Tyrol and its People Part 14

[Ill.u.s.tration: A QUIET PASTURE]

As time went by Salzburg reclaimed much ground from the rocky bed of the swiftly flowing river by confining the stream within more restricted limits. In former times, when the town was enclosed with walls, there was no such necessity, and the Salzach took its own course, encroaching much upon the lower-lying land along its banks.

But nowadays on this reclaimed ground shady avenues of trees have been planted, which give a charming and distinctive character to this part of the city. Here, too, are some fine villas, where not so very many years ago was waste or wooded land, set amid trees and made pleasant by beautiful gardens, in which there seems to bloom a profusion of flowers all the year round.

The position and future prosperity of the town as a tourist resort was a.s.sured when Salzburg became the starting-point of a second main line of railway leading to Innsbruck via Kitzbuhel, and the picturesque Unter-Inn Thal, and the centre of a number of branch lines.

It is through these modern developments that the life of Salzburg has so materially changed even within the memory of those who first visited it but, comparatively speaking, a few years ago. From a town of ecclesiastical and almost mediaeval aloofness from the outside world, and from one which had for a considerable period seen its growth arrested and its life stagnant, it has sprung into being as a favourite summer and winter resort not merely for tourists, but also for those to whom the older portion of the town, its many historic buildings, castle, and fine churches, proves attractive.

[Sidenote: SALZBURG'S ANCIENT FORTRESS]

The most prominent of all buildings in Salzburg, and the one which has for most visitors the greatest attraction, is the fine old fortress of Hohen-Salzburg set high above the older town upon a tree-enshrouded and rocky spur of the Monchsberg.

The ancient fortress, which has witnessed so many stirring events within its walls, and from which past generations of inhabitants have looked down upon almost equally dramatic and stirring doings in the town below, that throughout the ages defied capture, and at last came to be looked upon as impregnable, was founded nearly eight and a half centuries ago by Archbishop Gebhard.

As the centuries went by many additions were made to the original buildings, and the present castle dates in its chief portions from the last few years of the fifteenth and the first few years of the sixteenth centuries. These additions were princ.i.p.ally the work of Leonard von Keutschach, Archbishop of Salzburg at the close of the Middle Ages. He was one of the great "building" archbishops to whose energies and enterprise the town at various periods owed so much. Of peasant origin he was not ashamed of his humble birth, and, being gifted with a sense of humour, chose a turnip as his armorial bearings. So frequently, indeed, are representations of this vegetable met with on escutcheons in various parts of the town, that the remark of one traveller who observed that "the Salzburgers appear to have sprung out of the earth" may be held excused.

Severe looking as is the fine old fortress (now given over to the uses of barracks), in whose courtyards princes, archbishops, n.o.bles, and many famous men of the past centuries have walked, it was, however, not merely a strong bulwark of defence, truly "ein feste burg"

dominating the town and plain, but also a palace. Although the castle has been stripped of much of its magnificence there happily still remain traces of it in the so-called Furstenzimmer (state apartments), which formerly occupied by the rulers of the Province were furnished and decorated with all the splendour which marked the most lavish period of Renaissance influence. Chief amongst the relics of the latter are the beautiful and delicately carved panelling, the gilt work, and the richly carved and moulded ceilings of the princ.i.p.al apartments. In wandering through these now almost deserted rooms one is tempted to conjure up the scenes of magnificence they must have witnessed. Tragedy, comedy, chivalry, hate, joy, sorrow, success, and failure, all, the often lurid though magnificent gamut of life in the Middle Ages, must have been welded into the very fabric and atmosphere of this impressive and deeply interesting building. Among the chief relics of bygone splendour and pomp of circ.u.mstance there remains the beautiful and it is said unique Majolica stove, a truly wonderful example of Gothic ceramic art.

There are many interesting and quaint corners within the triple line of walls, which shut off access to the castle and proved so useful on many an occasion in former times, united with the fortifications of the Monchsberg known as the _Burgerwehr_; but few excel in picturesqueness the old courtyard with its shady and famous Linden tree, ancient well, and time-worn walls. Here, as one lingers, towards sundown one sometimes hears the sweet-toned though halting notes of the organ within the tower playing some familiar hymn tune. The trembling notes, like those of an old singer whose voice has become feeble but has retained much of its sweetness, float out upon the still evening air with a mystic appeal which few that have heard them can, we think, have failed to have felt. For ourselves it is one of the lasting and unforgettable memories of Salzburg as well as of its castle.

Nowadays the cable railway takes one to the summit in a few minutes, and one is spared the fatigue of the long climb up by the Nonnberg.

The old Reckturm, in the dungeons of which unlucky prisoners were confined, and in the tower itself the terrible instruments of torture were kept and the torture chamber was situated, nowadays has a much more pleasant office to fulfil as an excellent "look out" place from which to view the widely extended prospect of the town and Salzach valley towards the north.

[Sidenote: HOHEN-SALZBURG'S SIEGES]

Many an a.s.sault was made during the Middle Ages and succeeding eras upon the old grey fortress, seldom resulting in anything save disaster or disappointment for the attacking force. Even the peasants, who, during the terrible rebellion of 1525, made repeated attacks upon the castle with the utmost fury and determination, failed to accomplish their object of capturing the stronghold, Matthew Land, the then Archbishop, and the high ecclesiastics who had taken refuge within its unscalable walls, to whom short shrift would have been given by the peasant leaders. For ages the Church had trodden the peasantry under foot, and in the Peasants' Rebellion there were terrible reprisals.

But although the insurgents came near capturing Hohen-Salzburg they did not succeed. Their appliances were too primitive for successful a.s.sault, and their shots did little or no damage to the strong thick walls or buildings. On a marble column in the castle are to be seen the marks left by a cannon ball, which was one of the few that succeeded in entering the castle, and in this case it was through a window! A century later, during the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648 which devastated the whole of the then German Empire, waged between the Evangelic Union under the Elector Palatine and the Catholics led by Maximilian the Great Duke of Bavaria, Salzburg, doubtless on account of the fact that its fortress was esteemed impregnable, was one of the few places left at peace and unmolested. We have already mentioned the fact that the Archbishops were not only exceedingly powerful ecclesiastics but also great diplomatists, and there is little doubt but that to their clever policy must also be attributed the town's immunity from attack during that troublous and universally disturbed period.

Of the many distinguished ecclesiastics who have occupied the See of Salzburg as its Archbishops, the most interesting and perhaps the most important were two, separated one from the other by but a few years.

One was Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1587-1611?) and the other Paris von Lodron.

[Sidenote: BUILDERS OF RENOWN]

Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, from having received his education in Rome, then the centre of Art and culture, came to Salzburg steeped not alone in the traditions of Italian Art but anxious to impress upon the town his knowledge and taste. He found an old Roman and neither handsome nor picturesque Cathedral, dating from the eighth century, in place of churches such as he had been accustomed to in Italy, ornate and beautiful. He is reputed to have been at no pains to conceal his distaste for the building, and when a few years before his death it was destroyed during one of the destructive fires, there were those who even accused the Archbishop of having himself set the church on fire, or at least of having instigated others to do so. But there is little truth in this story, though the Archbishop's satisfaction at the destruction of the ancient, inconvenient, and unornamental structure seems beyond question. That he fully intended to erect upon the site one of the finest churches north of the Italian frontier there is little doubt, but, alas! for human aims, he was not destined even to see the foundations laid.

To him, notwithstanding his despotic character, his restless disposition, his shameful intrigue with the beautiful Salome Alt, the city of Salzburg owes a great deal, for he did much to transform an unpicturesque and dirty town with narrow mediaeval streets into one of the finest cities of Germany. Many of the beautiful buildings, including the Gabriel Chapel, the Chapter House, the Neubau, and the arcades of the Sebastian Cemetery, owed their existence to his artistic taste and desire for improvement.

It was to Paris von Lodron, the founder of the University which was dissolved in 1810 during the Bavarian occupation, his second successor, fell the task as well as the honour of giving to Salzburg a Cathedral worthy of it and of its long line of famous Archbishops and many historical memories. The original plan, which historians tell us would have resulted in a church of such magnificence that it would have been almost unrivalled by that of any in Europe, had to be considerably modified for several reasons, chief amongst which were considerations of cost and s.p.a.ce. The former was rendered obligatory from the heavy expense entailed in keeping up the fortifications of the city during the time (the Thirty Years' War) the Cathedral was in course of construction. However, notwithstanding these circ.u.mstances, Paris von Lodron's work, which occupies a splendid position in the midst of three large squares, was designed chiefly by an Italian architect named Santino Solari (possibly from plans by Scamozzi of Florence), a.s.sisted by others in the late Renaissance style, is one of the most magnificent churches in Austria, although the stucco ornamentation is of a rather florid character. From the exterior, which is rather plain and severe, although it possesses a fine facade built of Unterberg marble, it is impossible to gain any conception of the charm and even splendour of the building. But immediately upon entering it, one is impressed with its beautiful proportions, and the resemblance to a marked degree in the general plan to that of St.

Peter's, Rome. Indeed, there is little doubt as to the source from which Solari drew much of his inspiration, although due credit must be given to him for original details, the proportions, and general beauty of effect.

The treasury of the church is worth seeing, as it is rich in relics of bygone ages, including an exquisite seventeenth-century monstrance encrusted with 1800 precious stones, rich vestments, and a fine crozier set with gems; and none should miss the interesting fourteenth-century bronze Romanesque font which stands in one of the side chapels to the left of the entrance.

In its Cathedral Salzburg possesses a gem of architectural beauty which has been the admiration of generations of architects and students, and (as one authority says) "has probably provided more inspiration for the artist and the student of architecture than any other church north of the Italian Alps."

On the Residenz-Platz, the centre of which is adorned by a beautiful fountain nearly fifty feet in height dating from the latter part of the seventeenth century, consisting of a colossal figure of Atlas surrounded by equally colossal hippopotami, the work of Anton Dario, is situated the ancient palace of the Archbishops, formerly known as the Residenz, now the Imperial Residence. This fine palace which was erected at various dates from the end of the sixteenth down to the first two decades of the eighteenth century contains many traces of the splendour which characterized the larger buildings which were erected by ecclesiastics at the time the influence of the Renaissance was at its height. The ceilings and wall of the princ.i.p.al salons and halls are especially notable, and in some cases are most elaborately decorated. The Government Offices which are opposite the Residenz although known as the Neugebaude (possibly because they included the Post and Telegraph office), in reality date, at any rate in part, from the reign of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, although they have been modernized, altered, and added to from time to time. In the octagonal tower was placed, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, a beautiful _carillon_, the work of a watchmaker named Sauter at the commencement of the seventeenth century, known as the Glockenspiel, which chimes thrice daily at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 6 p.m.

The Archbishops of Salzburg were not only in past ages ecclesiastics and diplomatists but also sportsmen. Most, indeed, seem to have been great lovers of horses. Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Salzburg, built some magnificent stables adorned with marble on the slopes of the Monchsberg; attached to them were a covered riding school for use in winter, and another open-air one for summer use. Though the stables themselves are now barracks, the open-air school is still one of the sights of the town. In the side of the Monchsberg were hewn in 1693 three great galleries for the accommodation of spectators of the sports in the summer riding school; they have long ago been overgrown with ivy and creepers which add greatly to their picturesqueness, but are still occasionally used for the purpose for which they were originally constructed.

In the winter riding school there is an interesting ceiling fresco depicting a joust or tournament dating from the last decade of the seventeenth century.

Several of the Archbishops of Salzburg appear to have had a liking for rock excavations, and the Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach was one of the number. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, in 1767 to be precise, he constructed the Neuthor, a tunnel through the solid rock some four hundred and fifty feet in length, which it took two years to make. It pierced through the Monchsberg and thus united the suburb of Riedenberg with the rest of the town. At the Riedenberg end is a statue to St. Sigismund in commemoration of the Archbishop, who placed his own medallion at the town end of the tunnel with the Latin inscription "Te saxa loquntur" (The very stones praise thee) above it.

[Sidenote: THE SCHLOSS MIRABELL]

To the Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, or rather to his pa.s.sion for the beautiful daughter of a Salzburg merchant whose name was perhaps not inappropriately Salome, the charming Schloss Mirabell chiefly owes its existence. Here (so the story goes) the beautiful Salome Alt was installed as mistress, amid splendour and lavish expenditure befitting a King's favourite. For her were constructed and laid out delightful gardens, with fine terraces, shady walks, wide lawns of exquisitely "velvety" turf, the like of which we have seldom seen even in the "gra.s.s" counties of England; quaintly shaped flower-beds, fountains and ponds, mazes and avenues of fine trees. For her, too, were numerous groups of statuary, and single figures of a mythological and artistic character installed. Some of these are of considerable merit; and few are without distinctive decorative value in the surroundings amid which they have been placed.

In the gardens themselves there is a constant succession of delightful flowers all the year round. On the occasion of our last visit the sweetly scented linden avenue was in full bloom, whilst roses were in profusion--we were told they bloom almost all the year round in this favoured and beautiful spot--and the jasmine, orange trees, and many other beautiful and homely flowers perfumed the summer air, and spread out in a riot of colour on every hand. Aloes, palms, Portugal laurels, daphne, and other shrubs afford relief to the eye, and in the background, towering high above the quietude of this old-fashioned garden, looms the vast and commanding Hohen-Salzburg, with its roofs and pinnacles shimmering and glancing in the sunshine of the upper air.

In the gardens are also the interesting aviary of the Salzburg Society for the Protection of Birds, and the former Summer Theatre near the French Garden with the gra.s.sy stage and wings formed of "trimly"

clipped hedges.

The mansion itself suffered severely from a fire in 1818, but the Marble Hall and staircase which escaped are well worth seeing, as are also the decorations of several of the older rooms.

FOOTNOTE:

[15] Bosnia and Herzegovina have been recently annexed.

CHAPTER VII

THE ENVIRONS OF SALZBURG--h.e.l.lBRUNN, ITS UNIQUE FOUNTAINS AND GARDENS--THE CASTLE OF ANIF--THE GAISBERG--THE KAPUZINGERBERG--THE MOZART-HaUSCHEN--THE MoNCHSBERG--SALZBURG CHURCHES

In the neighbourhood of Salzburg there are several beautiful castles erected by various holders of the See. Amongst them the charmingly situated Leopoldskron, lying to the south of the Monchsberg, overlooking a lake covered in early summer with a profusion of water lilies and other water plants, and embracing a magnificent prospect of the environing mountains. The drive to Leopoldskron is one not to be missed. As one pa.s.ses along the magnificent avenue, or _allee_, of trees, through flower-bedecked fields, and with the fresh air from off the river and mountains perfumed by the carpet of blossoms which lies stretched on either side of the road, one is able to realize to the full the rural charm which surrounds the historic and busy town just left behind.

[Sidenote: h.e.l.lBRUNN AND ITS FOUNTAINS]

But a little distance further, on the other side of the Salzach, is h.e.l.lbrunn, once an Archiepiscopal and now an Imperial possession. It is surrounded by a large deer park, and owes its origin to the Archbishop Marcus Sittich in 1613. It is pleasantly situated, and was, according to tradition, the retreat and pleasure palace of its founder, who was of a far more social and lively disposition than Archbishops, even in that somewhat lax age, were supposed to be, and here he installed his favourites. In the chateau itself there are some fine state apartments, in one of which are some interesting frescoes by Mascagni, Franz von Sienna, and Solari the younger.

But the gardens and unique fountains and "waterworks," which are laid out and planned in the style so popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are the great attractions of h.e.l.lbrunn, not only to the foreign visitors, but on Sundays especially to the Salzburg folk, and those of the neighbouring villages who flock in thousands to the chateau. In the gardens of h.e.l.lbrunn one finds the same velvety turf that so generally distinguishes those of other castles in this fertile valley of the Salzach; whilst in the ponds, lakes, fountains, and "trick" waterworks--invented by the Archbishop, so it is said, to amuse his favourites during his enforced absences upon his ecclesiastical duties and affairs of State--one has something quite out of the ordinary.

Indeed, probably in no other garden in the world do unsuspecting visitors run such risks of a soaking or impromptu shower baths as at h.e.l.lbrunn. Jets start suddenly (at the turn of secret taps by the custodian, who seems to take a cynical delight, bred of many experiences, in the visitor's discomfiture) from rockeries, from the corners of plaster columns, from the mouths, finger-tips and eyes of statues, from the foliage of trees, from roofs of grottoes, from the edges of the very paths along which one is unsuspectingly walking, from, it appears, the very ground beneath one's feet. One is lured into a grotto to admire a statue or to "see something" which may or may not actually exist, only a moment later to find one's exit blocked by a curtain of water, which pours down from the outside rocks above the entrance. This lifts and one makes a dash for liberty, only to be a.s.sailed by jets of water converging or spurting across the path one has to follow. Visitors seat themselves upon a marble bench a few moments later, and a whole battery of jets plays upon the unfortunate sitters, or are so arranged that, whilst not actually playing upon them, to escape without "running the gauntlet," for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the more discreet or knowing onlookers, is impossible. On fine Sundays when there is usually a great crowd of visitors at this favourite out-of-town resort, which boasts of an excellent restaurant, there is, of course, plenty of fun when the jets begin to play for the lucky folk who have "been there before."

Along one path leading from the chateau to the lawns and fish-ponds, the latter of which are crowded with huge carp and other fish, some of which are reputed to be as old as h.e.l.lbrunn itself, there are set in niches a number of figures, blacksmiths, armourers, millers, and the like with their anvils, forges, and mills worked by a tiny runlet of water. And not far from these is the famous mechanical Theatre, also worked by water power, with its organ, and some hundred and fifty figures in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century costumes, which give quaint performances, depicting a busy town, dancers (these latter very amusing with their pirouettes and posturings), soldiers, fighting, jousts, etc. Of the water grottoes that known as the Neptune--with, it is said, five thousand jets--is the largest, and there are also the Rainbow, Fairy, and Orpheus grottoes, each one bringing into play some fresh piece of mechanical or other ingenuity.

In the deer park is situated the famous Monatsschlosschen upon a wooded knoll, from which a fine view is obtainable. This building was erected (some say for a bet) within a month's time by Archbishop Marcus Sittich. There was at the time a popular belief that he was a.s.sisted in the accomplishment of what was, at all events in those days, a wonderful feat by Satan himself.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNTAIN PASTURES]

The Stone Theatre near by is also worth seeing. It has a naturally formed stage and auditorium, upon the former of which in ancient times pastoral and other plays were performed for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the Archbishops and their friends.

[Sidenote: ANIF AND THE GAISBERG]

The Castle of Anif, which is reached by a pleasant road from h.e.l.lbrunn in about twenty minutes, is well worth a visit. It is a most charming chateau dating originally from the second decade of the thirteenth century, of late years restored in Gothic style by the owner, one of the Counts Arco-Steppberg. It is built in the centre of a lake, and is surrounded by a well-wooded and beautiful park, and is of great interest as a well-preserved survival of the fortified domestic architecture of other days. It is beautifully furnished, and contains many finely decorated rooms, and a valuable art collection.