Linz, city in northern Austria, capital of Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) Province, a major industrial center and an important Danube River port. Manufactures include iron and steel, chemicals, machinery, electrical appliances, and textiles. Urfahr, a formerly independent town on the northern riverbank, is now part of Linz. The Hauptplatz, the 13th-century main square dominated by Trinity Column (1723), is in Old Linz, on the southern bank of the river; other landmarks include a 17th-century cathedral (Alter Dom), where the composer Anton Bruckner was organist (1856-1868) and a 15th-century castle that is now a museum.
Linz dates from at least the 2nd century AD, when it was a Roman fortress settlement called Lentia. It became a commercial center, famous for its fairs, in the 15th century and was for a time (1489-1493) the residence of the emperor Frederick III. Large iron and steel and chemical plants were built here after Germany occupied Austria in 1938. Population (1991) 203,044.
