Salzburg
Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Alps mountains.
The town occupies the site of the Roman settlement of Iuvavum. Founded as an episcopal see in 696, it became a seat of the archbishop in 798. Its main sources of income were salt extraction, trade, as well as gold mining. The fortress of Hohensalzburg, one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe, dates from the 11th century. In the 17th century, Salzburg became a centre of the Counter-Reformation, with monasteries and numerous Baroque churches built. Salzburg has an extensive cultural and educational history, being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and being home to three universities and a large student population. Today, along with Vienna and the Tyrol, Salzburg is one of Austria's most popular tourist destinations.
Salzburg's historic center is renowned for its Baroque architecture and is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. The historic center was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
Etymology
The name "Salzburg" was first recorded in the late 8th century. It is composed of two parts; the first being "Salz-", and the second being "-burg" from Proto-West-Germanic: *burg "settlement, city" and not that of the New High German: Burg, lit. 'fortress'.History
Antiquity
The area of the city has been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic Age until the present. In the La Tène period, it was an administrative centre of the Celtic Alums in the Kingdom of Noricum.After the Roman invasion in 15 BC, the various settlements on the Salzburg hills were abandoned, following the construction of the Roman city in the area of the old town. The recently created Municipium Claudium Iuvavum was awarded the status of a Roman municipium in and has become one of the most important cities of the now Roman province of Noricum.
Middle Ages
When the province of Noricum collapsed in 488 at the beginning of the migration period, part of the Romano-Celtic population remained in the country. In the 6th century, they came under the rule of the Baiuvarii. The Life of Saint Rupert credits the 8th-century saint with the city's rebirth, when around, Bishop Rupert of Salzburg received the remains of the Roman town from Duke Theodo II of Bavaria as well as a castrum superius on the Nonnberg Terrace as a gift. In return, he was to evangelize the east and south-east of the country of Bavaria.Rupert reconnoitred the river for the site of his basilica and chose Iuvavum. He ordained priests and annexed the manor of Piding. Rupert built a church at St. Peter on the site of today's cathedral and probably also founded the associated monastery and the Benedictine nunnery on Nonnberg for his relative Erentrude. Salzburg has been the seat of a diocesan bishop since and an archbishopric since. The first cathedral was built under Archbishop Virgil. The Franciscan Church existed since the beginning of the 9th century at the latest. The Marienkirche dates from 1139.
The first use of the German name Salzburg can be traced back to when the name was used in Willibald's report on the organization of the Bavarian dioceses by Saint Boniface. The name derives from the barges carrying salt on the River Salzach, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century as was customary for many communities and cities on European rivers. Hohensalzburg Fortress, the city's fortress was built on the site of a Roman fort in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard, who made it his residence. It was greatly expanded during the following centuries. This site is not the site of the Roman castrum superius, which was located on the Nonnberg nearby.
The state of Salzburg and its counties soon gained more and more influence and power within Bavaria due to the flourishing salt mining and the wide-ranging missionary activities. In 996 Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor rented Archbishop Hartwig the market rights and minting rights. The first part of Hohensalzburg Fortress was built in 1077. A city judge was first mentioned in a document in 1120/30. On the left bank of the Salzach, an extensive spiritual district was created with the cathedral, the bishop's residence north-west of the cathedral, the cathedral monastery on its south side, St Peter's monastery, and the Frauengarten. Only during the 12th century did the civil settlement begin to spread into the Getreidegasse, the Abtsgasse, and along the quay. Around 1280, the first city fortifications were created. The oldest known city law document dates from the year 1287.
Under the prince-bishopric's rule
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. As the Reformation movement gained momentum, riots broke out among peasants in the areas surrounding Salzburg. The city was occupied during the German Peasants' War, and the Archbishop had to flee to the safety of the fortress. It was besieged for three months in 1525.Eventually, tensions were quelled, and the city's independence led to an increase in wealth and prosperity, culminating in the late 16th to 18th centuries under the Prince Archbishops Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Markus Sittikus, and Paris Lodron. It was in the 17th century that Italian architects rebuilt the city center as it is today, along with many palaces.
Modern era
Religious conflict
On 31 October 1731, the 214th anniversary of the 95 Theses, Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian signed an Edict of Expulsion, the Emigrationspatent, directing all Protestant citizens to recant their non-Catholic beliefs. 21,475 citizens refused to recant their beliefs and were expelled from Salzburg. Most of them accepted an offer by King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, travelling the length and breadth of Germany to their new homes in East Prussia. The rest settled in other Protestant states in Europe and the British colonies in America.Illuminism
In 1772–1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a center of late Illuminism. Colloredo is known for being one of the main employers of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Colloredo often had arguments with Mozart, and he dismissed him by saying, Soll er doch gehen, ich brauche ihn nicht!. Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna in 1781 with his family, although his father Leopold stayed behind, as he had a close relationship with Colloredo.Electorate of Salzburg
In 1803, the archbishopric was secularised by Emperor Napoleon; he transferred the territory to Ferdinando III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg.Austrian and Bavarian rule
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. After the Congress of Vienna with the Treaty of Munich, Salzburg was definitively returned to Austria, but without Rupertigau and Berchtesgaden, which remained with Bavaria. Salzburg was integrated into the Province of Salzach, and Salzburgerland was ruled from Linz.In 1850, Salzburg's status was 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 of the Austrian Empire. The nostalgia of the Romantic Era led to increased tourism. In 1892, a funicular was installed to facilitate tourism to Hohensalzburg Fortress.
File:Salzburg vom Mönchsberg aus.jpg|thumb|Salzburg in 1914; cathedral on the left, Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background
20th century
First Republic
Following 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. In 1918, it represented the residual German-speaking territories of the Austrian heartlands. This was replaced by the First Austrian Republic in 1919, after the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.Annexation by Nazi Germany
The Anschluss took place on 12 March 1938, one day before a scheduled referendum on Austria's independence. German troops moved into the city. Political opponents, Jewish citizens and other minorities were subsequently arrested and deported to concentration camps. The synagogue was destroyed.World War II
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, several POW camps for prisoners from the Soviet Union and other enemy nations were arranged in the city.During the Nazi occupation, a Romani camp was built in Salzburg-Maxglan. It was an Arbeitserziehungslager, which provided slave labor to local industry. It also operated as a Zwischenlager, holding Roma before their deportation to German camps or ghettos in German-occupied territories in Eastern Europe.
Salzburg was also the location of five subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp.
Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. Fifteen air strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings, especially those around Salzburg railway station. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were destroyed, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, Salzburg is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered the city on 5 May 1945, and it became the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria. Several displaced persons camps were established in Salzburg, among them Riedenburg, Camp Herzl, Camp Mülln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine.
Today
After World War II, Salzburg became the capital city of the Federal State of Salzburg and saw the Americans leave the area once Austria had signed a 1955 treaty re-establishing the country as a democratic and independent nation and subsequently declared its perpetual neutrality. In the 1960s, the city became the shooting location and setting of the family musical film The Sound of Music. On 27 January 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells after 8:00 p.m. to celebrate the occasion. Major celebrations took place throughout the year.As of 2017 Salzburg had a GDP per capita of €46,100, which was greater than the average for Austria and most European countries.