Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which features famous landmarks in Austria, but focuses mainly on Salzburg. Salzburg is also a student city, with three universities.

History

Antiquity to Early Modern period

Traces of human settlements have been found in the area, dating to the Neolithic Age. The first settlements at Salzburg were apparently begun by the Celts. Around 15 BC the separate settlements were merged into one city by the Romans. 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. Juvavum declined sharply after the collapse of the Norican frontier, such that by the late 7th century it had become a "near ruin".

The Life of Saint Rupert credits the saint with the city's rebirth. When Theodo of Bavaria asked Rupert to become bishop c. 700, Rupert reconnoitered the river for the site of his basilica. Rupert chose Juvavum, ordained priests, and annexed the manor Piding. Rupert named the city "Salzburg", and then left to evangelize among the pagans.

The name Salzburg literally means "Salt Castle", and derives its name from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach river, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century, as was customary for many communities and cities on European rivers.

The Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, was built in 1077 and expanded during the following centuries.

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.

18th to 19th centuries

On October 31, 1731, the 214th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg School door, Roman Catholic Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian signed his Edict of Expulsion (not to be confused with many similar edicts of expulsion issued against the Jews in various cities in Europe), the Emigrationspatent, declaring that all Protestants recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished.

Archbishop von Swires declared that it was to be read publicly November 11, 1731, the 248th anniversary of Luther's baptism. Believing that his edict would drive away a few hundred troublesome infidels in the hills around the town, Firmian was surprised when 21,475 citizens professed on a public list their Protestant beliefs.

Landowners were given two days to sell their lands and leave. Cattle, sheep, furniture and land all had to be dumped on the market, and the Salzburgers received little money from the well-to-do Catholic allies of Von Firmian. Von Firmian himself confiscated much of their land for his own family, and ordered all Protestant books and Bibles burned. Many children aged 12 and under were seized to be raised as Roman Catholics. Yet those who owned land benefited from one key advantage: the three-month deadline delayed their departure until after the worst of winter.

Non-owner farmers, tradesmen, laborers and miners were given only eight days to sell what they could and leave. The first refugees marched north in desperately cold temperatures and snow storms, seeking shelter in the few cities of Germany controlled by Protestant princes, while their children walked or rode on wooden wagons loaded with baggage.

As they went, the exiles' savings were quickly drained as they were set upon by highwaymen, who seized taxes, tolls and payment for protection by soldiers from robbers.

The story of their plight spread quickly as their columns marched north. Goethe wrote the poem Hermann and Dorothea about the Salzburg exiles' march. Protestants and even some Catholics were horrified at the cruelty of their expulsion in winter, and the courage they had shown by not renouncing their faith. Slowly at first, they came upon towns that welcomed them and offered them aid. But there was no place where so many refugees could settle.

Finally, in 1732 King Frederick William I of Prussia accepted 12,000 Salzburger Protestant emigrants, who settled in areas of East Prussia that had been devastated by the plague twenty years before. Other smaller groups made their way to Debrecen and the Banat regions of the Kingdom of Hungary, to what is now Slovakia, to areas near Berlin and Hanover in Germany, and to the Netherlands.

On March 12, 1734, a small group of about sixty exiles from Salzburg who had traveled to London arrived in the British American colony of Georgia seeking religious freedom. Later in that year, they were joined by a second group, and, by 1741, a total of approximately 150 of the Salzburg exiles had founded the town of Ebenezer on the Savannah River.

In 1772-1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a centre of late Illuminism. In 1803, the archbishopric was secularized by Emperor Napoleon and handed over to Ferdinand III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg. Two years later it was annexed to the Austrian Empire together with Berchtesgaden. However, in 1809 it was transferred to the Kingdom of Bavaria after Austria's defeat at Wagram. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was definitively returned to Austria, but without Berchtesgaden, which passed to Bavaria. In 1850 Salzburg became the capital of the Duchy of Salzburg, a crownland of the Austrian Empire. The city became part of Austria-Hungary in 1866.

1918 to present

With the fall of the House of Habsburg resulting from World War I, Salzburg became part of German Austria in 1918 and the First Austrian Republic in 1919. In 1921, in an unofficial poll, 99% of citizens voted for annexation to the German Reich. On March 13, 1938, during the Anschluss, German troops occupied Salzburg; political opponents and Jewish citizens were subsequently arrested, and the synagogue was destroyed. Several POW camps for prisoners from the Soviet Union and other nations were organized in the area.

During World War II, the KZ Salzburg-Maxglan concentration camp was located here. It was a Roma camp and provided slave labour to local industry. Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were demolished, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, it is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered Salzburg on May 5, 1945.

In the city of Salzburg there were several DP Camps following World War II. Among these were Riedenburg, Camp Herzl (Franz-Josefs-Kaserne), Camp Mülln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine. Salzburg was the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria.

On January 27, 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells a little after 8PM (local time) to celebrate the occasion. Major celebrations took place throughout the year.

Main sights

Salzburg is a tourist favourite, with the number of tourists outnumbering locals by a large margin in peak times. In addition to Mozart's birthplace noted above, other notable places include:

Old Town

• The whole Old Town of Salzburg was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1996.
• The baroque architecture including the many churches are world famous.
• The Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburger Dom)
• The Hohensalzburg Castle (Festung Hohensalzburg) on a hill dominating the old town is one of the largest castles in Europe, with views over Salzburg.
• The Franziskanerchurch
• The St.Peter cemetery
• The Nonnberg Abbey a Benedictine monastery
• The "Residenz" Palace (the magnificent former Prince-Archbishop's residence)
• Mozart's Birthplace
• Mozart's Residence
• The University Church
• The Siegmundstor (or Neutor)
• The Getreidegasse

Outside the Inner Old Town

• Palace of Mirabell with its wide gardens full of flowers
• The palace of Leopoldskron is a rococo palace and a national historic monument in Leopoldskron-Moos, a southern district of the city of Salzburg.
• Hellbrunn with its parks and castles
• Tour companies operate tours of locations used in the film The Sound of Music.

Within the greater Salzburg area

• Anif Castle
• The Basilika Maria Plain on the Calvary Hill, a late Baroque church, on the northern edge of Salzburg.
• Salzburger Freilichtmuseum Großgmain, an open-air museum containing old farmhouses/farm buildings from all over the state assembled in historic setting.
• The Schloss Klessheim Palace (today a Casino) was formerly used by Adolf Hitler
• The Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat of which only the Eagle's Nest remains, was in nearby Berchtesgaden
• The Salzkammergut is an area of lakes in the Salzburg state, east of the city and further on into the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria.
• The Untersberg mountain is next to the city, straddling the German-Austrian border, and on a clear day provides panoramic views of the city and the Alps.
• Skiing is an attraction during winter. Salzburg itself has no skiing facilities, but it acts as a gateway to skiing areas to the south. During the winter months its airport receives charter flights from around Europe.