Salzburg

Salzburg (German pronunciation: [ˈzaltsbʊɐ̯k];Bavarian: Såizburg; literally: "Salt Fortress") is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg.

Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) is internationally renowned for its baroque architecture and is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city has three universities and a large population of students. Tourists also frequent the city to tour the city's historic center and the scenic Alpine surroundings.

Salzburg was the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid‑20th century, the city was the setting for the musical play and film The Sound of Music.

History

Antiquity to the High Middle Ages

Traces of human settlements have been found in the area, dating to the Neolithic Age. The first settlements in Salzburg continuous with the present were apparently by the Celts around the 5th century BC.

Around 15 BC the separate settlements were merged into one city by the Roman Empire. At this time, the city was called "Juvavum" and was awarded the status of a Roman municipium in 45 AD. Juvavum developed into an important town of the Roman province of Noricum. After the collapse of the Norican frontier, Juvavum declined so sharply that by the late 7th century it nearly became a ruin.

Salzburg (state)

Salzburg (pronounced [ˈzaltsbʊɐ̯k]; Austro-Bavarian: Såizburg; Italian: Salisburghese) is a state (Land) of Austria. It is officially named Land Salzburg, colloquially Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its eponymous capital, the City of Salzburg. By its centuries-long history as an independent Prince-Bishopric, Salzburg's tradition differs from the other Austrian lands.

Geography

Location

The Austrian state of Salzburg stretches along its primary river, the Salzach running from the Central Eastern Alps in the south — reaching a height of 3,657 metres (11,998 ft) at Mt. Großvenediger — down into the Alpine foothills in the north, with an area of 7,156 km². It is located in the north of the country, close to the border with the German state of Bavaria. It is surrounded by the Austrian lands of Upper Austria in the northeast, by Styria in the east, by Carinthia in the south as well as by Tyrol and South Tyrol (Italy) in the southwest. With 529,085 inhabitants, it is one of the country's smaller states in terms of population.

Archbishopric of Salzburg

The Archbishopric of Salzburg was a Prince-Bishopric and state of the Holy Roman Empire. The diocese arose from St Peter's Abbey, founded in the German stem duchy of Bavaria about 696 by Saint Rupert at the former Roman city of Iuvavum (Salzburg).

In the 13th century it reached Imperial immediacy and independency from Bavaria, and remained an ecclesiastical state until its secularisation to the short-lived Electorate of Salzburg in 1803. The Prince-Archbishops had never obtained electoral dignity; actually of the five Prince-archbishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire (with Mainz, Cologne and Trier) Magdeburg and Salzburg got nothing from the Golden Bull of 1356. The last Prince-Archbishop exercising secular authority was Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, an early patron of Salzburg native Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Geography

The bishopric's territory was roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg. It stretched along the Salzach River from the Hohe Tauern range—Mt. Großvenediger at 3,666 m (12,028 ft)—at the main chain of the Alps in the south down to the Alpine foothills in the north. Here it also comprised the Rupertiwinkel on the western shore of the Salzach, which today is part of Bavaria, Germany. The former episcopal lands are traditionally subidivided into five historic parts (Gaue): Flachgau with the Salzburg capital and Tennengau around Hallein are both located in the broad Salzach valley at the rim of the Northern Limestone Alps, the mountainous (Innergebirg) southern divisions are Pinzgau, Pongau around Bischofshofen, and southeastern Lungau beyond the Radstädter Tauern Pass.