21 May 2018, Monday
After yesterday’s wonderful visit to Berchtesgaden, we have an entire day today to fully explore Salzburg. The weather forecast showed that it would be a sunny day ahead, with temperatures ranging from 14 degrees Celsius in the morning to 23 degrees in the afternoon. Perfect conditions for walking in the city. After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we set off at about 9:45am and headed to our first stop, Mirabell Palace and Gardens, about 1km away. As it was a fine morning, we decided to walk a longer route along the banks of the Salzach River to soak in the views.
Mirabell Palace was built in 1606 by the Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich for his beloved mistress Salome Alt. The name Mirabell is a combination of two words – mirabile meaning “admirable” and bella meaning “beautiful”. We didn’t enter the palace building but spent our time visiting the gardens, which was free admission.
Mirabell Gardens is of course, one of the most famous spots in Salzburg because it was used as a filming location for The Sound of Music. One of the most memorable scenes in the film occurred here – when Maria and the von Trapp children sang “Do-Re-Mi” around the Pegasus Fountain and used the steps to sing the final part of the song. Click here to watch the scene.
Just like Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the lawns here at Mirabell Gardens were immaculate and the colourful flower beds were planted in perfect symmetrical patterns. It was nice to see that the gardens have not changed much in the past 53 years since the film was released in 1965.
At the time of our visit, there was a free performance by a concert band at the garden grounds. The musicians were all adults and they were dressed smartly in black pants and maroon-coloured blazers. Their blazers were the exact colour as the one I wore during my secondary school band days. As I stood there to watch them, it brought back memories of the times I performed with my school band at Sentosa, the Singapore Botanic Gardens and other public places, more than 20 years ago. My parents would always be there to watch and support me, just like how they are with me right now. It was a poignant moment for me.
After Mirabell Gardens, we walked a short distance and soon reached Mozart-Wohnhaus (aka Mozart Residence) at Makartplatz. The musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at the nearby Getreidegasse on 27 January 1756 and lived there for many years, but the house was too small for the family or to host social gatherings appropriately. In 1773, the family moved in to No. 8 Makartplatz and Mozart himself lived here until 1781, when he relocated to Vienna to further pursue his music career. The house was occupied by his family until 1787, when Mozart’s father, Leopold, passed away.
The building was partially destroyed during World War II and it was bought over by the International Mozart Foundation in 1955. After being demolished, it was reconstructed to the original building plans. In 1996, the Mozart Residence reopened and it now houses a museum. Among the highlights are Mozart’s fortepiano, original documents and portraits. It costs €11 to visit the museum so we didn’t enter it.
Located near Mozart-Wohnhaus is Sebastianskirche (aka St. Sebastian’s Church), which was originally built between 1505 and 1512. The old building was demolished in the 18th century and the present building was constructed between 1749 and 1753 in a Late Baroque style. Inside, there is a magnificent black steel gate separating the entrance porch from the nave, so we were not able to go up close. However, we could still see the interior. It was a small, cosy church with large windows allowing plenty of natural daylight in. Simple and elegant.
Right beside the church is the Friedhof, or St. Sebastian’s Cemetery. However, this is not just any other ordinary cemetery. It is a special one where many of Salzburg’s most prominent families are buried, including Mozart’s father (Leopold), widow (Constanze) and her second husband (Georg Nikolaus). It is a serene final resting place for these souls.
After the brief visit to Sebastianskirche and Friedhof, we found the entrance to Kapuzinerberg nearby and made our way up the 640m tall hill. The climb up was rather steep but we proceeded at a leisurely pace and it didn’t take us long to get to the top.
Kapuzinerberg lies on the eastern bank of Salzach river and it offers a marvellous view of the Old Town on the opposite bank. From here, we could see all the landmarks, the most prominent being the Salzburg Cathedral and Hohensalzburg Fortress. We spent some time to admire the view and catch our breaths before making our way down the hill again.
We crossed the river and found ourselves back in Getreidegasse. Since we were here, we couldn’t resist going back to Eisgrotte to get another scoop of the delicious ice-cream, which cost only €1. I was so in love with the marzipan flavoured ice-cream I had two days ago that I ordered the same flavour again. It was so good.
As we walked around the heart of the Old Town, we came across the Kollegienkirche (aka Collegiate Church). It was built in 1707 and functions as the church of the University of Salzburg. Like Sebastianskirche earlier, Kollegienkirche is also built in the Baroque style. The interior of the church is almost entirely white and devoid of furniture. Coupled with the high ceiling and sunlight streaming through the windows, it gave an ethereal feeling.
For such a small area, the Old Town contains many churches and we soon reached another one, the Salzburg Cathedral. It is Salzburg’s most important sacred building and it was founded in the year 774. The present building was completed in 1628, after numerous fires had ravaged the previous iterations.
It happened to be Whit Monday holiday when we visited and Salzburg Cathedral was hosting a church service. Whit Monday is also known as Pentecost Monday and it is a Christian holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament of the Bible. The interior of the cathedral was beautifully lit with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The singing of the hymns added to the atmosphere and it was simply gorgeous.
The area around Salzburg Cathedral was lively. There were several artists who had set up stalls displaying their paintings. Dad is always interested in art and paintings so he browsed through the artworks to see if there was anything he liked.
Finally, he saw one that caught his eye – a watercolour painting of the Old Town of Salzburg with the Salzach River in the foreground. It was a beautiful painting that captured the essence of Salzburg, with light splashes of colour giving it a slightly whimsical feel. After chatting with the artist, Dad happily bought the painting. It joins the other pieces of artwork that we have bought during our overseas trips and it now hangs proudly in our study room.
As we entered Kapitelplatz (aka Chapter Square), we were greeted by the sight of a large golden orb with a man standing atop it. This striking sculpture is called Sphaera, by the German artist Stephan Balkenhol. The artist intended for the sculpture to be open to interpretation and to provoke confrontation.
The male figure is described as having a neutral expression. Indeed, he stands in a relaxed manner with both arms by his side. He is not striking a triumphant pose or a pose that exudes confidence. He is looking straight ahead, as if he is deliberately avoiding looking up at the imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress right in front of him. Could it be an act of defiance?
We decided to visit Hohensalzburg Fortress and proceeded to buy our tickets. There are two ticket options available – the Basic Ticket and the All-Inclusive Ticket. The Basic Ticket allows admission to the inner rooms, torture chamber, lookout tower, “Salzburger Stier” mechanical organ, Fortress Museum, Rainer Regiment Museum, Marionette Museum, fortress precincts and Alm passage.
The All-Inclusive Ticket gives additional access to the Regency Rooms and the Magic Theater. Both the Basic and All-Inclusive Tickets come with audio guide in eleven languages and ascent and descent by the Fortress funicular. We bought the All-Inclusive Ticket, which costs €15.50 (S$25.20) per person.
The funicular ride up was quick and smooth. I timed it and it took just 1 minute and 7 seconds. If you prefer to hike, you can also walk up but it is not advisable as the Festungsberg hill is quite steep.
The view from Hohensalzburg Fortress was astounding as the fortress sits at an altitude of 506m, with a 360-degree view of the entire Salzburg city. The fortress was built to protect the principality and the archbishops from hostile attacks. Hohensalzburg Fortress is over 900 years old and it is the biggest fully preserved castle in Central Europe.
From our vantage point, everything below the hill, especially the buildings in the Old Town, looked like scale models. From the Lookout Tower, we had a lovely view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Austria is really a beautiful country.
We also toured the various rooms in the fortress, visiting the torture chamber, lookout tower, “Salzburger Stier” (Salzburg Bull) mechanical organ and more. In all, we spent about 1 hour 40 minutes touring Hohensalzburg Fortress before taking the funicular back down.
By then, it was 3pm and time for our late lunch, so we chose a simple restaurant and had a meal of spicy bratwurst, ham & cheese toast and schnitzel. I also tried their local Stiegl beer, which was quite nice. Our lunch bill came up to €28.30 (S$46).
Following that, we had just one place left to visit – Nonnberg Convent, or what it is popularly called, Nonnberg Abbey. It took us quite a while to locate it because when I typed “Nonnberg Abbey” in Google Maps, there was no exact match. I selected the result that said “Nonnberg, Salzburg, Austria” and it led us to a place along the road named Rudolfskai, where a modern building stood. Clearly, it was not the place I was looking for.
Instead, you should search for “Stift Nonnberg” or “Kloster Nonnberg”. Both are correct. Thankfully, the real Nonnberg Convent was not far away and I managed to locate the narrow staircase leading to it. The lane with the staircase is called Nonnberstiege and the start of the staircase is along the road Kaigasse, beside a restaurant called Maneki Neko.
Nonnberg Convent is not featured in The Sound of Music film but it is significant because the real-life Maria, Maria Augusta Kutschera, entered Nonnberg Convent in 1924 as a postulant intending to be a nun. She was then asked to be the governess to widower Baron Georg Ritter von Trapp and take care of his seven children. She eventually married von Trapp and found a family choir in the early 1930s. Maria wrote a memoir, which inspired the 1956 West German film The Trapp Family, and its subsequent 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music and the 1965 film version. Essentially, Nonnberg Convent is where the whole phenomenon of The Sound of Music started.
We spent only a short time at Nonnberg Convent before making our way back to Residentzplatz and Mozartplatz en route to our hotel. As we strolled along the river, we saw that there was a street bazaar being held, or what we Singaporeans call, a pasar malam. Stalls were set up under tents and they sold a variety of goods including clothes, food and antiques. I spotted a stall selling CDs and records and made a beeline for it. Unfortunately, the crate digging exercise proved to be futile and I did not unearth any gems.
After crossing the river, we decided to visit Mirabell Gardens again because I wanted to capture some more shots of the famous Do-Re-Mi view. It turned out to be a good decision because the garden was bathed in an evening glow and the sun was less harsh than in the morning. I also managed to find the correct spot to recreate the closing scene for the song.
With my mission accomplished, that brought us to the end of our Salzburg explorations. Next up, the Czech Republic!