Along the Autostrasse
Sunday morning was clear and warm in Vienna, so we had our breakfast outside, along the Danube River. Then it was time to climb back into the bus and head for Salzburg. About an hour outside of Vienna we stopped and hopped on a boat for a cruise up the Danube. We’d been following and crossing the Danube since leaving Munich a week earlier.
Cruising along the rural wine country in Austria was a completely different experience from the bridges in Budapest. Passing through the verdant hillsides and small towns between Kerms to Weißenkirchen was relaxing and a harbinger for the small town feel of Salzburg that was ahead.
There were two stops on the road to Salzburg. The first was in Melk where we stopped to get a look at the Abbey and as a bonus, we watched a strange version of curling being played in a parking lot with what looked like traffic cones. That’s something you don’t see every day. Next, we had lunch at a rest stop along autostrasse, east of Linz, Austria. The food was good, but the view from the deck outside was fantastic. We could see beautiful, rolling green hills out across the Danube. It was awesome.
Sound of Music
A great deal of what we saw in Salzburg was related to the Sound of Music. When Julie and I watched our grandkids earlier this spring, I enjoyed watching The Sound of Music with Sydney, our five-year-old grand-daughter. Let me clarify that… I enjoyed watching the Sound of Music the first three or four times. Beyond that, I had ‘… the hills are alive…’ echoing in my head even when I tried to sleep.
The first stop was Mondsee, about 45 minutes outside Salzburg. This is a little town and the church from the wedding scene sits smack in the middle of town. There’s a beautiful lake here as well and we all enjoyed walking and exploring the town and relaxing by the lake.
Salzburg Walking Tour
On arriving in Salzburg the first thing that struck me was that this was a much smaller city than where we’d spent the previous week. Munich, Prague, Budapest and even Vienna had a big city feel to them. Here was Salzburg which looked like a miniature version of its big-city cousins, but it was small and welcoming.
The exploring started right off as we headed for Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace and gardens). From the top of the stairs, the garden spread out before us. These are the stairs from the last part of the “Do Re Mi” song. In “The Sound of Music”, Maria and the children dance around the Pegasus Fountain in front of the palace, singing most of “Do Re Mi.” It’s at the end of the song when they stand on the steps here and sing the song’s final bars. There is a rose garden north (behind) the stairs that had some significance, but neither Julie nor I can remember what it was. This is also where we got our first good look at the fortress towering over Salzburg.
Motzart-Wohnhaus
We continued through the gardens for quite some time. Even I had to admit the designs and colorful flowers were beautiful, and I’m not big on gardens. One block ahead from the Mirabell exit sits the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived until he moved to Vienna in 1781. Most of the house was destroyed in October 1944 during an air raid. In the 1990s the Mozart Residence was reconstructed true to the original building plans.
The walking tour continued through the town and crossed the Salzach River. Here we were introduced to the Old Town Hall and #9 Getreidegasse, the birthplace of Mozart. Born here on January 27, 1756, Mozart grew up and lived in the third-floor apartment until 1773. At that time the family moved to the “Mozart Residence” on Makartplatz Square. You can see that Salzburg is very proud of the Mozart connection from the restaurants, shops, and historical sites. You can even purchase a chocolate candy referred to as Mozart balls.
Residenzplatz
Residenzplatz Square is the site of a former ancient Roman Forum. Completed in 1661, the 45-foot-tall Horse Fountain is in the center of the square. Four horses leap out of the base and Trion spouts water from a seashell at the top of the fountain. The upper section is a replica of Bernini’s famous Triton Fountain in Rome and it is the largest Baroque fountain located outside of Italy. Back to “The Sound of Music”, the Horse Fountain in the square was where Maria splashes her hand while performing ‘I Have Confidence in Me’. A supporting platform had to be built for the movie since the walls of the fountain are much too tall to allow splashing.
The square was also used in the movie to show Nazi soldiers (the ‘bad men’, according to our grand-daughter) marching while their flag hangs above the entrance to the Old Residenz Palace. Picturing the movie in my head, it reminded me that Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. I need to check, but I think this was part of the deal or appeasement worked out in hopes of preventing war.
Unfortunately, construction prevented easy access to a large portion of the square. In 1602 the Archbishop built the New Residenz (Neugebäude) on the Eastside of the square to serve as his guest house. The building is home to the Glockenspiel Bell Tower, Heimatwerk Shop, and the Salzburg Panorama 1929 painted by Johann Michael Sattler. The Panorama boasts a series of stunning 360-degree panoramic paintings of many European cities made during the early 1800s. We didn’t have an opportunity to visit these sites.
Marian Statue
It gets a little complicated, but we walked through the courtyard of the Old Residenz Palace and out a side entrance to the Domplaz- a square adjacent to the Salzburg Cathedral. Here we saw the Marian statue that was created by Wolfgang and Johann Baptist Hagenauer in the 1760s. Standing in the middle of the arches leading to Franziskanergasse, the Marian statue appears to be crowned by the crown on the side of the cathedral. There was quite a bit of competition to get just the right photograph of the alignment.
Hohensalzburg Fortress
The Hohensalzburg Fortress was originally built in 1077. Like many other famous buildings in Europe, it was expanded and rebuilt numerous times.
In the year 1077, archbishop Gebhard had the fortress built and thus changed the Salzburg skyline forever. In the years which followed, his successors drove the ongoing development of the fortress architecture. The complex acquired the appearance we recognize today under archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach in 1500.
The original purpose of the fortress was to protect the principality and the archbishops from hostile attacks. In all of these years, it has never been captured by foreign troops
Dinner in Stiftskeller St. Peter
Our dinner was at a restaurant within the walls of St Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, Austria. It is claimed to be the oldest inn in Central Europe because of a supposed mention of it in the Carmina anthology by the English scholar Alcuin of York, issued in 803 AD when he served Emperor Charlemagne and Bishop Arno of Salzburg… The worlds oldest restaurants
Photo album is available at Salzburg Photos