The Founding of Salzburg

In the year 696, Bishop Rupert ("of glorious renown") was sent here from Worms on the Rhine by Duke Theodo a missionary. He founded the Monastery of St. Peter and the Benedictine Abby on the Nonnberg, where he installed his niece as Abbess. The actual name Salzburg was firs recorded in 755 in the “Life of St. Boniface”. In 774, the first cathedral was consecrated.

Salzburg became an archbishopric in the 10th century and, thanks to a clever policy of land acquisition, grew progressively. In 1077, Archbishop Gebhardt ordered the Fortresses of Hohensalzburg and Werfen to be built after he got involved in the Investiture Conflict between the pope and the German emperor. The second cathedral was built in 1300 to replace the first. The late Romanesque building can be spotted in the oldest depiction of Salzburg which dates from 1463.

Leonard von Keutschach became archbishop in 1495. Under his rule, the Hohensalzburg Fortress was enlarged many times and came close to how it stands today. Another important ruler was Wolf Dietrich von Raittenau who became archbishop in 1587 at the age of 28. He had the old Romanesque cathedral down to make room for the large squares that today give Salzburg its Italian style. He also erected the Residence.

A man just as important as the archbishop of the day was Italian architect Santiono Solari. Under Archbishop Marcus Sittikus, he erected today’s cathedral and the world famous Hellbrunn Palace with its trick water fountains. He worked in Salzburg for 34 years and is considered to be the most successful Italian architect in German speaking areas of the 17th and 18th centuries.