Innsbruck, Tyrol's provincial capital, is conveniently situated in the centre of the Inntal at the junction of the motorway up to the Brenner Pass and the A12. The municipal area of Innsbruck expands from Igls (where it nearly reaches the summit of the Patscherkofel) in the south, to the Praxmarerkarspitze (with its 2638 metres the highest point of Innsbruck) in the north. Innsbruck was originally founded by the counts of Andechs and received its town charter in 1239. The historic medieval town centre represents a typical Inn-Salzach-Stadt with its characteristic architectural elements. Innsbruck has grown in different phases: in the first one it grew along today's Maria-Theresienstraße with its Baroque buildings. By incorporating formerly independent communities at the beginning of the 20th century and 1940 and the expansion after 1945, Innsbruck has become the only town next to Grenoble with a population of more than 100,000 within the Alpine crescent. In 1964 and 1976 the Olympic Winter Games took place in Innsbruck. Today Innsbruck with its university (23,000 students) is the administrative, cultural and economic centre of Tyrol.