Mönchsberg

Mönchsberg
	Mönchsberg north from the east
height	508 m above sea level A.
location	Salzburg , Austria
Dominance	0.3 km → Rainberg
Notch height	36 m ↓ Dr.-Herbert-Klein-Weg
Coordinates	47 ° 47 '46 " N , 13 ° 2' 23" E Coordinates: 47 ° 47 '46 " N , 13 ° 2' 23" E
Type	Plateau mountain
rock	conglomerate
particularities	numerous villas and fortifications

The Mönchsberg (highest point 508 m above sea level ) is a city mountain in Salzburg ( Austria ), which was named after the monks of the nearby Benedictine monastery of St. Peter . It stretches over a length of around 1700 m from the fortress mountain in a north-westerly direction on the left bank of the Salzach to Mülln . In the literature, the fortress mountain is very rarely considered part of the Mönchsberg.

Nocturnal view from Mönchsberg to Salzburg's old town and the Festungsberg

The plateau mountain shapes the cityscape with its elongated ridge. With its small-scale alternation of forest and meadows and its many vantage points, the Mönchsberg is particularly popular as a recreational area and excursion destination for locals and tourists.

geology

The mountain consists primarily of conglomerate . This conglomerate arose from sediments - deposited as a river delta in the large lake of the Salzburg basin . It is made up of fine-grain and medium-grain layers and consists of banks lying diagonally one above the other, between which there are layers of sand (mostly coarse sand, very rarely fine sand). The layers are cemented to different degrees, the less solidified layers are easily recognizable as niches in the rock walls due to their greater susceptibility to weathering.

Boreholes that penetrated the conglomerate show that the rock of the Mönchsberg does not lie on hard ground, but on soft ground moraine or on Gosau layers ( sandstone and marl ). In the area of the rock walls, relaxation fissures parallel to the slope formed, which are often filled with clay . They are likely to have arisen through the undercut of the mountain by the Salzach, through the quarry work or through natural relaxation processes. The fractures cause more water to penetrate the rock. The resulting buoyancy reduces the frictional resistance, which can lead to the breaking off of large pieces of rock. The northeast flank of the Mönchsberg was also designed by Paris Lodron as part of the city fortifications. Before that there were some old quarries here. (Natural rock walls would be more irregular in appearance and would show pronounced erosion valleys due to the strong erosion of less solidified layers). The slopes towards Mülln and Riedenburg were also scarred for defense reasons (worked off vertically).

On the Mönchsberg there were often small rockfalls caused by superficial weathering over the centuries, but rarely rockfalls of up to 100,000 m³.

Fortifications of the Mönchsberg

Vigilante fortifications

Plaque

A continuous fortification wall on the Mönchsberg was started as early as the 13th century and significantly reinforced in the years after 1465. The defensive wall and the lower defensive tower of the Florianizwinger, as well as the two defensive towers of the falcon compound, which have survived to this day, date from this medieval period. During the Thirty Years' War, under Archbishop Paris Lodron , the fortifications of the city of Salzburg, including the Kapuziner , Mönchs and Festungsbergs, were again improved and expanded, making the city an impregnable fortress for the time. The city mountains were again scarred (the Mönchsberg from 1623), so that conquering the now partially higher and at the same time completely smooth rock faces became even more difficult.

The Hohensalzburg Fortress on the neighboring fortress hill was presented with the Hasengraben bastions with large retaining walls. From the armory of the fortress, the saddle to the Mönchberg (the so-called "Scharte") could be ruled with guns. The bastion, called the cat , closed off the fortifications of the fortress facing the Mönchsberg. From here a wall was built across the gap, from which a gate was broken out in 1863, the mayor's hole . This made an old path to Nonntal , abandoned by Paris Lodron, accessible again.

The city of Salzburg was never attacked during the Thirty Years' War, although the Swedish King Gustav Adolf had some thoughts in this direction. The city, which at that time was one of the best fortified cities in Europe, was considered a “well-fortified island of peace”, which even Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria , commander-in-chief of the Catholic League , visited twice with treasure and archive (1632, 1646 and 1648 respectively ) had to flee; the city also hosted many refugees. The Prince Archbishopric of Salzburg was never a member of the Catholic League. Due to the very high taxes for the numerous new defense systems, for equipping their own soldiers and for donations to the Catholic League, the population still felt the war drastically.

As early as 1137 to 1143, the Stiftsarmstollen of the Almkanal was built by miners on the border between Mönchsberg and Festungsberg in order to conduct sufficient water into the city. This unique tunnel structure has been preserved to this day and can be viewed during the annual Almabkehr in the first half of September.

In 2018, the defensive walls on Mönchsberg will be renovated by mountain cleaners and employees of a specialist company.

Other story

1338 led with the permission of Archbishop Friedrich III. the citizens of the city from the Müllner Arm of the Almkanales Wasser in another tunnel through the Mönchsberg, the Städtische Arm , to the Bürgerspital and to the north of the old town at that time.
In the early morning hours of July 16, 1669, probably between the second and the third hour, the earth was moving and a rock face of the Mönchsberg collapsed on the buildings on Gstättengasse, which were built close to it . Most people were taken by surprise in their sleep - only a few managed to escape. The noise woke the neighborhood, and many rushed to the aid of the desperate victims. Suddenly there was a fall - another part of the mountain came loose. A stone load of around 2,000 quintals fell on Gstättengasse and now buried those who had been saved. It was only in the course of the next few days that it was possible to fully grasp the extent of the disaster - the Markus Church, the little church of Our Lady on the Bergl (this no longer exists today), the seminary and the 13 houses on Gstättengasse destroyed. There were over 220 dead to mourn.
The Sigmundstor (a tunnel, also popularly known as the Neutor ) was built from 1764 to 1766. It connects the old town of Salzburg with the district of Riedenburg in the west.
In 1874/75 the first large reservoir for Untersberg spring water was built on the Mönchsberg (1080 m³). Even today, the city is also supplied from a 25,000 m³ storage facility in the mountain.
Large caverns in Mönchsberg served as air raid shelters during World War II . After 1970, large garages were built into the mountain in Mönchsberg , which today offer more than 1,400 parking spaces.

buildings

View over the Salzach to the Mönchsberg with the Museum der Moderne (2008)

There are various castles and villas on the Mönchsberg:

It is enriched by many preserved fortifications :

The Richterhöhe , which allows an excellent view of the south of the city and the mountain range of the Alps behind, goes back to defensive structures from the years after 1278 and the years around 1480. Historically, the judges' height is divided into an upper and a lower kennel.

The largely preserved vigilante , was built in 1487/88 as part of the city wall and expanded after 1500 to a achttürmigen system. The clearing of the wide weir ditch is important for the gradual renovation.

The Müllner Schanze with the defensive towers of the Augustinerpforte and Monikapforte was built by Paris Lodron from 1621 to 1644 in the form of a three-tier defense structure as part of the former city wall. It has been impaired since around 1890 by road construction that was built without regard to the historical substance. It is possible to largely eliminate this impairment by means of a short road tunnel.

Closest is the Humboldt Terrace (historically Klausenkavalier or Frauenkavalier ), also a Lodron defense structure, which allows a unique panoramic view of Salzburg's old town, the fortress mountain and the eastern suburbs of Salzburg. As a defense system, it was originally called "Katzen", later "Kavalier" and is now named after Alexander von Humboldt .

The Salzburg Museum of Modern Art is also located on the Mönchsberg . It replaced the former Café Winkler , a popular excursion destination that housed the casino for many years . The building is accessed via a lift in the mountain, the panoramic terrace in front of the museum is a much-visited vantage point from which one can overlook Salzburg's old town. In 2011 a stupa was inaugurated next to Franz-Josefs-Höhe by the Buddhist Diamond Way Center Austria by the Nepalese meditation master Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche .

Katschthalerkreuz on the Karolinenhöhe

Buddhist stupa

Important historical viewing terraces are the Humboldtterrasse (Klausenkavalier) and the Richterhöhe, the Karolinenhöhe , the Franz-Josefs-Höhe and the König-Ludwig-Fernsicht .

The Mönchsberg is also a "mountain of writers": Peter Handke lived in an outbuilding of the house Mönchsberg 17 ( Kupelwieserschlössl ) from 1979–1988 and describes his walks in the afternoon of a writer . For Thomas Bernhard, however , the Mönchsberg was only the “suicide mountain”. Gerhard Amanshauser lived not far from Mönchsberg on the Festungsberg - in his autobiography As Barbarian in the Prater , Mönchsberg and Festungsberg play an important role.

Literature and Sources

Hannes Mühlbacher, Wilfried Maschke: The Mönchsberg - experiences, anecdotes and history. Self-published, Salzburg 2007.
Reinhard Medicus: The Mönchsberg in natural and cultural history. In: Der Gardist - annual journal of the Citizens Guard of the City of Salzburg. 23rd year, 2003.
Reinhard Medicus: The rocks of the Mönchsberg and their history. In: Bastei - magazine for the preservation of buildings culture and society. 53rd year, 3rd episode, Salzburg 2004.

Web links

Commons : Mönchsberg, Salzburg - Collection of images, videos and audio files

The Mönchsberg in pictures on salzburgerland.com
The Mönchsberg lift on salzburg-ag.at

Individual evidence

^ Walter Del-Negro : Geology of the Austrian federal states in brief individual representations , Salzburg / Vienna 1970.
Wilhelm Donner: Contributions to the geology of the city of Salzburg (unedited natural diss. Salzburg), Salzburg 1987.
Alois Kieslinger : The usable rocks of Salzburg , Salzburg / Stuttgart 1964.
↑ orf.at: Salzburg city wall is being extensively renovated . Article dated August 10, 2018, accessed August 10, 2018.
↑ Katrin Hauer: The sudden death. Rockslides in Salzburg and Plurs viewed from a cultural and historical perspective. LIT-Verlag, Vienna 2009.
Katrin Hauer: The rockslide of the Mönchsberg in the city of Salzburg in 1669. Perception, interpretation and coping . In: Historische Sozialkunde , Special Issue 2/2008: Natural Catastrophes (Ed. Christian Rohr ), Vienna 2008, pp. 21–31.
Katrin Hauer: About the perception, interpretation and coping with the great Mönchsberg fall. In: Reports of the Federal Geological Institute. 7th Scientific History Symposium "History of Earth Sciences in Austria" , Vol. 72, Vienna 2008, p. 39 ( pdf , geologie.ac.at, whole issue)
↑ Lorenz Hübner : Description of the prince-archbishop's capital and residence city of Salzburg and its areas combined with its oldest history . tape 1 . Salzburg 1792, p. 122-126 .
↑ Reinhard Medicus: The old vigilante groups on Mönchsberg and their history . In: Bastei - magazine for the preservation of buildings, culture and society , 53rd volume, 2nd episode, Salzburg, 2004.
↑ Reinhard Medicus: Thirty Years' War and Müllner Schanze - Reconstruction of a weir system . In: Bastei - magazine for the preservation of buildings, culture and society , 54th year, 1st episode, Salzburg, 2005.

[1] Walter Del-Negro : Geology of the Austrian federal states in brief individual representations , Salzburg / Vienna 1970.
Wilhelm Donner: Contributions to the geology of the city of Salzburg (unedited natural diss. Salzburg), Salzburg 1987.
Alois Kieslinger : The usable rocks of Salzburg , Salzburg / Stuttgart 1964.

[2] orf.at: Salzburg city wall is being extensively renovated . Article dated August 10, 2018, accessed August 10, 2018.

[3] Katrin Hauer: The sudden death. Rockslides in Salzburg and Plurs viewed from a cultural and historical perspective. LIT-Verlag, Vienna 2009.
Katrin Hauer: The rockslide of the Mönchsberg in the city of Salzburg in 1669. Perception, interpretation and coping . In: Historische Sozialkunde , Special Issue 2/2008: Natural Catastrophes (Ed. Christian Rohr ), Vienna 2008, pp. 21–31.
Katrin Hauer: About the perception, interpretation and coping with the great Mönchsberg fall. In: Reports of the Federal Geological Institute. 7th Scientific History Symposium "History of Earth Sciences in Austria" , Vol. 72, Vienna 2008, p. 39 ( pdf , geologie.ac.at, whole issue)

[4] Lorenz Hübner : Description of the prince-archbishop's capital and residence city of Salzburg and its areas combined with its oldest history . tape 1 . Salzburg 1792, p. 122-126 .

[5] Reinhard Medicus: The old vigilante groups on Mönchsberg and their history . In: Bastei - magazine for the preservation of buildings, culture and society , 53rd volume, 2nd episode, Salzburg, 2004.

[6] Reinhard Medicus: Thirty Years' War and Müllner Schanze - Reconstruction of a weir system . In: Bastei - magazine for the preservation of buildings, culture and society , 54th year, 1st episode, Salzburg, 2005.