SALZBURG, capital of the Austrian duchy and crown land of Salzburg and formerly of the archbishopric of the same name, 195 m. W. by S. of Vienna by rail. Pop. (1900) 32,934. The city occupies a position of singular beauty on the Salzach which passes at this point between two isolated hills, the Mönchsberg (1646 ft.) on the left and the Capuzinerberg (2132 ft.) on the right. In the lovely valley so formed, and stretching into the plain beyond, lies Salzburg. The older and main part of the city lies on the left bank of the Salzach, in a narrow semicircular plain at the base of the Mönchsberg; the newer town is on the right bank at the foot of the Capuzinerberg, which is separated from the river by the narrow suburb of Stein. At the S. of the old town, below the Nonnberg, of S.E. spur of the Mönchsberg, is the suburb of Nonnthal; and at the N. end is Mülln. The steep sides of the Mönchsberg rise directly from amidst the houses of the town, some of which have cellars and rooms hewn out of the rock; and the ancient cemetery of St Peter, the oldest in Salzburg, is bounded by a row of vaults cut in the side of the hill. The narrowest part of the ridge, which has a length of above 2 m. is pierced by the Neu Thor, a tunnel 436 ft. long and 23 ft. broad, completed in 1767, to form a convenient passage from the town to the open plain. The S. end of the Mönchsberg is occupied by the imposing Hohen-Salzburg, a citadel originally founded in the 9th century, though the present buildings, the towers of which rise 400 ft. above the town, date chiefly from 1496-1519. Its chapel contains statues of the twelve apostles in red marble. The citadel is now used for barracks. The streets in the older quarters are narrow, crooked and gloomy; but the newer parts of the city, especially those laid out since the removal of the fortifications about 1861, are handsome and spacious. Owing to the frequent fires the private buildings of Salzburg are comparatively modern; and the existing houses, lavishly adorned with marble, are, like many of the public buildings, monuments of the gorgeous taste of the archbishops of the 17th and 18th centuries. From the style of the houses, the numerous open squares, and the abundant fountains which give an Italian aspect to the town, Salzburg has received the name of “the German Rome.” Both sides of the river are bordered by fine promenades, planted with trees. The Salzach is spanned by four bridges, including a railway bridge.
Salzburg is full of objects and buildings of interest. The cathedral, one of the largest and most perfect specimens of the Renaissance style in Germany, was built in 1614-1668 by the Italian architect Santino Solari, in imitation of St Peter's at Rome. On three sides it is bounded by the Dom-Platz, the Kapitel-Platz and the Residenz-Platz; and opening on the N.E. and N.W. of the last are the Mozart-Platz and the Markt-Platz. In the Mozart-Platz is a statue of Mozart by Schwanthaler erected in 1842. On one side of the Residenz-Platz is the palace, an irregular though imposing building in the Italian style, begun in 1592 and finished in 1725. It contains a picture-gallery and is now occupied by the grand-duke of Tuscany. Opposite is the Neu Bau, begun in 1588, in which are the government offices and the law courts. In the middle of the Residenz-Platz is a handsome fountain, the Residenz-Brunnen, 46 ft. high, executed in marble by Antonio Dario in 1664-1680. The palace of the present archbishop is in the Kapitel-Platz. Across the river, with its French garden adjoining the public park, is the Mirabell palace, formerly the summer residence of the archbishops. Built in 1607, and restored after a fire in 1818, it was presented to the town in 1867 by the emperor Francis Joseph. The town hall of Salzburg was built in 1407 and restored in 1675. Other interesting secular buildings are the Chiemseehof, founded in 1305 and rebuilt in 1697, formerly the palace of the suffragan bishop o Chiemsee, and now the meeting-place of the Salzburg diet and the Carolino-Augusteum-Museum, containing an interesting collection of antiquities and a library of 20,000 volumes.
Of the twenty-five churches the majority are interest in from their antiquity, their architecture or their associations. Next to the cathedral, the chief is perhaps the abbey church of St Peter, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th century which was tastelessly restored in 1745, and which contains a monument to St Rupert. St Margaret's, in the midst of St Peter's churchyard, built in 1485, and restored in 1865, is situated near the cave in the side of the Mönchsberg, said to have been the hermitage of St Maximus, who was martyred by the pagan Heruli in 477. The Franciscan church, with an elegant tower built in 1866, is an interesting example of the transition style of the 13th century, with later baroque additions. St Sebastian's, on the right bank, built in 1505-1512 and restored in 1812, contains the tomb of Paracelsus, who died here. The oldest and most important of the eight convents at Salzburg is the Benedictine abbey of St Peter founded by St Rupert as the nucleus of the city. It was completely rebuilt in 1131 and contains a library of 40,000 volumes, besides MSS. The Capuchin monastery, dating from 1599, gives name to the Capuzinerberg. The oldest nunnery is that founded on the Nonnberg by St Rupert, the Gothic church of which dates from 1423 and contains some fine stained glass and some old frescoes. The single Protestant church in Salzburg was not built until 1865. A theological seminary is the only relic now left of the university of Salzburg, founded in 1623 and suppressed in 1810. The city is the see of an archbishop with a cathedral chapter and a consistory. Salzburg, situated at an altitude of 1351 ft. above sealevel, has a healthy climate and is visited annually by over 60,000 tourists. It has a mean annual temperature of 46.4° F. and a mean annual rainfall of 45.59 in. The town carries on a variety of small manufactures, including musical instruments, iron-wares, marble ornaments. Other industries are brewing and book-binding. It was the birthplace of Mozart and of the painter Hans Makart (1840-1884). The house in which Mozart was born has been transformed into a museum, which contains many interesting relics.
Numerous places of interest and beautiful spots are to be found round Salzburg. To the E. rises the Gaisberg (4206 ft.), which is ascended by a rack-and-pinion railway, which starts from Parsch. At the foot of the Gaisberg is Aigen, a renowned castle and park. Three miles S. of Salzburg is the palace of Hellbrunn, built about 1615, which contains a famous mechanical theatre and some fine fountains. About 2 m. to the S.W. of Salzburg is the castle of Leopoldskron, and from this point the Leopoldskroner Moos stretches S. to the base of the Untersberg. A few peat-baths, as the Ludwigsbad and the Marienbad, are in the neighbourhood of Leopoldskron. Three and a half miles N. of Salzburg, at an altitude of 1720 ft., stands the pilgrimage church of Maria Plain, erected in 1674.
The origin and development of Salzburg were alike ecclesiastical, and its history is involved with that of the archbishopric to which it gave its name. The old Roman town of Iuvavum was laid in ruins, and the incipient Christianity of the district overwhelmed, by the pagan Goths and Huns. The nucleus of the present city was the monastery and bishopric founded here about 700 by St Rupert of Worms, who had been invited by Duke Theodo of Bavaria to preach Christianity in his land. The modern name of the town, due like several others in the district to the abundance of salt found there, appears before the end of the 8th century. After Charlemagne had taken possession of Bavaria in the 8th century, Bishop Arno of Salzburg was made an archbishop and papal legate. Thenceforward the dignity and power of the see steadily increased and in the course of time the archbishops obtained high secular honours. In 1278 Rudolph of Habsburg made them imperial princes.
The strife between lord and people was always keen in Salzburg. Archbishop Leonhard II., who expelled the Jews from Salzburg in 1498, had to face a conspiracy of the nobles and was besieged in Hohen-Salzburg by the inhabitants in 1511. The Peasants' War also raged within the see in 1525 and 1526, and was only quelled with the aid of the Swabian League. From the beginning an orthodox stronghold of the Roman Catholic faith, Salzburg energetically opposed the Reformation. Under Archbishop Wolfgang Dietrich (d. 1611) many Protestant citizens were driven from the town and their houses demolished. In spite, however, of rigorous persecution the new faith spread, and a new and more searching edict of expulsion was issued by Archbishop Leopold Anton von Firmian (d. 1744). The Protestants invoked the aid of Frederick William I. of Prussia, who procured for them permission to sell their goods and to emigrate; and in 1731 and 1732 Salzburg parted with about 30,000 industrious and peaceful citizens, about 6000 of these coming from the capital. The last independent archbishop was Hieronymus von Colloredo (1732-1812), who ruled with energy and justice but without gaining popularity.
By the peace of Lunéville (1802) the see was secularized and given to the archduke of Austria and grand-duke of Tuscany in exchange for Tuscany, its new owner being enrolled among the electoral princes. In the redistribution following the peace of Pressburg in 1805, Salzburg fell to Austria. Four years later it passed to Bavaria, 'but after the peace of Paris it was restored to Austria in 1816, except a portion on the left bank of the Salzach. Under the designation of a duchy the territory formed the department of Salzach in Upper Austria until 1849, when it was made a separate crown land, and finally in 1861 the management of its affairs was entrusted to a local diet. The actual duchy does not correspond exactly with the old bishopric. Salzburg embraced at the time of the peace of Westphalia (1648) an area of 3821 sq. m. with a population of 190,000. A part of its territory was ceded to Bavaria in 1814, and when Salzburg became 4 separate crown land in 1849 several of its districts were added to Tirol.
For the history of the archbishopric see Meiller, Regatta archiepiscoporum Salisburgensium, 1106–1246 (Vienna, 1866); Dümmler, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Erzbistums von Salzburg im 9-12 Jahrhundert (Vienna, 1859); the Salzburger Urkundenbuch, edited by W. Hauthaler (Salzburg, 1899); Pichler, Salzburgs Landesgeschichte (Salzburg, 1865); Doblhoff, Beiträge zum Quellenstudium Salzburgische Landeskunde (Salzburg, 1893–1895); Greinz, Die Erzdiözese Salzburg (Vienna, 1898); Rieder, Kurze Geschichte des Landes Salzburg (Vienna, 1905); E. Richter, Das Herzogtum Salzburg (1881); Thym, Das Herzogtum Salzburg (1901), and F. von Pichl, Kritische Abhandlungen über die älteste Geschichte Salzburgs (Innsbruck, 1889). For the town see Widmann, Geschichte Salzburgs (Gotha, 1907); F. von Zillner, Geschichte der Stadt Salzburg (Salzburg, 1885–1890); Trautwein, Salzburg (12th ed., Innsbruck, 1901); J. Meurer, Führer durch Salzburg (Vienna, 1889), and Purtscheller, Führer durch Salzburg und Umgebung (Salzburg, 1905). See also C. F. Arnold, Die Ausrottung dis Protestantismus in Salzburg unter Erzbischof Firmian (1900).