Two masterful directors worked their magic in Salzburg , first Nature , then architecture
SALZBURG - under the protection of the holy mountain
The first pre-Christian inhabitants of Salzburg lived at the foot of a
special mountain , for the “ Gais ” part of the Gaisberg , Salzburg ’ s famous local peak , actually means “ holy ” in Celtic . With their raised , easily guarded location in the south of today ’ s city , the Rainberg and Hellbrunner Berg were the first places of settlement . The Celts were followed by the Romans . Two missionaries , Rupert and Virgil , also stand at the beginnings of this newly founded city which , to this day , due to its later baroque appearance , is nicknamed the “ Rome of the North ”.
1800 TO 1000 B . C . ( Bronze Age ): copper and bronze production in Mühlbach am Hochkönig . 500 B . C .: Invasion of the Celts , who subjugated the resident Illyrians . The Celts bring the salt trade to its prime and form the aristocratic upper class in the Celtic kingdom of Noricum ( Celtic names like Anif , Morzg ). 15 B . C .: The Romans occupy the country . In the now Roman province , Juvavum ( Salzburg City ) becomes centre of administration and traffic in the first and second cent . A . D .: Roman settlement and culture remain for over 400 years , and the resident Celtic population becomes completely romanized . 5TH CENT .: The Roman Empire collapses . King Odoaker orders the expatriation of all Roman settlers to Italy in 488 and the city declines . A small settlement on the Nonnberg survives the tribal migrations and remains intact up to the Middle Ages . 530 Bavarians ( Bajuwarii ) and Germanic tribes come to Salzburg and take possession of the owner-less territory . 696 The Frankish preacher Rupert comes and receives the rest of Juvavum as a present from Duke Theodo of Bavaria . In 744 , St . Rupert founds the convent on the Nonnberg (» Nun ’ s Mountain «), the oldest in the German-speaking world . 755 : The name » Salzburg « appears for the first time in the biography of St . Boniface . 774 : Consecration of the cathedral , which was built by the missionary Virgil – a man with Irish- Scottish roots . 798 : Salzburg becomes an archbishopric and accumulates large amounts of territory in the following centuries . Bishop patronage , commercial prosperity , much missionary work extending to Pannonia ( Hungary , Slovakia ). 987 : Cluny ’ s reformation movement becomes apparent : St . Peter ’ s Monastery is separated from the bishopric ( archbishop ). St . Peter has its own abbot and its own possessions and territory . 996 : Rights to a daily market , coinage and excise taxes are granted . 1077 . Building of Hohensalzburg Fortress is begun because of the danger caused by the investiture struggles between the emperor and the pope . 1167 : The city is burned down by the Dukes of Plain from Grossgmain by order of Emperor Frederick I » Barbarossa «, punishment since Archbishop Konrad refuses to acknowledge the emperor ’ s chosen pope . 12TH CENT . Archbishop Konrad I founds and reforms abbeys in Berchtesgaden , St . Zeno near Bad Reichenhall and Herrenchiemsee . 1184 : The title » Legate of the Holy See « is bestowed upon the archbishop , giving him the right he still enjoys today , of wearing the same colors as a cardinal . 1215 : Archbishop Eberhard II first founds the Chiemsee bishopric , then Seckau and Lavant , and appoints bishops (= unique under canon law ). The diocese extends from the Zillertal of Tyrol to Carinthia and to Wiener Neustadt ( Lower Austria ), and to the River Inn in the northwest . Over the centuries , the archbishops become sovereigns due to three factors : large properties , supreme power ( mining law , right of coinage and duty ), county and judicial rights ( 1278 ). The archbishops mine for salt , gold , silver , copper and iron , gaining great commercial and political power . 1278 : Salzburg ’ s city walls are built . In the 13th cent . Salzburg fights at the side of Rudolf of Habsburg against Ottokar of Bohemia and plays an important part in establishing the Habsburgs as Austria ’ s ruling dynasty . Since 1312 , the cathedral chapter has elected the archbishop , ensuring that a different family is elected each time , so that no dynasty gains too much power and the principality does not fall under the influence of Bavaria or Habsburg . The city possesses » staple rights «: Travelling merchants provide vital goods . ( Waagplatz 1 , Getreidegasse 18 – 22 ). 1525 AND 1526 Peasants ’ Revolts . Archbishop Lang flees to the fortress and is besieged for 14 weeks ( the citizens form an alliance with the peasants and open the gates to the city ). 1587 : At the age of 18 , Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau is elected archbishop ( remaining so until 1612 ). He is responsible for many of the most important buildings in Salzburg today . After defeat in a dispute over control of the salt trade with Duke Maximilian II of Bavaria , he was imprisoned in 1611 in Fortress Hohensalzburg for the five years preceding his death in 1617 . 1588 : Expulsion of protestant citizenry . 1600 : Salzburg has 7,000 inhabitants . 1614 : First performance of an Italian opera north of the Alps in the Carabinieri Hall of the Residenz . 1623 : The university is opened ( closed in 1810 );