Salzburg

(zälts`bo͝ork), province (1991 pop. 482,365), c.2,760 sq mi (7,150 sq km), W central Austria, bordering Germany in the north and northwest. It is a predominately mountainous region, with parts of the Hohe Tauern Mts. and Salzburg Alps, and is drained by the Salzach River. There are famous salt deposits that have long been worked, as well as gold, copper, and iron mines. Precious stones are also found there. A scenic area, it is noted for its numerous Alpine resorts and spas. Manufactures include clothing, leather, textiles, beer, wood products, paper, and musical organs. Cattle and horses are raised. Kaprun dam, on the Salzach high in the mountains, includes one of the largest hydroelectric facilities in Europe. The province's capital and chief city is Salzburg (1991 pop. 143,978), an industrial, commercial, and tourist center and a transportation hub. Picturesquely situated on both banks of the Salzach River, the city is bounded by two steep hills, the Capuzinerberg (left bank) and the Mönchsberg, on the southern tip of which is the 11th-century fortress of Hohensalzburg (right bank).

Landmarks and Institutions

The city of Salzburg is an architectural gem. Its most noteworthy buildings are a late 7th-century Benedictine abbey, which was for many years the center of missionary activities; the Franciscan church, consecrated in 1223; the early 17th-century cathedral, modeled after St. Peter's in Rome; the Residenz (16th–18th cent.), formerly the archiepiscopal palace; Mirabell castle (early 18th cent.), situated in a beautiful garden; and the Festspielhaus (1960), the city's chief concert hall. There is a monument to the physician and alchemist Paracelsus, who died in Salzburg in 1541. The city's university (founded 1623), except for its theological seminary, was closed in 1810 but was reopened in 1963. The Salzburg Seminar in American Studies is centered in Schloss Leopoldskron (18th cent.), a rococo castle.

The composer Mozart, Salzburg's most distinguished son, met scant recognition in the city during his stay there, but he is now honored by an annual summer music festival (see Salzburg FestivalSalzburg Festival,
annual festival of music and drama held in Salzburg, Austria, for five weeks starting in late July. The festival may be considered a descendant of the Salzburg Music Festival Weeks that the Vienna Philharmonic gave irregularly between 1877 and 1910.
..... Click the link for more information. ), which constitutes an important source of tourist revenue for Salzburg. Part of the house where Mozart was born is now a museum, and there is a commemorative statue on the quaint little square, the Mozart Platz. Since 1920 the morality play Everyman, written by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, has been performed annually in the cathedral square (now during the Salzburg Festival).

History

Originally inhabited by Celts, the territory was conquered by the Romans and became part of the province of Noricum. After the fall of the Roman Empire, its history followed that of the city of Salzburg. An ancient Celtic settlement, and later a Roman trading center named Juvavum, the town developed in the early 8th cent. around the late 7th-century monastery of St. Peter.

By c.798 Salzburg was the seat of an archbishopric, and for almost 1,000 years it was the residence of the autocratic archbishops of Salzburg, the leading ecclesiastics of the German-speaking world. They became princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1278 and wielded their power with extreme intolerance. In the late 15th cent. the Jews were expelled, and in 1731–32 some 30,000 Protestants migrated to Prussia after a period of severe persecution. Secularized in 1802, Salzburg was transferred to Bavaria by the Peace of Schönbrunn (1809). The Congress of Vienna (1814–15) returned it to Austria.

Salzburg

a province in Austria. Area, 7,200 sq km; population, 399,700 (1971). Its administrative center is the city of Salzburg. The Alps extend over a large part of the province. The Niedere Tauern and Hohe Tauern ranges (3,798 m) are located in the south. The Salzburg and Dachstein Alps (Dachstein elevation, 2,996 m) occupy the central part, and hilly piedmonts with numerous lakes are found in the extreme north. Cattle are pastured in the hills. Rye, wheat, and oats are grown in the valleys. There is forestry, as well as the extraction of salt, copper, kaolin, and marble. Facilities for aluminum smelting are located at Lend. The hydroelectric station at Kaprun provides 10 percent of Austria’s electric power. Salzburg has wood-products, paper, and food-processing industries. The province, a center for tourism, is the site of several health resorts.

Salzburg

a city in western Austria, situated on both banks of the Salzach River in the Salzburg hollow, at an altitude of 1,300–2,000 m. It is the administrative center of Salzburg Province. Population, 120,000 (1968). Salzburg is a transportation junction. It has enterprises of the textile, food, and machine-construction industries. It is a tourist re-sort and a music and theatrical center. It is the birthplace of Mozart.

In antiquity the Roman colony of Juvavum, Salzburg became a bishopric in 739 and was raised to an archbishopric in 798. In the llth and 12th centuries large amounts of salt began to be extracted in the region (hence the name of the city: Sah—salt, Burg— city). During the Peasant War of 1524–26 the rebelling peasants and mine workers of the Salzburg archbishopric seized the city, but in 1526 the revolt was suppressed. Beginning in 1805, Salzburg was under Austrian control; it belonged to Bavaria from 1810 until 1815, when it reverted to Austria. In March 1938, Salzburg, like all of Austria, was seized by fascist Germany; from 1945 to 1955 it was a part of the American occupation zone in Austria.

The old city (on the left bank of the river) is the site of a baroque cathedral (1611–28; architect, S. Solari), which is surrounded by an ensemble of three squares; the residence of the archbishop (founded c. 1120, rebuilt in the 16th-18th centuries); churches by the architect J. B. Fischer von Erlach; and mews with two riding schools (17th century; rebuilt beginning in 1924 into the House of Nature and the Festspielhaus, the building for the Mozart festivals). Above the old city (at a height of 130 m) stands the Hochensalzburg Fortress (founded in 1077, rebuilt in 1465–1519).

The new sections are situated primarily on the right bank. The Museum Carolino-Augusteum (an archeology and art collection) is located there.

REFERENCES

Widmann, H. Geschichte Salzburgs, vols. 1–3. Gotha, 1907–14.
Martin, F. Salzburg. Salzburg [1952].

Salzburg

1. a city in W Austria, capital of Salzburg province: 7th-century Benedictine abbey; a centre of music since the Middle Ages and birthplace of Mozart; tourist centre. Pop.: 142 662 (2001) 2. a state of W Austria. Pop.: 521 238 (2003 est.). Area: 7154 sq. km (2762 sq. miles)

Salzburg

Salz·burg

Salzburg

Salz•burg

Salzburg

Salzburg

Landmarks and Institutions

History

Salzburg

Salzburg

REFERENCES

Salzburg

Salzburg

Words related to Salzburg

noun city in western Austria

Related Words