The Reichenau was originally a floodplain area of Amras and was mentioned in documents in the 15th century under the sovereign Sigmund the Rich. The name indicates that the area was made arable by slash-and-burn cultivation, since burning was called "räuchen" at that time. During this time, the so-called "Rosssprung" is said to have happened, in which a nobleman and his horse jumped over a twelve-meter deep ditch unharmed. This event is commemorated by two memorial stones, one of which has been preserved and the other replaced in the 20th century.
in 1925, the Reichenau was home to Innsbruck's first airport for sport aviation and scheduled flights to Vienna, Munich and Zurich. in 1947, the airport moved to its current location in the Höttinger Au.
During the Third Reich, the Roßau area was home to a reception camp for Italian civilian workers, and was later used for political prisoners and transit camps for Jews on their way to deportation. Today, a memorial stone commemorates this time of horror and the many victims of this camp.
For the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games, the third Olympic Village with 444 apartments was built on the site of the former Eugene Barracks.