We have crossed the border and now are in Austria, a country of about seven million inhabitants, compared to 11 million in Bavaria alone, 60 million in all of Germany. The Austrian flag is red-white-red, their currency the Schilling, and their language is German, spoken with a dialect close to Bavarian. The capital of Austria is Vienna, which lies 180 miles from Salzburg. Vienna was the residence of the Habsburg family, from which came most of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. They were one of the most powerful dynastic families in Europe, a position enhanced by many politically strategic marriages.
Since signing the Peace Treaty of 1955, Austria is a neutral Federal Republic, and is forbidden to join any military bloc. The State of Salzburg, with some 400,000 inhabitants, is one of nine Austrian states. Its capital bears the same name, and has a population of 140,000, primarily Catholics. More than half of the jobs in Salzburg are provided by the administration and the service industries. A great number of hotels and restaurants are necessary to cater to the tourists, who flock to this city nearly all year’ round. In addition to the sight-seeing tourists, thousands of music lovers are attracted by the music festivals which take place three times a year, in January, around Easter and in August.
Until Salzburg became part of Austria in the early 19th century, it was an independent territory ruled by prince-bishops, whose traces can be seen everywhere.
Salzburg is one of the oldest cities in Europe, reestablished on the ruins of the Roman city Iuvavum, by Bishop Rupert of Worms. In 696, he founded St. Peter’s Abbey, which can be identified by its green Baroque tower. A few years later the Nunnberg Convent was founded; it is identified by its red onion tower. Nonnberg is known worldwide as the convent of Maria von Trapp, whose story was told in the movie, Sound of Music. These 7th century institutions are the oldest in the German speaking countries. Over the centuries an Archbishopric grew out of the convent. The positions of Bishop and Abbot of St. Peter were combined until 987. In the 13th century, the Bishop of Salzburg were given the title Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, which meant they were independent of local sovereigns. The Prince Archbishops of Salzburg were considered the most powerful in the Empire; they even could appoint bishops without the Pope’s consent. Passau, Regensburg, Freising, and Brixen were under their control, and they had four additional suffragan bishops, one of whom had his seat on the island of Herrenchiemsee.
Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, who lived around 1600, is among the best known of these Prince Archbishops. Though he lived an elegant lifestyle, he was a generous, liberal ruler. It was he who, at the end of the 16th century, concetived the new layout of the city of Salzburg with its large squares and ambitious building projects like the Cathedral and the Residence. A rich and independent man, Wolf Dietrich inevitably developed some dangerous enemies, among them the Prince Elector Maximilian of Bavaria. Maximilian believed in strict moral standards, strength and self-suppression, and as head of the Catholic League, he was strongly against the Protestant Reformation. Wolf Dietrich’s tolerance of the Protestants and his down-to-earth way of life (he lived openly with a woman named Salome Alt) did not exactly earn him the Pope’s favor. Maximilian, with the support of the Pope, eventually invaded Salzburg. Wolf Dietrich was captured and dethroned. His successor, Markus Sittikus, kept him prisoner in the fortress of Hohensalzburg for five years, until poor Wolf Dietrich starved to death in 1612. He left two contrasting documents of funeral instructions. One requests a grand funeral with all the fanfare due a glorious ruler. The other, written while he lived in prison on bread and water, is concerned with the salvation of his soul, and requested that he be buried like a penitent.
Wolf Dietrich’s unfortunate final home, the fortress Hohensalzburg, was long a silent witness to the activities of the Prince Archbishops of Salzburg. The first landmark one sees when approaching Salzburg from any direction is the mighty fortress, which sits high over the city in perfect harmony with its surroundings. Originally built by the Archbishop Gebhard in 1066, the fortress was constructed as a refuge for the citizens during a war between the Emperor and the Pope. It was gradually enlarged, and in the 15th century was converted into a comfortable residence for the Archbishops. Today it houses the Summer Academy stated by the famous Austrian painter, Oskar Kokoschka. Every summer, some 500 students participate in courses in the most beautiful workshop in the world. Painters, designers, architects, goldsmiths, bronzeworkers and sculptors receive instruction from renowned masters up in the former fortress.
Alexander von Humblodt, a famous 19th century German naturalist and traveler, claimed that Salzburg is one of the three most beautiful cities in the world, along with Constantinople and Naples. It is a city unusually well integrated with its natural surroundings. The view from the fortress is like a scene from a 16th century painting, where the whole world is depicted by a few well-chosen elements of landscape and nature. It begins in the city with its palaces, churches, squares, rivers, canals and parks; these elements give way to open farmland, ponds and hills; and far in the distance lie the snow-covered peaks of the Austrian Alps and the Chiemsee.
Up close, one sees that Salzburg is naturally divided into two parts. The medieval section is protected by mountains on one side and by the River Salzach on the other. In the 17th century, the old town spread across the river and continued to grow on the neighboring banks, so that the Salzach is the natural division between the old and new halves. The old city is surrounded by high-lying structures such as the Capuchin Monastery, the Casino and the Café Winkler, and by watchtowers and fortification walls built during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48). The Catholic city was well prepared to receive the Protestant Swedish Army – but it never showed put. The skyline of old Salzburg is dominated by its churches and their towers. Among them is St. Peter’s, built , with its green Baroque onion-dome; here the founder of Salzburg, St. Rupert, is buried. Others include the Franciscan Church, with its pointed spire, the University Church, with its Baroque dome, and the Cathedra. The Cathedral, begun by Wolf Dietrich around , is laid out on a grand scale. Two other fine buildings contributed by Wolf Dietrich are the Archbishop’s Residence, now a museum, and the former riding school and horse stables, the latter now integrated into the Festival House, which is the world’s second biggest opera house, next to the one in Sidney, Australia. Wolf Dietrich removed most of the original town in order to rebuild the city to his taste – gracious structures are separated by spacious squares, magnificent fountains and statues, which gives the old city an airy, open atmosphere.
A charming smaller square, the Old Market, leads to the main shopping street of the old town, the Getreidegasse. An attractive contrast exists between the straight, orderly squares and this narrow, winding medieval street with its decorative wrought-iron signs. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in a house on this street in 1756; his home is now a museum.
Most of the house fronts in Salzburg have a horizontal top, suggesting a flat roof. From above, however, one sees zig-zag roofs with ridges at right angles to the street. Flat roofs are unsuitable for the Alpine climate. The design of these buildings provides a compromise between the function of a roof and the preference for straight lines.
The high standard of living of the Prince Archbishops is exemplified in their elegant summer residences: the Hellbrunn Castle, famous for its gardens and fountains, was built by Markus Sittikus, successor of Wolf Dietrich; Schloss Leopoldskron, used in the movie Sound of Music, was built by Bishop Firmian for a nephew. Since 1958 it has been owned by the Salzburg Seminars in American Studies. Around 1700, Firmian expelled thousands of Protestants from Salzburg. Some 16,000 were given refuge by the Prusssian king, while others emigrated to the USA, among them the forefathers of the Eisenhower family.
Across the river from the old town is the Mirabell Castle, with its magnificent gardens and statues. When Wolf Dietrich built the Mirabell for his mistress, Salome Alt, he placed it discreetly across the river, on the other side of town. Its considerable size was necessary to accommodate between 11 and 15 children. Today Mirabell Castle is a popular setting for weddings.
Also on the new side of town is St. Sebastian Church in which Wolf Dietrich is buried, Holy trinity Church, many hotels, the train station and the Convention Building. Salzburg is also popular as a spa. The cure here uses brine and peat from the surrounding area. The cure house exists in commemoration of Paracelsus, who died in Salzburg in 1541. Paracelsus, a physician, had amazingly modern theories for his time. He wrote: A person never is ill in the body alone, but always in his mind too, and, When you cure a person, make sure you do it with loving care. Perkaps we should also consider these two statements. A statue of Paracelsus represents him in a thinking position…Perhaps contemplating his long name: Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim?
The end of this review of Salzburg is devoted to the city’s most famous citizen: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born here in 1756. Mozart’s family was actually from Augsburg in the Swabian part of Bavaria, but came to Salzburg because Wolfgang’s father Leopold found work as a musician in the Archbishop’s orchestra. Wolfgang and his older sitter, Nannerl, travelled throughout Europe, giving concerts in London, Paris and Vienna. He had the honor of sitting on the lap of the Empress Maria Theresial, and playing hide and seek with the imperial children. One of them, Marie Antoinette, was very kind to Wolfgang when he fell during their games, and on this occasion he promised to marry her one day. Bur poor Marie was married instead to the French King Louis XVI, and lose her head to the guillotine during the French Revolution.
Afer young Wolfgang had advanced as far as possible under his father’s instruction, he was sent to Italy, at that time the center of modern Music. He later returned to Salzburg, where he worked for the Prince Archbishop Jerome Colloredo. But they did not get along well, so he resigned and left Salzburg for Paris. There he met Gluck, who had reformed opera. Soon after, Mozart returned to Salzburg, and a very productive period followed. Then, in 1781, after a heated argument between Wolfgang and the representative of the Prince Archbishop, Mozart made the final break and left for Vienna. Life for Mozart now became a mere series of disappointments, and suffering disturbed his peace of mind. His marriage to Constance Weber failed to bring him the moral support he needed. They suffered chronically from empty pockets, and he composed merely to pay their debts. Finally, the constant struggle was too much for him and he fell ill. One day, at midnight, a stranger dressed in gray knocked at Mozart’s door and ordered a Requiem, which he paid for in advance. Mozart took him for his angel of death. Though he started the Requiem, he died before he could complete it. Mozart was only 35 years old when he died, and so poor that his family could not afford a private burial; a pauper’s hearse carried his remains to a common grave at the cemetery of St. Marx’s in Vienna. A Music Academy, the Mozarteum, countless cafes, a braid, a music festival, a street and around nougat candy are all named after Mozart; but this delayed popularity can never compensate for the fact that this genius suffered such an unfortunate destiny.