Historic Salzburg

IMG_5498, originally uploaded by bratislavadavis.

“The Sound of Music” made the alpine scenery of Salzburg famous, but the baroque-styled old town is what gives the city its character. It is in the old town where the castle- it’s most famous landmark resides on top of a hill overlooking the town. Salzburg is where Mozart was born and developed his melodic skill.

The 17th Century Salzburg Cathedral is the most imposing structure in the old town. When I went inside, mass was in progress, thus it was teeming.

The castle known as the Festung Hohensalzburg in German is another landmark of Salzburg and dates back to 1077. During the 20th century, it held prisoners of war- Italians during the first World War and Nazis activists before the Anschluss. Unfortunately, it was foggy; consequently I didn’t enter the castle although I did get an idea of the marvelous view that awaits at the top as I hiked up to the gate.

The Getreidegasse is a historic shopping street with lots of boutique shops and at building number 9 is where Mozart was born and developed his talents. The yellow building is now a museum.

The museum tells the story of Mozart’s childhood as he composed his first symphony at the age of 5 under the guidance of his father Leopold. Soon he was making trips throughout Europe to display his talents and to ring in cash for his father who was determined to make a fortune from his gifted son. As biographer Peter Gay wrote, this would lead eventually to a deteriorating relationship for a number of reasons: Leopold blamed his son for the death of his wife in Paris and he disapproved of Mozart’s marriage to Constance Weber whom he viewed as lower-class and not suitable for someone of Mozart’s stature. Mozart would eventually flee Salzburg due to the stringent archbishop of Salzburg who wanted to eliminate some musical procedures in the church.

One of the most remarkable rooms was Mozart’s bedroom which features an incredibly detailed 3-D upside-down map of Salzburg which includes the castle and cathedral along with some etchings also flipped over. Leopold had the philosophy that his son should view things right-side-up when he was retreating on his back in bed.
A fitting finale for Salzburg was the Mirabell gardens which affords the best view of the castle, the carefully manicured gardens consisting of red flowers are gorgeous and should not be missed. The palace is now used as the mayor’s office.