Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Salzburg & Salzburgerland Highlights
Surveying the baroque cityscape of
Salzburg
(
Click here
)from the heights of Festung Hohensalzburg.
Going subzero in the frozen depths of Eisriesenwelt in
Werfen
(
Click here
).
Getting drenched by the fountains at
Schloss Hellbrunn
(
Click here
).
Singing 'Do-Re-Mi' in the gardens of Schloss Mirabell in
Salzburg
(
Click here
).
Donning a boiler suit for a ride at the Salzwelten salt mine in
Bad Dürrnberg
(
Click here
).
Buckling up for an alpine roller-coaster ride on
Grossglockner Road
(
Click here
).
Bathing in the healing, radon-laced waters of
Bad Gastein
(
Click here
).
Hearing the thunder of Europe's highest waterfall, Krimmler Wasserfälle, in
Krimml
(
Click here
)
.
Being awed by alpine views on the high-altitude
Pinzgauer Spaziergang
(
Click here
).
History
Salzburg had a tight grip on the region as far back as 15 BC, when the Roman town
Iuvavum stood on the site of the present-day city. This Roman stronghold came under con-
stant attack from warlike Celtic tribes and was ultimately destroyed or abandoned due to
disease.
St Rupert established the first Christian kingdom and founded St Peter's church and
monastery around 700. As centuries passed, the successive archbishops of Salzburg gradu-
ally increased their power and eventually were given the grandiose titles of princes of the
Holy Roman Empire.
Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Salzburg's most influential prince-archbishop from 1587 to
1612, spearheaded the total baroque makeover of the city, commissioning many of its
most beautiful churches, palaces and gardens. He fell from power after losing a fierce dis-
pute over the salt trade with the powerful rulers of Bavaria, and died a prisoner.
Another of the city's archbishops, Paris Lodron (1619-53), managed to keep the prin-
cipality out of the Europe-wide Thirty Years' War. Salzburg also remained neutral during
the War of the Austrian Succession a century later, but bit by bit the province's power
waned and Salzburg came under the thumb of France and Bavaria during the Napoleonic
Wars. In 1816 Salzburg became part of the Austrian empire and was on the gradual road to
economic recovery.
