Tag: Fortress Hohensalzburg

Fortress Hohensalzburg – Salzburg, Austria

The view of Fortress Hohensalzburg from the city below.

It is impossible to travel to Salzburg without seeing the large castle perched on top of the hill in the middle of town. No matter where you go in the older part of town, its presence is looming down upon you, and it just begs you to go and see what it is all about. It is probably the single tourist spot in town, and at the same time it is a little scary because it requires a hike up the hill to visit it.

The funicular on the way down

In reality, the hill is not that bad to hike up, and it only takes ten minutes, but it will still wind a person who is not in the best of shape. But for those who wish to take the easy way up, there is a funicular that can be taken to reach the summit, and it is part of the ticket price to make it back down so you do not need to do damage on your knees as you make your way down.

The view of Salzburg from atop the fortress

It is worth getting up there either way because not only does it offer the best views of the city, but it is also a pretty interesting place to see. It was designed by a series of bishops in the year 1077 as way of protecting the people of Salzburg against an eminent attack. That attack never came, and over the years they continued to add to the fortress with the latest edition coming in 1991 when they updated the funicular to make access more easy.

The blacksmith’s work station

Despite the ground of the fortress which transports you back to medieval times and it still used for celebrations during the holiday season, it is a great place to learn what life was like during this time. It boasts of a small chapel where the bishops went to worship, a blacksmith room, an organ that woke the people of Salzburg up every morning, a torture chamber that just held devices of torture but were never used against an individual, a dungeon, and a wall that you can walk through to get various views of the expanse of Salzburg and the surrounding hillside. There were also quarters that were built so they could hold the prince in safety and eventually they added spaces for cannons that could be used to defend the city.

Statues that can be found in the museum portion of the fortress

There are also a couple of museums housed within its walls. One of them is interactive and is a lot of fun for kids who come visit the fortress. My favorite part of this section was a series of cannons that were pointed at the fortress and you would aim them to see if you get hit the fortress and which part you hit. Despite its digital game like quality, it was very informative and told me a lot about the place I was visiting. The other museum was a little weird. It held a lot of different artifacts collected over the years, and some of them made sense. When they started talking about World War I and World War II, I started to wonder why these things were collected in this place considering they had nothing to do with this fortress. The informative signs were a little strange as well. They were either written by a ten year old as report on the things he was seeing, or a real bad poet that was trying to write like the same ten year old. Though they were informative, the information they gave was kind of obvious and made for a bigger laugh than actually giving insight.

Despite this little flaw, overall this is a must see place while visiting Salzburg, and demonstrates how important this city has been to the growth of Austria, and Europe as a whole. It not only shows how a stronghold can defend a population, but also gives insight to the time period in which it was created.

A Stroll through Altstadt – Salzburg, Austria

The view of Salzburg from the Mozartsteg

Salzburg, Austria was one of the more important cities in Europe not only because it sat at a crossroads of trade, but also because it became the place where the precious salt was shipped through before it was distributed to the rest of the European cities. It was this important commodity that gave the city its name, Salzburg, and it eventually grew to be know as the Rome of the north.

The view of Fortress Hohensalzburg from the edge of altstadt

It is an impressive city that still has a hold over people as tourists come here to see its sights, shop among it many shops, and enjoy the beautiful nature that surrounds the city. It is one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions and it all starts at the heart of the city, the altstadt.

A skating rink set up during the Christmas markets in Mozartplatz

The old part of town is basically a huge series of squares that are surrounded by various Catholic churches. I have never seen so many churches collected in one single place. It seemed that every corner I turned there was another church that I could explore. I was curious how such a small population of people could support that many churches.

Salzburg Cathedral

The greatest of these churches is the Salzburg Dom or the Salzburg Cathedral. It is different from many of the other cathedrals found in Europe because it was built in only fourteen short years, and is designed in Baroque style. When they were creating it, they made sure not to supply it with stained glass windows because they wanted natural light to illuminate the altar instead. Its main focus was on the music that would be performed during the service and Sunday mass still draws in many people to experience it. There are four pip organs that surround the crossing of the asp allowing the music to come at the people in surround sound.

The Baroque architecture inside the Salzburg Cathedral

Of course, this was the place where one of the world’s most famous musicians, Mozart, got his start. Salzburg was his birthplace, and he got his start playing music in this cathedral before he went off to write his own symphonies, and operas.

Getreidegasse Street

His childhood home is actually on one of Salzburg’s more famous streets, Getreidgasse. This street used to be the main economic center of Salzburg with various shops lining the street, and not much has changed over the years. People still come here to do their shopping but they now can find modern shops among the coffee shops and long established restaurants. The old signs still hang above the new ones allowing you to see what it was like back before the chains moved in.

Fortress Hohensalzburg

The biggest attraction looms over the city though, the Fortress Hohensalzburg. This was built to show military might, but was never actually used in this fashion. Just by having it above the city prevented anybody from trying to take it over with force. It was eventually opened to the public and has become the number one sight for anybody that is visiting the city.

Another Catholic church in the graveyard of Salzburg

There are many other treasures that can be found while strolling through the many walking streets of Salzburg’s older portion of the city. It is a great way of introducing yourself to the city before you dive further into what the place has to offer.