Salzburg Residenz

The Salzburg Residenz, also known as the Alte Residenz or Old Residence, is a palace located on Domplatz and Residenzplatz in Salzburg’s old center (Altstadt). For centuries, the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg lived in the Residenz and utilized the palace to exhibit and express their political stature.The Salzburg Residenz palace today houses an art gallery known as the Residenzgalerie, which is one of the city’s most outstanding attractions.

The Residenz should not be mistaken with the neighboring Neue Residenz, which houses the Salzburg Museum and is located on the opposite side of Residenzplatz. The bishop’s residence was first mentioned in a text written in 1120. Archbishop Conrad I began construction when he transferred his house from St Peter’s Abbey to its current location near Salzburg Cathedral.

Several renovations and additions to the building were done throughout the sixteenth century. The bishop’s residence was built between 1587 and 1612 under the supervision of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau, most likely following to designs drawn by the Italian architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. Work on the south wing began in the early seventeenth century, with the installation of the great staircase and the Carabinieri-Saal, a part that connected the palace to the Franciscan Church and a vast courtyard.

Wolf Dietrich’s successors continued to extend and enhance the palace until the end of the eighteenth century. The façade and interiors of the Residenzplatz were changed with Baroque features planned by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and paintings by Johann Michael Rottmayr. Throughout the years, up to the reign of the last prince-archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo (1772-1803), the palace functioned as the archiepiscopal home, as well as a location for public assemblies and state matters, all in a setting that emphasized authority and majesty.

Following the secularization of Salzburg in 1803, the Residenz edifice served as a residence for the Austrian imperial family, as well as Emperor Francis’ widow Caroline Augusta of Bavaria and the Habsburg-Tuscany branch. The Residenzmuseum offered a concept to build an art gallery after World War I. Eduard Hütte, the official curator of Salzburg, finished the planning for the Residenzgalerie in 1922. The Residenzgalerie opened in 1923 to replace the prince-archbishops’ art collection, which had been destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars in the early nineteenth century. It was also designed to assist a projected art academy and to encourage tourism.Today, the Residenzgalerie exhibits significant paintings from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, as well as nineteenth-century Austrian works.