Salzburg 2022

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A short visit in Salzburg

When we were in southern Germany it struck us that our 9-Euro-Tickets actually allowed us to travel to Salzburg in Austria. Emma really wanted to go there because she had never visited that city. Ake had visited Salzburg once before. But that was 35 years ago so he barely remembered anything so he was also OK with going there. Here follows our story from the day we visited the city Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in.



Historical city centre

Salzburg's Historical city centre is a UNESCO world heritage site. That means that there are many old well preserved buildings there and that it is a beautiful town.



Mirabell Palace

Mirabell Palace is a large impressive 17th century palace in central Salzburg. Since we on this trip decided not to visit too many castles and palaces we didn't bother to enter this palace. But we walked through the palace garden on our way from the railway station to the city centre, and it was a garden worth visiting.



One rather bizarre feature in the garden is the so called dwarf garden. One section of the park contains a large number (a dozen at least. Possibly as many as 20) of more or less realistic statues of people with dwarfism. We told you that it was bizarre. Supposedly the dwarf garden in the Mirabell palace is the oldest dwarf garden in Europe. So apparently there are other palaces in Europe that also have dwarf gardens. That's even more bizarre if you ask us.



Residenzplats

Residenzplats is a large square in the historical city centre, a square that to us felt like the de facto centre of the city. Others might argue against that though so we don't say that it is, it only felt like it.



Mozart

Early in this blog entry we mentioned that Salzburg is the city Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in. He also lived much of his life in Salzburg so it is fair to say that it was Mozart's hometown. The city Salzburg uses this fact heavily when they are marketing the town as a tourist destination.



Examples of ways Mozart is memorialized in Salzburg include a Mozart statue in Residenzplats and a sculpture called Spirit of Mozart. The sculpture is created by Marina Abramovic and consists of several chairs. It is unclear what chairs have to do with Mozart so please don't ask us to explain.



Another way Mozart is memorialized is through the chocolate called Mozartkugeln/Mozart Balls. We have to admit that we find them very tasty.



Mozarts Geburtshaus/Mozart's birth house

The house Mozart was born in is today a museum. Before visiting Mozart's birth house Ake vaguely recalled that he visited this museum last time he was in Salzburg. About half way through the visit in the museum memories from his previous visit 35 years ago started to come back to him. He remembered that he didn't like the museum then. Now on the second visit he still doesn't find Mozart's birth house museum interesting.



Mozarts Wohnhaus/Mozart's residence

Mozarts Wohnhaus is a museum located in a building that Mozart lived in as an adult. We felt that we at least had to go and take a photo of the building. We did not visit the museum though. Never more than one Mozart museum a day, that's our motto.



Sound of Music

The city Salzburg is also important in the musical Sound of Music. That is another music related fact that Salzburg use when they are marketing the town as a tourist destination. It is possible to visit Sound of Music related places and to go on Sound of Music tours in the city.



We enjoyed our visit in Salzburg. It is a beautiful city, the Mozartkugeln taste great but Mozarts birth house we will try to stay away from in case we ever go back.

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Photos

Mirabell Palace
Mirabell Palace is a large impressive 17th century palace in central Salzburg.

Mirabell palace garden
We walked through the palace garden on our way from the railway station to the city centre, and it was a garden worth visiting

Dwarf garden
One rather bizarre feature in the garden is the so called dwarf garden

Dwarf garden
The dwarf garden contains a large number (a dozen at least. Possibly as many as 20) more or less realistic statues of people with dwarfism.

Dwarf garden
Supposedly the dwarf garden in the Mirabell palace is the oldest dwarf garden in Europe.

Residenzbrunnen
Residenzbrunnen at Residenzplats

Shopping street
Notice that every single shop has their own wrought iron sign on the wall of the building

Building attached to the mountain
It was difficult to get a good photo of this. This building looks a bit weird as it is attached to the mountain

Love locks
Couples write their names on padlocks, fasten them on the bridge and throw the key in the water

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Salzburg
We've only been to Vienna so we enjoyed your thoughts. We were talking to friends this week about a possible trip to Salzburg so this blog is timely. Thanks.

[Ake Och Emma]

Glad to be of service
I hope you find something useful in the blog. Unfortunately I have very little other useful stuff on Austria to share with you. There are a few places I have on my wish list but they are mainly silly stuff (see the Arnold museum in Graz and hike the Hahnenkammrennen slope in Kitzbuhl) /Ake

[Dancing Dave]

Mirabell Palace
Always good to have more pics for our "Palaces & Castes" thread in the Photography Forum. This Palace Garden pic is a beauty!

[Ake Och Emma]

It came out nice
The intense red and the intense green was a nice combination. This time it also came out well in the photo. /Ake

[Dancing Dave]

Mozart's Violin
What happened to his piano?

[Ake Och Emma]

Good question
My guess is that things that are important today, such as "memorabilia" and "provenance", were less important in the 18th century. Probably much of his belongings were sold off at auctions or were taken care of by relatives. Later people had no idea of them once being owned by Mozart. Or maybe Smithonian Institution bought it all his belongings and have them in a museum in Washington DC... /Ake

[RENanDREW]

Mozart's birth house
I laughed when I read that Ake kind of remembered visiting it, but only halfway through did he remember that he really had visited it... and also remembered he didn't like it! You can now say you didn't like it twice :D

[Ake Och Emma]

And it is not a question about age
Visitied it twice, once as a child and once as an adult. Since I didn't like it at any of the visits I now know for sure that it isn't a question about age. /Ake

[alex waring]

Mozart and The Sound of Music
Yes, I remember my visit to Salzburg 24 years ago was also filled with Mozart, The Sound of Music, and lots of tourists. It doesn't seem to have changed much, lol! Your pictures do remind me of how beautiful Austria is, and how they really knew how to build their buildings as opulently as possible. I like the idea of walking from a train station to a city centre through palace gardens - nice!

[Ake Och Emma]

Same then, same now, same inte the future I guess
When I was there 35 years ago it was the same. When you were there 24 years ago it was the same. Today it is the same. 10 years, 25 years, 35 years from now it will still be the same I guess. /Ake