Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the pop-gun game popular at the time (licking an “arse,” Wolfgang showed his disdain for
the rigors of high society).
The rest of the seven rooms feature real artifacts that explore his loves, his intellectual
pursuits, his travels, and his family life. At the end, the 30-minute slideshow runs twice
an hour, with alternating German/English narration (confirm times when you enter, English
usually starts around :40 after the hour).
This museum offers the same computer program as Mozart's Birthplace does, allowing
you to see handwritten scores scroll along while actually listening to the same music.
•Fromhere,youcanwalkafewblocksbacktothemainbridge(Staatsbrücke),whereyou'll
find the Platzl, a square once used as a hay market. Pause to enjoy the kid-pleasing little
fountain.Nearthefountain(withyourbacktotheriver),Steingasseleadsdarklytotheright.
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Steingasse Stroll
This street, a block in from the river, is wonderfully tranquil and free of Salzburg's touristy
crush. Inviting cocktail bars along here come alive at night (see “Steingasse Pub Crawl” on
here
).
The kid-pleasing fountain where Linzgasse meets Steingasse marks an important inter-
section: where the road to Vienna (Linzgasse) hit the road to Italy (Steingasse). From here
traders and pilgrims would look across the river and see the impressive domed University
Church (modeled after Vienna's Karlskirche) and know they were entering an important
place.Headingupdank,narrowSteingasse,yougetarareglimpseofmedievalSalzburg.It's
not the church's Salzburg of grand squares and Baroque facades, but the people's Salzburg,
of cramped quarters and humble cobbled lanes.
Stop at #9 and look across the river into the old town; this is where the city's original
bridge once connected Salzburg's two halves. According to the plaque (of questionable
veracity) at #9, this is where Joseph Mohr, who wrote the words to “Silent Night,” was
born—poor and illegitimate—in 1792. There is no doubt, however, that the popular Christ-
mas carol was composed and first sung in the village of Oberndorf, just outside of Salzburg,
in 1818. Stairs lead from near here up to a 17th-century Capuchin monastery.
On the next corner, the wall is gouged out. This scar was left even after the building was
restored, to serve as a reminder of the American GI who tried to get a tank down this road
during a visit to the town brothel—two blocks farther up Steingasse. Within steps of here is
the art cinema (showing movies in their original language) and four recommended bars (de-
At#19,findthecarvings ontheolddoor.Some saythese arenotices frombeggars tothe
begging community (more numerous after post-Reformation religious wars, which forced
many people out of their homes and towns)—a kind of “hobo code” indicating whether the
