Salzburg Museum

The Salzburg Museum is a museum dedicated to the art and cultural history of the city and state of Salzburg.

The museum now contains the panoramic, castle, folklore, cathedral excavation, and toy museums, as well as the Hallein Celtic Museum (from 2012).

The Neue Residenz, previously the Carolino Augusteum (SMCA), houses the primary museum and administration.

The Salzburg Museum was formed in 1834 to formalize the memories of the Napoleonic Wars by making a modest collection of military items available to the public. Following the 1848 Revolution, the collection became the official municipal museum of Salzburg.

The museum’s natural history items were donated to the Haus der Natur Salzburg in 1924. One year later, the Folk Culture Collection created a branch in the Monatsschlössl in Hellbrunn Palace’s parkland.

During WWII, the museum received three direct bomb strikes. The majority of the collection had previously been relocated to mines that acted as shelters; nonetheless, the structure was entirely destroyed, as were many pieces that were too huge to relocate. Several things vanished from their bunkers during the US occupation, including a cache of gold coins housed in the Hallein salt mines. In 1967, a new structure was erected as a temporary museum. Decades were spent debating the final and most deserving location for the Salzburg Museum’s headquarters. During this time, the Salzburg Museum opened three additional branches: the Domgrabungsmuseum in 1974, the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum) in 1978, and the Festungsmuseum (Fortress Museum) in 2000. Local lawmakers had ultimately decided on the Neue Residenz as a new home for the Salzburg Museum by 1997, thanks to Landeshauptmann Franz Schausberger’s promotion.

at 2005, the museum reopened at the Neue Residenz. The museum was named European Museum of the Year in 2009.

The exhibition Salzburg Unique, located on the first floor of the Salzburg Museum, offers multifaceted insights into the uniqueness of Salzburg via a broad variety of artifacts from the collection. Modern and colorfully constructed display rooms transport visitors through time and explain how Salzburg grew to be what it is today. The exhibition includes a vial of Salzburg Schnürlregen [streaming rain distinctive of Salzburg], a Roman votive altar, Thomas Bernhard’s assessment on Mozart’s hometown, and the narrative behind the city’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Salzburg myth is explored in the exhibition on the second floor of the Salzburg Museum. In paintings and literature, Romantic painters, poets, and scientists conveyed their love for the region around Salzburg and propagated it throughout Europe. They’re currently on display at the show. Visitors learn about Salzburg’s evolution to become a baroque town and how, once the archbishopric ended about 1800, urban structures grew, tourism took off, and the “myth” of this town emerged.

The Panorama Passage connects the Salzburg Museum to the Panorama Museum underground. Archaeological artifacts from the Neue Residenz, as well as town models, craftwork exhibitions, and historical data on Salzburg’s evolution from Roman times to the present, are on show in this section.

The Salzburg Museum’s Art Hall is located beneath the courtyard of the Neue Residenz. It is a two-sectioned multi-functional hall with a single continuous illuminated ceiling. This amazing location hosts three major special exhibitions each year.