sALzburg citY & cuLture

SAlZBurG City of Culture

It is hard to believe that Salzburg is such a small and intimate city, when you consider the phenomenal extent of its cultural importance. It is famous as the birthplace of Mozart and it has created one of Europe’s most important arts festivals that is of global significance for opera, classical music, drama and much more. The baroque grandeur of the Residenzplatz is now complemented by some of the finest and most radical of modern architecture. As you wander the cobbled streets of the medieval old town you can suddenly be confronted by demanding, right-up-to-date public sculptures. No wonder that this is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here is a guide to some of the cultural experiences you can’t afford to miss…

Shopping with style

There’s some gorgeous

shopping to be had in Salzburg (the perfect preChristmas trip), the artfully created window displays beautifully set off by the often very grand buildings that house them, in particular in the famous shopping streets of Getreidegasse and Judengasse in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site of the Altstadt or Old City. Salzburg also has the modern and award-winning Europark shopping centre with its 130 stores.

Many of the deeply rooted traditions behind the small shops and manufacturers reflect the passion of the owners for continuing quality and include leather goods, custom-made shoes, porcelain, metalwork, chocolate shops, goldsmiths, even the Doll Doctor with antique and reproduction dolls for sale and hospital for sick toys. And here are some of the highest-quality clothing shops you’ll find anywhere in the world. One of the very best is Gössl, selling high-end traditional clothing which Austrians still wear on a daily basis – for women in particular, wearing the pretty dirndl skirt and white blouse has become very on-trend in recent years. Today the company is run by Gerhard Gössl (pictured above),the son of its 1947 founders, from a beautiful saffron-coloured building which today also houses a stylish museum, shop and restaurant, all open to the public. There are also 35 Gössl shops, new collections twice a year, and fans around the world include the renowned designer Vivienne Westwood, singing star Tina Turner, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Arnold Schwarzenegger. ■ gössl gwandhaus, morzger strasse 31, 5020

salzburg, www.gwandhaus.com

Salzburg Residenz Palace

This baroque masterpiece was the centre of power for the province, first for the ruling archbishops and later as the secular seat of government. The lower floors are still used for administration. The upper floors are occupied by opulent state rooms and public galleries. You can see the rather splendid room where Mozart gave his first public performance at the age of six. The art gallery features a very good collection of Dutch and Flemish works including masterpieces by Rembrandt and Rubens. The audio guide takes about 45 minutes.

■ residenzplatz 1, 5020 salzburg

Contact: +43 (0) 662 8042-2690, www.salzburg-burgen.at open 10am to 5pm daily, January to December. Final admissions 4.30pm adults €8.50, children (6-14 years) € 2.70. Free with salzburg Card.

Salzburg Museum

This is The benchmark by which you can judge modern museums. Opened in the Neue Residenz palace in 2006, it uses the most up-to-date methods to display historical objects and engage the visitor. It looks gorgeous and delights you as you discover yet another wonder. You start beneath the cobbled courtyard in the carefully lit Kunsthalle, where there are rotating exhibitions of modern art. On the first floor ‘Salzburg Personalities’ focuses on the people who have shaped the city through the ages, including the alchemist Paracelcus and the performer Richard Mayr. Make sure you get your photo taken in a periodstyle portrait that you can email home. The next floor celebrates the city as a source of artistic inspiration over the centuries. Don’t miss the videos made by bemused Asian tourists. Mozartplatz 1, 5020 salzburg

Contact: +43 (0) 662 620808-0, www.salzburgmuseum.at open Tuesday to sunday 9am to 5pm, adults €7, children €3. Free with salzburg Card – online booking www.salzburg.info

Mozart at home

Few people actually warrant the description of genius. But Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born in Salzburg in 1756, indisputedly does and the city resonates with his incredible drawing power. He was one of the first artistes to be what we now call a celebrity and today that fame is even bigger.

The logical place to start is his birthplace in the heart of the historic city centre. It has been a museum since 1880, but recently has been meticulously reorganized into a wonderful gateway into his life and times. There are three main themes: his life as a child prodigy, the staging of his operas, and how his family helped create the enduring myth that surrounds him.

The detail is fascinating, from his first violin to the minutiae of his daily life as a travelling superstar.

Then you must visit his next home which is also a museum – the Dance Master’s Hall in Makart Square, where he composed much of his mature work and which was the centre of his exuberant social life and is still the venue for intimate concerts. It focuses on his adult life and also looks at his musically gifted sister ‘Nannerl’. Don’t miss the audiovisual show at the end of the tour, called ‘Mozart and Salzburg’.

■ Mozart’s Birthplace

Getreidegasse 9 Contact: +43 (0) 662 844313 www.mozarteum.at Daily from 9am to 5.30pm (July & August until 8pm)

■ Mozart’s Residence

Makartplatz 8 Contact:+43 (0) 662 874227-40 www.mozarteum.at Daily from 9am to 5.30 (July and August until 8pm)

Mirabell Palace

THE SITE OF the present palace was originally used by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich to build a modest mansion for his mistress, who is said to have borne him 15 children. The archbishop arrived in the quiet medieval city of Salzburg in 1587 determined to create a city north of the Alps that would rival Rome in its architectural splendour. He commissioned Italian architects to design a grand cathedral and fi ve squares.

It was one of his successors, Archbishop Franz Anton Harrach, who had it rebuilt as a sumptuous royal palace in 1727, which was damaged in a later fi re. But it was rebuilt to the plans of Peter Nobile in the early 19th century. Lunchtime and evening concerts are a great way to get the atmosphere of the palace. It is surrounded by glorious gardens where the von Trapp children sang the famous Do-Re-Mi around the Pegasus statue. It can get crowded in the middle of the day.

■ Mirabellplatz

Contact: +43 (0) 662 80720, www.salzburg.info. The palace is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8am to 4pm and Fridays 1pm to 4pm. Admission free. The Angel Staircase open daily from 8am to 6pm. The gardens are open all year from 6am to dusk. Orangerie open all year from 9am to 4pm.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

THE FORTRESS, which dominates the city from its perch high on the rocky peak of Festungsberg, was built in the 11th century during the wars between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy. It took the shape we now know in the 16th century during renovation by Archchbishop Leonhard von Keutschach.

It is easy to spend half a day wandering around the ramparts enjoying the wonderful views across the city’s spires and on to the imposing Alps. This is one of the biggest and best preserved castles in Europe.

Highlights include the Golden Hall with its gold-studded ceiling designed to imitate a starry night; the Eiserner Wehrmann soldier encrusted with 328,000 iron nails, and the extremely creepy torture chamber (it was used as recently as 1893).

It is a steep 15-minute walk from the city centre, or a relaxed and speedy ride in the glass Festungsbahn funicular.

■ Contact: +43 (0) 662 8424,

www.salzburg-burgen.at Tickets: With funicular, adults €10.50 and children €6. Using footpath, adults €7.40 and children €4.20. Free with Salzburg Card (including funicular). Open 9.30am to 5pm, January to April & October to December; 9am to 7pm, May to September

SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCK

Hellbrunn Castle

WATCH OUT for the wonderful trick fountains which drench you when you least expect it. The gardens were a wild retreat for fun-loving clerics and the glorious yellow-painted schloss was a place for 17th century rulers to let their hair down. Check out the Neptune Grotto and the Mechanical Theatre. Today’s tourists seem to have as much fun as the naughty prelates. ■ Fürstenweg 37

Contact +43 (0) 662 8203 720, www.hellbrunn.at Open:9am - 5.30pm, May & June, 9am - 10pm, July & Aug Ticket: Adults €8.50, children (6 to 15 years) €3.80.

Advent

Advent is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful seasons in the city. The first snowflakes fall, children build snowmen in the Mirabell Gardens and the scent of mulled wine and chestnuts permeates the cobbled streets. It is the most romantic time to explore Salzburg.

Concerts

The Salzburg Advent Concerts held in the Great Festival Hall in front of 40,000 people each year are a traditional telling of the nativity story with 150 singers, musicians and actors. They were founded in 1946 by Tobias Reiser and seem to grow in popularity each year – book your tickets well in advance.

Each year there are a number of other concerts and special events including traditional Alpine folk concerts. Candle-lit dinners with a seasonal concert are held in the Fortress Hohensalzburg.

Another great venue is the vaulted Romanesque Hall at St Peter’s Monastery, where string quartet recitals can be heard. The hall is specially decorated for Christmas and features classical seasonal music. The programme changes each day and features internationally renowned musicians.

Contact: www.salzburg.info

Christmas markets

The Christmas Market in Domplatz (Cathedral Square) and Residenzplatz is held from the end of November through December and is one of the best in Europe. Others to check out include: • Mirabellplatz Mid Nov to 24 Dec. Daily • Hohensalzburg Castle In castle courtyard on the weekends before Christmas • Hellbrunn Mid Nov to 24 Dec In the palace gardens. Daily

Krampus

At the beginning of December the streets of the city and most villages and towns in the region are stalked by age-old monsters – Krampus and Perchten. These shaggy, terrifying spirits symbolize Perchta, a pagan Alpine goddess. If you touch them or get swatted, consider yourself fortunate – they are thought to bring good luck. Children run around screaming with delight and grown-ups have an excuse for an early Christmas party.

Silent Night - A song from Salzburg to the world

it is no surprise that the city where the much-loved carol Silent Night was written and first performed should have a special connection with this time of year.

It was first performed in the chapel in Oberndorf near Salzburg on Christmas Eve in 1818. The lyrics were written by the Salzburg pastor, Joseph Mohr, the music by Franz Xavier Gruber. Mohr was born the third of four illegitimate children and was baptized in the same font in Salzburg Cathedral as Mozart.

If you want to continue your Silent Night tour, head to Steingasse, where Mohr grew up with his mother and three siblings. He wrote the poem Silent Night during his tenure as a priest in Mariapfarr. The original text was not discovered until 1996 and is on display at the Salzburg Museum.

The carol has become part of the fabric of the city, in fact in March 2011 it was offically declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO said the song is ‘an essential contribution to the preservation of cultural diversity and sustainable development’. ■ www.stillenachtland.at

Festivals Salzburg

Calendar...

JANUARY: Mozart Week APRIL: Easter Festival, Saturday before Palm Sunday to Easter Monday – chamber music, opera & concerts MAY: Concerts & opera (25-28 May)

JULY: Alternative arts festival – dance, concerts & exhibtions

JULY/AUGUST: The Salzburg Festival. Opera, theatre, readings, chamber music, soloists & concerts (2012, 20 July to 2 September)

OCTOBER: Salzburg Culture Days. Opera & concerts

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER:

Winterfest in the Volksgarten, vaudeville show in a circus tent DECEMBER Christmas markets, Advent concerts & folk concerts THE MAIN FESTIVAL in summer is one of the most important arts festivals in the world and it was started in 1920 to honour the work of Mozart. The city’s artistic genius is still at the heart of the festival but it has since grown to encompass a very wide range of the very best in opera, theatre and music. It was founded by the leading writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the composer and conductor Richard Strauss and the theatrical innovator Max Reinhardt. Over the decades it has steadily grown in stature and importance and now hosts nearly 200 diff erent events over 35 days in July and August staged in 14 wonderful venues, many of them open air. Key performances are held in the former court stables converted into two theatres, Makartplatz theatre and Schloss Mirabell.

Since its inception the festival has opened with a performance of von Hofmannsthal’s morality play Jedermann (Everyman). For nearly 30 years the outstanding conductor Herbert von Karajan was the festival’s musical director and creative driving force. The city is transformed for the summer with an infl ux of cultural tourists and most of the performances are sold out months in advance, but it is always worth checking for cancellations. You can see the full programme from November of the previous year on the festival’s excellent website – www.salzburgfestival.at. Prices range from €5 to €250 – the cheapest seats are standing-only. There are discounts for under-26-yearolds and deals when booking more than one event.

Contact

The festival’s website is an excellent place to fi nd out about all the performances as soon as they are annnounced and to book tickets in advance. WEBSITE: www.salzburgfestival.at TICKET OFFICE: +43 (0) 662 8045 500