.
• 2025 – The Waltherpark shopping centre and district opens.