Salzburg Museum (Neugebäude)

Salzburg Museum (Neugebäude) Review

The biggest "gift" to Mozart was the opening, one day shy of his 250th birthday, on January 26, 2006, when Salzburg's mammoth 17th-century Neue Residenz (New Residence) welcomed visitors to an exhibition entitled "Viva! Mozart." The setting is splendid, as this building was Prince-Archbishop Wolf-Dietrich's "overflow" palace (he couldn't fit his entire archiepiscopal court into the main Residenz across the plaza). As such, it features 10 state reception rooms that were among the first attempts at a stil Renaissance in the North. Highlights of the archaeological collection include Hallstatt Age relics, remains of the town's ancient Roman ruins, and the famous Celtic bronze flagon found earlier this century on the Dürrnberg near Hallein (15 km south of Salzburg). Pride of place is given to the spectacular Sattler Panorama, one of the few remaining 360-degree paintings in the world, which shows the city of Salzburg in the early 19th century. Also here is the original composition of "Silent Night," composed by Franz Gruber in nearby Oberndorf in 1818.