Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg.
Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Host to three universities and a large population of students, Salzburg is noted for its attractive setting and scenic Alpine backdrop.
Salzburg was the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid-20th century, the city was the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music.
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 1,972-metre-high Untersberg, is less than 16 kilometres from the city centre.
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 Monchsberg and Kapuzinerberg, which offer green relief within the city. Salzburg is approximately 150 km east of Munich, 281 km northwest of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and 300 km west of Vienna.
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 the 5th century BC.
Around 15 BC the separate settlements were merged into one city by the Roman Empire. 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. After the collapse of the Norican frontier, Juvavum declined so sharply that by the late 7th century it had become a "near ruin".
The Life of Saint Rupert credits the 8th-century 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". He traveled to evangelise among pagans.
The name Salzburg means "Salt Castle". It 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.
Mozart was born in Salzburg, capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, a former ecclesiastical principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
On 31 October 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 an Edict of Expulsion, the Emigrationspatent, directing all Protestants to recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished from the city. (This is not to be confused with many similar edicts of expulsion issued against the Jews in various cities in Europe.)
The story of their plight spread quickly as their columns marched north. Goethe wrote the poem "Hermann and Dorothea", which, though depicting disruptions caused in the aftermath of the French Revolution, was prompted by the story of the Salzburg exiles' march.
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 Hungary and Serbia; the Kingdom of Hungary recruited Germans to repopulate areas along the Danube River decimated by the plague and the Ottoman invasion. The Salzburgers also migrated to Protestant areas near Berlin and Hanover in Germany; and to the Netherlands.
The ethnic German refugees went to western Europe, the United States and other western nations. Those who settled in West Germany founded a community association to preserve their historic identity as Salzburgers.
In 1772-1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a centre of late Illuminism.
In 1803, the archbishopric was secularised by Emperor Napoleon and handed over to Ferdinand III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg.
In 1805, Salzburg was annexed to the Austrian Empire, along with the Berchtesgaden Provostry.
In 1809, the territory of Salzburg 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 Rupertigau and Berchtesgaden, which remained with Bavaria. Salzburg was integrated into the Salzach province and Salzburgerland was ruled from Linz. In 1850, Salzburg's status was once more restored as the capital of the Duchy of Salzburg, a crownland of the Austrian Empire. The city became part of Austria-Hungary in 1866 as the capital of a crownland into the Austrian Empire.
Following the World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Salzburg, as the capital of one of the Austro-Hungarian territories, became part of the new German Austria, which represented the residual German-speaking territories of the Austrian heartlands, in 1918. This was replaced by the First Austrian Republic in 1919, after the Treaty of Versailles.
During the Anschluss, Austria, including Salzburg, was annexed to the German Third Reich on 12 March 1938, one day before a scheduled referendum about Austria's independence. German troops were moved to the city. Political opponents, Jewish citizens and other minorities were subsequently arrested and deported. The synagogue was destroyed and several POW camps for prisoners from the Soviet Union and other nations were organized in the area.
During World War II, the 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. A total of 15 strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings especially around Salzburg train station. 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 5 May 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 Mulln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine. Salzburg was the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria.
After World War II, Salzburg became the capital city of the State of Salzburg (Land Salzburg). On 27 January 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells a little after 8:00 p.m. (local time) to celebrate the occasion. Major celebrations took place throughout the year.
