 | Salzburg The Fortress - Hohensalzburg Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 181 |  |
The view of Hohensalzburg citadel can be seen from any part of Salzburg. This medieval castle is one of the very few castles in Europe that were never conquered by foreign military force.
In 1077, during the Investiture Controversy between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, which led to the 50-year civil war, Prince-Archbishop Gebhard von Salzburg built the citadel as a show of force against the Roman Holy Emperor.
In 1500, Prince-Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach enlarged the castle substantially and put almost 60 of his insignias and coats of arms all over the fortress. (Was it a bit overboard in marking one's territory?)
During the Austro-Hungarian War (1479-1491) and then the Peasant War (1522-1527), the castle was used as a fortified residence for the Archbishops.
Remember Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich, the one who destroyed the relics and treasures of the Cathedral while unsuccessfully making it a monstrous sign of his virility? After being removed by the populace and his nephew and successor, Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus, he became a prisoner here in the fortress for five years until his death in 1617. Leave a Comment Address: Mönchsberg 34, 5020 SalzburgPhone: +43 662.84.24.30.11Directions: You can walk up Festungsgasse to the castle or take the funicular. Don't miss St. Peter's Cemetery at the bottom of the cliff, just before the turn to Festungsgasse.Website: www.salzburg-burgen.at Other Contact: festung@salzburg.gv.at |
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The Hohensalzburg Fortress is the largest fully-preserved fortess in central Europe.
It is on a hill looking over Salzburg, giving you amazing views and great photo opportunities!
A short funicular ride will get you to the Fortress. Leave a Comment |
There are two options to reach the Fortress the first one is walking, but as you can see on the picture, there is a very steep way to go up to the Fortress,the second option and much better taking the funicular, it is located at Festgunsgasse and in a very short time you will be up there.You can't see the funicular on my picture because when I was taken the photo the funicular was up there! but anyway you can see the track at least!. Leave a Comment |
Hohensalzburg Fortress,it was built in 1,077 by Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach,is located in a hill and from here you can see awesome views of the whole city.
Today this fortress is open to public and you can see some interesting museums inside.Also is the site for courses of International Summer Academy. Leave a Comment |
The fortress is quite a site and can be seen from all around the city. While I recommend you visit the top of the fortress and learn as much about the history of salzburg from this point, I'd also recommend not getting caught up in the moment and spending too much time at the fortress. Most people tend to visit salzburg for short amounts of time so it would be ashame to spend most of your time at the fortress and not wandering the gorgeous streets and visiting the other great sites. The fortress is a good start to a salzburg visit so you can get acquainted with the city and learn the history. Take the audio tour for the history and some amazing views from the top of the castle. Also, study the city from atop the fortress so you get a good sense of direction when you're walking around. Leave a Comment |
The Fortress - one of the biggest medieval fortresses still existing - was built by the Salzburg Archbishops to protect themselves against outside enemies but more against the unrest among their own dependents which were most of the time heavily suffering under repression and extortion. Under one such uprisings the Salzburg fortress was sieged and it did not look nicely for the Archbishop and his clique because they were short of food. They had only one bull left so they let him graze at the fortress and in the night they painted him in an other colour and he was grazing there again next day, appearing to be an other bull for the enemies outside and this colour was washed away and the bull got an other colour. This was repeated several days until the enmies gave up. And since then the people of Salzburg are nicknamed "Bull-Washers" ("Stierwascher" in German). Leave a Comment |
I like European castles very very much, so I spent most of my time in this amazing castle. And walked around in the fortress.
There are two ways to reach the top of the castle : walking or taking the funicular. But I strongly recommended WALKING !! The on foot tour will offer incredible views of the surroundings and a scenic overlook of the town . |
The first fortification were in X century AD and in 1077 the fortress was founded by Bishop Gebhard. There were many local wars and peasant uprisings in the former times and it was a reason of fortress was growing time by time. The considerable building is connected with Bishop Leonard von Keutschach (1495-1519) when, it can say, fortress had a present-day construction.
The fortress has a good disposition for the defence: high mountain, several levels of the walls, good view on surroundings. The audioguide in the fortress museum said it was never taken by storm. But I can't find information about Napoleon I times, wether he took it by storm or just got after conversations. The fortress became the museum in the middle of XIX century. Leave a Comment Address: Old TownDirections: In the mountain |
We walked around the top of the fortress for a little bit and took the audio tour of the inerds of the castle. I highly recommend the audio tour. It was very interesting to learn of all the archibishops who oversaw construction of the castle and other tidbits of information. For instance, the Salzburg fortress was never penetrated, but was given up to Napoleon. Also, you'll see a huge granite column with a relatively small chip and scratch in it that was from a cannonball being shot at the castle! Imagine how hard the cannonball had to have been shot for it to reach that high on the fortress and it only did a very small amount of damage (a scratch) to the column. You know this thing was built well! Finally, you get some amazing views and photo opportunities along the audio tour. Leave a Comment |
Towering above Salzburg is the mighty fortress Festung Hohensalzburg with a 900 year old history. It was once the home to many of Austria's princes and archbishops who ruled Salzburg for hundreds of years. Besides a residence, it also served as military barracks and had a prison on its grounds. It had never been conquered during its long history.
The tour of the fortress will bring you to ornate state rooms, torture chambers and museums. The view of the city of Salzburg from the top of the fortress is breathtaking. The grounds of the fortress is a lovely stroll which presents some interesting architecture as well.
Admission is free with the Salzburg Card.
OPENING HOURS:
9am-6pm (15 Mar - 14 Jun)
8:30am - 7pm (15 Jun - 14 sep)
9am-5pm (15 Sep - 14 Mar)
It takes about 20 mins to walk up the hill to the fortress. Or you can take the Festungsbahn which again is free with the Salzburg card. Open 9am- 10pm daily. Leave a Comment Address: Monchsberg 34, SalzburgPhone: ++43/662/84 24 30-11 |
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