At the beginning of the 16th century, Emperor Maximilian I. intended to establish a latin school in Innsbruck, which would grant access to education for everyone.

However, it took almost fifty years until his successor Emperor Ferdinand I. entrusted the Jesuits under Petrus Canisius with the creation of a church, college and latin school in 1562.

Today, this set of buildings, planned by Georg Anton Gumpp, and expanded subsequently, hosts the theological faculty of the University of Innsbruck.

During the early 18th century, the curriculum at public schools in the Habsburg empire was unified and the state's influence on education increased, at the church's expense.

The "Gymnasialreform of 1849" created the first Ministry of education in the Habsburg Empire ("Ministerium für Cultus und Unterricht") and reorganised primary and secondary education in the empire, giving the state final control over education at the expense of religious institutions that had executed these duties for centuries: After four years of primary school (Volksschule), pupils attending a "Gymnasium" would first attend middle school ("Unterstufe") for four years, followed by another four years of High School ("Oberstufe").

The curriculum aimed at a general education in languages, history, mathematics, natural sciences and philosophy, including Latin and ancient Greek.

Due to the Nazis' policy, several teachers had to leave the school either for political or racist reasons and the director, Manfred Mumelter, was deported to KZ Dachau.

It was after the war that, due to the important increase in the number of pupils and the inherent lack of space, plans for expanding the school were established once again.

In 1980, the small alley leading to the school was renamed after Prof. Franz Mair, former student and teacher at the AGI, as well as member of the resistance during the Third Reich.

Since 1996, the school has been teaching students bilingually, and in particular in the subject areas of Geography and Economics, and in Biology and Environmental Science.

The use of English as an instructional language has expanded gradually; now known as Bilingual Class for Economics, Personal Skills and Subject-specific Language (BICEPS), this concept has received a high level of acceptance by parents and students alike, and was further supported by two scientific evaluations (Hirner 2000, Strasser 2010, University of Innsbruck).

Alongside the compulsory Austrian School Leaving Examination (Österreichische Matura) students have the opportunity, in their final year, to participate in and graduate from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Together with the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, the first youth parliament took place in Innsbruck in 2006 and is to continue on an annual basis.

The group organises discussions with politicians and scholars, particularly in the light of the new Austrian legislation that set the voting age at 16.