On the trail of Mozart in Salzburg

On the traces of the Salzburg genius

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered to be one of Salzburg's most famous sons. He was born and raised here, before he moved to Vienna. Today you can still see the traces of his life and artistic work everywhere around Salzburg's old town. "Wolferl”, as the Salzburg locals called him lovingly, is for many the most attractive and common reason for a trip to Salzburg, apart from the Salzburg Festival of course. Salzburg celebrates its controversial genius with museums and squares dedicated to him. It is easy to walk on Mozart's traces in Salzburg, there are wedded to the city and can be found at many places.

Young Mozart's Salzburg

27th January 1756: Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart was born in Salzburg's old city; or more exact at Hagenauer Haus on Getreidegasse 9. Today a museum can be found in Mozart's birthplace. Mozart connoisseurs know the story of his life: son of court composer and vice-kapellmeister, Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertl from St. Gilgen, Mozart was the family's seventh child. 

It was not only Wolfgang who went down in history, his sister Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, called "Nannerl” was also a highly gifted musician. As a grown-up woman in the shadow of her brother she had to settle for giving piano lessons to various courtiers. 18th century Salzburg was characterised by its prince-archbishops. They were temporal and spiritual authorities of the country. A range of very impressive buildings, all paid for with the salt mining wealth, still bear witness to their sovereignty. 

The most notable artists and architects of various eras still characterise today's appearance of the city with true masterpieces of magnificent architecture. Many of their buildings, like the archbishop's summer residence Hellbrunn Palace with its unique water games, Residenz and more than 30 churches – including the magnificent Salzburg Cathedral, all embellished with precious art treasures have made Salzburg a magnet for hundreds of thousand guests from all over the world. 

Sightseeing tour on the traces of the Salzburg genius

In 1772 Mozart was appointed as concertmaster of the Salzburg court orchestra. Like before he spent, however, most of his time on concert tours with his father Leopold. 
When the Mozart family grew too big for the small flat on Getreidegasse in 1773, Mozart and his parents and siblings moved into the Tanzmeisterhaus on Makartplatz on the other side of River Salzach, where "Wolferl” spent 27 years of his life. Mozart's residence also accommodates a museum today, which shows the Mozart’s' everyday life. During a multi-media tour through Mozart's life you will learn all the interesting details. 

After tendering his resignation to the prince-archbishop, in which he asked for his discharge from the Salzburg court orchestra, Mozart again went on tour, which took him to Mannheim, amongst other places. It was there where he fell in love with Aloisia Weber, but ended up marrying her sister Constanze a couple of years later in 1782. 

Before that, back in Salzburg he was appointed court organist in 1779, an unsteady employment which he ended only 20 months later to finally move to Vienna. There he took part in the Salzburg court orchestra academics by order of the archbishop, but again for only a short while before he finally lived as a self-employed composer until his death in 1791.