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' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which features famous landmarks in Austria, but focuses mainly on Salzburg.
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' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which features famous landmarks in Austria, but focuses mainly on Salzburg. Salzburg is also a student city, with three universities.
Geography
Salzburg is on the banks of the Salzach river, at the northern boundary of the Alps. The mountains to Salzburg's south contrast with the rolling plains to the north. The closest alpine peak the 1972 m Untersberg is only a few kilometers from the city center. The Altstadt, or "old town", is dominated by its baroque towers and churches and the massive Festung Hohensalzburg. This area is surrounded by two smaller mountains, the Mönchsberg and Kapuzinerberg as the green lung of the city. Salzburg is approximately 150 km east of Munich, and 300 km west of Vienna.
Population development
In 1935 the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers, and could be used for refugees when they left. About 1950 Salzburg passed the mark of 100,000 citizens, and in 2006 reached the mark of 150,000 citizens. In the agglomeration, about 210,000 are residing as of 2007.
History
Antiquity to Early Modern period
Traces of human settlements have been found in the area, dating to the Neolithic Age. The first settlements at Salzburg were apparently begun by the Celts. Around 15 BC the separate settlements were merged into one city by the Romans. At this time the city was called Juvavum and was awarded the status of a Roman municipium in 45 AD.
Juvavum developed into an important town of the Roman province of Noricum. Juvavum declined sharply after the collapse of the Norican frontier, such that by the late 7th century it had become a "near ruin".
The Life of Saint Rupert credits the saint with the city's rebirth. When Theodo of Bavaria asked Rupert to become bishop c. 700, Rupert reconnoitered the river for the site of his basilica. Rupert chose Juvavum, ordained priests, and annexed the manor Piding. Rupert named the city "Salzburg", and then left to evangelize among the pagans.
The name Salzburg literally means "Salt Castle", and derives its name from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach river, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century, as was customary for many communities and cities on European rivers.
The Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, was built in 1077 and expanded during the following centuries.
Independence from Bavaria was secured in the late 14th century. Salzburg was the seat of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire.
18th to 19th centuries
On October 31 1731, the 214th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg School door, Roman Catholic Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian signed his Edict of Expulsion (not to be confused with many similar edicts of expulsion issued against the Jews in various cities in Europe), the Emigrationspatent, declaring that all Protestants recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished.
Archbishop von Swires declared that it was to be read publicly November 11 1731, the 248th anniversary of Luther's baptism. Believing that his edict would drive away a few hundred troublesome infidels in the hills around the town, Firmian was surprised when 21,475 citizens professed on a public list their Protestant beliefs.
Landowners were given two days to sell their lands and leave. Cattle, sheep, furniture and land all had to be dumped on the market, and the Salzburgers received little money from the well-to-do Catholic allies of Von Firmian. Von Firmian himself confiscated much of their land for his own family, and ordered all Protestant books and Bibles burned. Many children aged 12 and under were seized to be raised as Roman Catholics. Yet those who owned land benefited from one key advantage: the three-month deadline delayed their departure until after the worst of winter.
Non-owner farmers, tradesmen, laborers and miners were given only eight days to sell what they could and leave. The first refugees marched north in desperately cold temperatures and snow storms, seeking shelter in the few cities of Germany controlled by Protestant princes, while their children walked or rode on wooden wagons loaded with baggage.
As they went, the exiles' savings were quickly drained as they were set upon by highwaymen, who seized taxes, tolls and payment for protection by soldiers from robbers.
The story of their plight spread quickly as their columns marched north. Goethe wrote the poem Hermann and Dorothea about the Salzburg exiles' march. Protestants and even some Catholics were horrified at the cruelty of their expulsion in winter, and the courage they had shown by not renouncing their faith. Slowly at first, they came upon towns that welcomed them and offered them aid. But there was no place where so many refugees could settle.
Finally, in 1732 King Frederick William I of Prussia accepted 12,000 Salzburger Protestant emigrants, who settled in areas of East Prussia that had been devastated by the plague twenty years before. Other smaller groups made their way to Debrecen and the Banat regions of the Kingdom of Hungary, to what is now Slovakia, to areas near Berlin and Hanover in Germany, and to the Netherlands.
On March 12 1734, a small group of about sixty exiles from Salzburg who had traveled to London arrived in the British American colony of Georgia seeking religious freedom. Later in that year, they were joined by a second group, and, by 1741, a total of approximately 150 of the Salzburg exiles had founded the town of Ebenezer on the Savannah River.
In 1772-1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a centre of late Illuminism. In 1803, the archbishopric was secularized by Emperor Napoleon and handed over to Ferdinand III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg. Two years later it was annexed to the Austrian Empire together with Berchtesgaden. However, in 1809 it was transferred to the Kingdom of Bavaria after Austria's defeat at Wagram. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was definitively returned to Austria, but without Berchtesgaden, which passed to Bavaria. In 1850 Salzburg became the capital of the Duchy of Salzburg, a crownland of the Austrian Empire. The city became part of Austria-Hungary in 1866.
1918 to present
With the fall of the House of Habsburg resulting from World War I, Salzburg became part of German Austria in 1918 and the First Austrian Republic in 1919. In 1921, in an unofficial poll, 99% of citizens voted for annexation to the German Reich. On March 13 1938, during the Anschluss, German troops occupied Salzburg; political opponents and Jewish citizens were subsequently arrested, and the synagogue was destroyed. Several POW camps for prisoners from the Soviet Union and other nations were organized in the area.
During World War II, the KZ Salzburg-Maxglan concentration camp was located here. It was a Roma camp and provided slave labour to local industry. Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were demolished, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, it is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered Salzburg on May 5 1945.
In the city of Salzburg there were several DP Camps following World War II. Among these were Riedenburg, Camp Herzl (Franz-Josefs-Kaserne), Camp Mülln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine. Salzburg was the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria.
On January 27, 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells a little after 8PM (local time) to celebrate the occasion.
Major celebrations took place throughout the year.
Main sights
Salzburg is a tourist favourite, with the number of tourists outnumbering locals by a large margin in peak times. In addition to Mozart's birthplace noted above, other notable places include:
Old Town
- The whole Old Town of Salzburg was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1996.
- The baroque architecture including the many churches are world famous.
- The Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburger Dom)
- The Hohensalzburg Castle (Festung Hohensalzburg) on a hill dominating the old town is one of the largest castles in Europe, with views over Salzburg.
- The Franziskanerchurch
- The St.Peter cemetery
- The Nonnberg Abbey a Benedictine monastery
- The "Residenz" Palace (the magnificent former Prince-Archbishop's residence)
- Mozart's Birthplace
- Mozart's Residence
- The University Church
- The Siegmundstor (or Neutor)
- The Getreidegasse
Outside the Inner Old Town
- Palace of Mirabell with its wide gardens full of flowers
- The palace of Leopoldskron is a rococo palace and a national historic monument in Leopoldskron-Moos, a southern district of the city of Salzburg.
- Hellbrunn with its parks and castles
- Tour companies operate tours of locations used in the film The Sound of Music.
Within the greater Salzburg area
- Anif Castle
- The Basilika Maria Plain on the Calvary Hill, a late Baroque church, on the northern edge of Salzburg.
- Salzburger Freilichtmuseum Großgmain, an open-air museum containing old farmhouses/farm buildings from all over the state assembled in historic setting.
- The Schloss Klessheim Palace (today a Casino) was formerly used by Adolf Hitler
- The Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat of which only the Eagle's Nest remains, was in nearby Berchtesgaden
- The Salzkammergut is an area of lakes in the Salzburg state, east of the city and further on into the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria.
- The Untersberg mountain is next to the city, straddling the German-Austrian border, and on a clear day provides panoramic views of the city and the Alps.
- Skiing is an attraction during winter. Salzburg itself has no skiing facilities, but it acts as a gateway to skiing areas to the south. During the winter months its airport receives charter flights from around Europe.
Notable citizens
- The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg, for whose archbishops he worked from 1769 to 1781. His house of birth and residence are tourist attractions. His family is buried in a small church graveyard in the old town, and there are many monuments to "Wolferl" in the city.
- Christian Doppler, an expert on acoustic theory, was born in Salzburg. He is most known for his discovery of the Doppler effect.
- Josef Mohr was born in Salzburg. Together with Franz Gruber, he composed and wrote the text for "Silent Night". As a priest in neighbouring Oberndorf he performed the song for the first time in 1818.
- Noted writer Stefan Zweig lived in Salzburg for about 15 years, until 1934.
- Maria Von Trapp (later Maria Trapp) and her family lived in Salzburg until they fled to America following the Nazi takeover.
- Salzburg is the birthplace of Hans Makart, a 19th-century Austrian painter-decorator and national celebrity. Makartplatz (Makart Square) is named in his honour.
- Writer Thomas Bernhard was raised in Salzburg and spent part of his life there.
- Herbert von Karajan was a notable musician and conductor. He was born in Salzburg and died in 1989 in neighbouring Anif.
- Anthropologist Udo Ludwig was born here.
- Roland Ratzenberger, Formula One driver, was born in Salzburg. He died in practice for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
- Joseph Leutgeb, French horn virtuoso
- Klaus Ager, the distinguished contemporary composer and Mozarteum professor, was born in Salzburg on 10 May 1946.
- Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer and AFL Hall of Fame player with "Legend" status was born in Salzburg on 2 August 1945.
Events
Transportation
The city is serviced by comprehensive rail connections, with frequent east-west trains servicing Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, and Zürich, including daily high-speed ICE services. The city also acts as a hub for south-bound trains through the Alps into Italy.
Salzburg Airport has scheduled flights to European cities such as Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Amsterdam and Zürich, as well as Hamburg or Dublin. In addition to these, there are numerous charter flights.
In the main city there is a trolleybus and bus system with more than 20 lines, and service every 10 minutes. Salzburg also has an S-Bahn system with four Lines (S1, S2, S3, S11), trains depart from the main station every 30 minutes, and they are in the ÖBB net. Suburb line number S1 reaches the world famous Silent Night chapel in Oberndorf in about 25 minutes.
Popular culture
In the 1960s, the movie The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg and the state of Salzburg. The movie was based on the true story of Maria von Trapp, a Salzburg-based nun who took up with an aristocratic family and fled German occupation. Although the film is not particularly popular among Austrians, the town draws many visitors who wish to visit the filming locations, alone or on tours.
Salzburg is the setting for the Austrian crime series Stockinger.
Sports
The former SV Austria Salzburg reached the UEFA Cup final in 1994. On April 6, 2005 Red Bull bought the club and changed the name into FC Red Bull Salzburg. The club's future plans are to be among the 10 best European football clubs. The home Stadium of Red Bull Salzburg is the Wals Siezenheim Stadium in a suburb in the agglomeration of Salzburg, was one of the venues for the 2008 European Football Championship.
Sister cities
* Reims, France, since 1964
- Atlanta, United States, since 1967
- Verona, Italy, since 1973
- Dresden, Germany, since 1991
- Kawasaki, Japan, since 1992
- Merano, Italy, since 2000
- Shanghai, China, since 2004
- Bern, Switzerland, since 2006
- São João da Madeira, Portugal, since 2007
Gallery
External links
Information-related
- – The official information platform for Salzburg
Culture-related
- – article by Brian Robins
- in The European Library
- – The website of the Georgia Salzburger Society, descendents of the refugees who settled in Georgia after their expulsion from Salzburg in 1731.
Olympic-related
Tourism-related
- – tourist board website.
- – tourist board website.
- – Tourism site maintained by the local newspaper, Salzburger Nachrichten.
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