SALZBURG - MOZART’S BIRTHPLACE AND WORLD HERITAGE SITE

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The city of Salzburg lies on the Salzach River in the heart of the Salzburg basin. It is the regional capital of the state with the same name, and with 150,000 inhabitants, it is Austria’s fourth largest city after Vienna, Graz and Linz. The north-west of the Statutory City of Salzburg lies on the Bavarian border, while the rest of the city belongs to the district of Salzburg-Umgebung.

In the year 488, the Roman city of Juvavum began to fall into decline. Salzburg was founded in the year 696 as a bishop’s seat, and in 798, it became the seat of the archbishop. Salzburg’s main sources of income were the production and trading of salt, as well as gold mining. Hohensalzburg Fortress dates back to the 11th century. It is one of the largest medieval castle complexes in Europe, and is considered one of the city’s landmarks. From the 17th century, Archbishop Wolf Dietrich and his successors were responsible for the construction of many magnificent buildings in their city of residence. These included Hellbrunn Palace in the south of the city, complete with palace gardens, water features, and avenues.

Salzburg’s most famous resident is without a doubt Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which is why the city is also known as “Mozartstadt Salzburg”. The city’s historic old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996.

Today, Salzburg is an important trade fair and conference centre, and is home to many trade and service sector businesses. It has a vibrant tourism sector, and enjoys international renown thanks to the Salzburg Festival.

Due to its central location, the city is at the heart of the cross-border EuRegio Salzburg – Berchtesgadener Land – Traunstein area, as well as being a traffic hub for one of Europe’s most important east-west routes (Munich-Vienna-Budapest), and transalpine road and rail routes (Salzburg–Tauern–Udine).