Jax Stumpes: Salzburg I (7/6/2019)

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Villa Trapp Dining room

Breakfast buffet in dining room

We drove from Villa Trapp to the Hotel Via Roma and received permission to park there before we could check in later in the day. We walked to the Altstadt/Old Town. This was to be the last of the hot days, reaching 89 degrees F.
In 700 CE Bavaria gave Salzburg to Bishop Rupert in return for his promise to Christianize the area. It was independent until the Napoleonic Wars, then suffered through power struggles between the Church/Popes and the secular Holy Roman Emperors. The Altstadt/Old Town survived World War II.

Tirolean Maypole in red and white

Festung/Fortress Hohensalzburg (1077-1500, never used
for defense; the largest best preserved castle in
central Europe), has its share of scaffolding

When Napoleon arrived, Salzburg simply surrendered and the fortress was used as barracks. It was opened to the public in the 1860s by Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef.

Stift/Abbey Nonnberg (established c 712-715, current buildings
from 1464-1509) was where Maria Kutschera was a postulant in 1924
until she became tutor then governess to the von Trapp family and
eventually married Georg von Trapp

Kajetanerbrunnen/St Kajetan Fountain (1957,
by Trude Hillinger-Diener); St Kajetan was
founder of the Theatines religious order

Kajetanerkirche/St Kajetaner Church (1685-1697, as church and seminary)
now flanked by wings of the Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Brüder/
Hospital of the Brothers of Charity (KSS)

Mozartsteg/Mozart pedestrian bridge (1903, in Art Nouveau style)
that initially had a toll station (to the L) until 1921;
it was featured in the movie, Sound of Music

Zeugwartstöckl/guard house 91620) of Michaelstor/St Michaels Gate (KSS)

A lot of horses have employment in Germany and Austria!

The Fence of Capital Offence commemorates
the successful 1985-1989 resistance to a nuclear
reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf, Germany (KSS)

Late morning snack of Mozarttorte, this version has layers of chocolate cake
and chocolate cream, topped by marzipan and with chopped nuts (pistachios?)

Nusskipferl/Nut crescent has a filling with crushed hazelnuts

Statue (1842, by Johann B Stiglmayer)
of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

As we snacked in Mozartplatz/Mozart Square, we watched
the practice arena for the first round of the
2019 UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) Trials World Cup

This competition appears to be in Urban Cycling where bikes climb and jump on, around, and between obstacles. The bikes have no seats, and it seems the riders steady the bike by standing on the braking pedals. There is a constant sound of squeaking brakes, as they often jump around on just the rear tire.
At 11:00 we met Christine S and Peter L who had organized a 2-1/2 hour English-language walking tour of Salzburg. Our guide, Karin, was enthusiastic and informative. We were joined by Fonda and her 4-year old son, Jett. With this small group, we really felt like we were getting a private tour for just the two of us!
In the 1600s, Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich wanted to show the world the powerful presence of Salzburg, and had numerous medieval buildings torn down in order to have five open squares in the city. We started in Mozartplatz, and moved to Residenzplatz/Royal Palace Square that was made over in Italian Baroque style. Of course, today that square was crowded with the bike competition venues.

Residenzplatz/Royal Castle Square with a fountain
(1656-1661, by Tommaso di Garone) that is inspired
by Bernini's Triton Fountain in Rome, and beyond is
the Neue Residenz/New Royal Palace (1588)

Another square is Kapitelplatz/Chapter Square with the sculpture
by Balkenhol, and the fortress Hohensalzburg looming above

From Domplatz/Cathedral Square, we entered the the Salzburg Cathedral (1614-1648, by Santino Solari), the first Italian Baroque building in the city.

Side altar with many lit votives in honor of the
Mother of God for her everlasting aid

Amazing stucco work ceiling; the "insides" of the
stucco was painted black to emphasize the details

Two of four pillar organs that can accompany the main organ;
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an organist here from 1779-1781
(note the galleries in the nave where instrumental music could be played)

Cathedral dome was restored by 1959, after a stray
bomb made a direct hit in World War II

Cathedral main altar with a statue of St Rupert
to the L of the "banner", holding a barrel of salt

Bishop Rupert founded and named the city of Salzburg, and developed the salt works which gave the city its wealth.

Baptismal font with lions as pictured by people who had never seen them,
a 14C basin and a newer lid; this is where Mozart was baptized,
as well as Joseph Mohr, who wrote the lyrics to Silent Night

At the moment, Cathedral Square is filled with seating for the annual
Festspiele/Festival performance of the play Jedermann/Everyman (1911, by
Hugo von Hofmannsthal) that has been part of the Festival since 1920 (KSS)

At a certain point you can have the two angels holding
a golden crown on the façade of the cathedral
appear to be crowning the Virgin statue (1766-1771,
by brothers Wolfgang and Johann Baptist Hagenauer)

Statue of St Rupert with his barrel of salt,
as he also founded the Stift St Peter/St Peter's Abbey

In Toscaninihof/Toscanini Courtyard, there is a
staircase (1930s, by Clemens Holzmeister who
blended man-made with the natural stone cliff, and
he also converted the former riding school into a theater)

The staircase is built against the former Felsenreitschule/
Cliffside Riding School, now one of the Festival Halls

The von Trapp family sang in this Festival Hall, and it was in this courtyard that Captain von Trapp nervously awaited the performance.

A poster showing the interior of the Festival Hall; originally the audience
sat in the arcades cut into the cliffs, but now the arcades are the stage backdrop

There are three Festival Halls; the first two buildings were riding schools
(the middle now the Haus für Mozart) and the third was the stables
(now the Großes Festspielhaus/Great Festival Theater)

Austrian traditionally-clad band

Cheese wheel knife at the market in
Unversitätsplatz/University Square

The white Kollegienkirche/Collegiate Church
(1694-1707, by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach)
in late-Baroque style using white with little decoration

The interior of the Collegiate Church shows
the late-Baroque white walls with no paintings

The white and red marbles are from local quarries and are
characteristic of all the Salzburg churches; you can note a scorch mark in
the center, as the church was used by Napoleon's troops for storage

A side altar (1721, by Johann Michael Rottmayr) in
the Collegiate Church does not fit Fischer von Erlach's
philosophy of design; the altar dedicated to St Charles
Borromeo who was an important figure in the
Counter-Reformation and in dealing with plagues

St Charles Borromeo believed that abuses within the Catholic Church came from ignorant clergy and so he established seminaries, colleges, and communities for the education of candidates for holy orders. After an outbreak of plague in Milan, many fled the city, but Charles Borromeo remained to organize the care of those affected and to minister to the dying, using his own funds to feed the hungry.

Between University Square and Alter Markt/Old Market is the shop
of the creator of the very first original Mozartkugel/Mozart Ball chocolate

Confectioner Paul Fürst first made the sweet in 1890,
but neglected to patent the Mozartkugel, thus
there are several different Original Mozartkugel brands

Sill handmade with a marzipan center with pistachio and nougat,
and dipped in dark chocolate on a stick in order to be perfectly round

Café Tomaselli in the Old Market

Florianibrunnen/St Florian Fountain with 1583
metal fence by Wolf Guppenberger and 1734
Statue of St Florian by Josef Anton Pfaffinger

Remember St Florian is the patron saint of firefighters, and also chimney sweeps.

Also on Old Market is the smallest house in Salzburg,
essentially a roof over an alley; legend states that
a young man wanted to get married, but only
property owners were able to do so, thus the mayor
deeded him the alley; now a jewelry shop that must
close if four customers arrive, due to overcrowding

We headed down Getreidesgasse, a pedestrian street that dates back to Roman times. Now there are mostly 15C houses, many with elaborate wrought-iron signs that alerted the illiterate citizens to the the business inside.