Neue Residenz

The New Residence in Salzburg’s old town, also known as Palazzo Nuovo, was erected as an extension to the Salzburg Residence by Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau to the east of the Salzburg Cathedral.After demolishing the town buildings and canons’ residences, the spiritual prince, who was the richest man in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation at the time, launched this first building project in 1588.Construction was halted between 1592 and 1597.Around 1602 the wings around the northern courtyard were constructed.Later, wings encircled another southern courtyard.

Initially, the first tracts of the New Residence housed the Prince Archbishop’s brothers.Perhaps this structure was also meant to serve as the prince’s permanent private house in the future.Despite the ongoing building, the regent relocated his brothers into this residence in 1600.When two of the archbishop’s brothers departed the city about 1600, most likely due to a prior family feud, the intended usage altered as well.The structure is presently used for public purposes.It was most likely also meant to serve as a representative hostel for foreign princes.

Today, the New Residence houses the Salzburg Museum, the Salzburger Heimatwerk, and the Salzburg Glockenspiel, a historical percussion instrument. The New Residence was utilized as both a court facility and a building for the High Salzburg Landscape in the second part of the 17th century.The armory was situated in a separate section.

Instead of the ancient walled garden, Max Gandolf von Kuenburg had today’s Kuenburg tract erected around another inner courtyard.For a long time, the prince-archbishop’s court library was situated on the first level.The Erbämtersaal on the second level had a hardwood coffered ceiling with acanthus sculptures from 1680 that had been maintained.In 1786, Archbishop Colloredo had the armory in the New Residence demolished and the wing repurposed mostly for administrative functions.

The New Residence was utilized as a municipal edifice after 1803 and as the administrative building of the court camera larar during the k. k. Monarchy.The city and state law, mining and salt works management, the tax office, book audit office, cameral payment office, and state goods inspection were all situated here in 1824.

Official chambers for the new royal realm of Salzburg, including a new parliament hall and regional court rooms, were built here in 1850.The post office and telegraph office were also accommodated.The New Residence was legally designated as a government facility after 1890, and this status was maintained throughout the First Republic.The rooms around the south-east corner, including the historic state hall sala grande, were destroyed in 1944 by a bomb raid by US and British air forces; only the exterior walls survived.After the war, the wing was demolished and rebuilt down to the bottom floor.

The building later housed the Salzburg provincial government’s office.The museum idea was selected by the city and state of Salzburg after 1990 (after multiple failed efforts).Following the relocation of the authorities to other suitable facilities, refurbishment work on the new house began in 2003 and was completed in 2005.The Panorama Museum debuted on October 26, 2005, in the old converted post office hall, and the big exhibition Viva! Mozart opens on January 26, 2006, in the building wing around the first inner courtyard.As of May 1, 2007, the state administration chose to rename the Salzburg Carolino Augusteum Museum Salzburg Museum and transfer what was formerly known as the new building to the Neue Residenz.The Salzburg Museum was inaugurated in the New Residence on May 30, 2007.The Salzburg Museum received a total investment of 19.1 million euros from the city and state of Salzburg.