Hohensalzburg Fortress

Hohensalzburg Fortress

A white crown over Salzburg

High on a green hill above the beautiful Austrian city of Salzburg rises a vast white fortress, its long walls and towers gleaming in the sun. This is Hohensalzburg, one of the largest fully preserved medieval castles in all of Europe. For nearly a thousand years it has watched over the city, the winding river and the snow-capped Alps beyond. Wherever you stand in Salzburg, you can look up and see it crowning the skyline.

Built by a prince-archbishop

Hohensalzburg was begun in the year 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard. In those days Salzburg was ruled not by an ordinary lord but by its archbishops, powerful churchmen who governed the city and its lands like princes. They were caught up in a great quarrel between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor over who should hold the most power, and Gebhard built the fortress to protect himself and his city in dangerous times.

Over the following centuries the archbishops kept enlarging and strengthening the castle, until it grew into the enormous stronghold we see today, with thick walls, gateways, courtyards, storerooms and grand halls.

Never conquered

Here is the most remarkable fact about Hohensalzburg: in all its long history, no enemy ever captured it by force. Its high position, mighty walls and clever defences made it simply too strong to storm. Armies came and went, wars swept across Europe, but the great fortress on the hill stood firm.

The only time it came close to falling was during a peasant uprising in the 1500s, when angry farmers and miners besieged the castle — but even then the walls held, and the fortress survived.

Treasures inside

Hohensalzburg is not just strong; it is also beautiful. Inside, the archbishops built splendid rooms, including the Golden Hall, with its ceiling studded with golden knobs like stars, and richly decorated chambers fit for a prince. The castle also holds one of the oldest surviving instruments of its kind, a great mechanical organ nicknamed the "Salzburg Bull" because of its loud, bellowing sound, which once boomed out over the city each day.

For grimmer moments, the fortress had dungeons and a torture chamber, reminding visitors that it was a place of power and punishment as well as art.

A city of music

Salzburg is famous around the world as the birthplace of the composer Mozart and as the setting for the film The Sound of Music. The fortress above the city is the perfect backdrop to all this music and beauty, and today it hosts concerts of its own within its ancient walls.

Visiting today

Most visitors ride up to the fortress on a funicular railway that climbs steeply up the hillside, though the energetic can still walk the old path. Once at the top, they can explore the courtyards, climb the towers, visit the museums and the grand halls, and gaze out over one of the loveliest views in Austria — the rooftops and spires of Salzburg spread out below, with the great mountains rising beyond. Strong, splendid and never conquered, Hohensalzburg is a true giant of stone.