Residenzplatz (Salzburg)

Residenzplatz in Salzburg, view of the carillon

The Residenzplatz is a prestigious and magnificent square in the center of the old town of Salzburg . The square is bordered in the west by the old residence , in the east by the new residence with the artistic carillon and in the south by the cathedral . In the north, in a closed facade, town houses delimit the square, which essentially go back to medieval buildings. The Michael's Church , which belongs to St. Peter's Abbey, is connected to this. Then the square turns into Mozartplatz . In the middle of the Residenzplatz stands the artistically designed Residenzbrunnen from the 17th century. The square is located on the site of a former cemetery.

history

The square in its present size is under razing of town houses and removal of the old Domfriedhofes by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich emerged and is related to the then transformation of Salzburg from a medieval town to a princely baroque residence. In 1587 Wolf Dietrich began to tear down the old cathedral monastery and 55 town houses at what was then the western end of Pfeifergasse and to leave the cathedral cemetery (called Aschhof) open. Parts of the old residence, the predecessor building of the cathedral and the St. John's court chapel were also located here.

Remains of the cemetery under the Residenzplatz
Excavation work 2008
Excavation work 2008

Redesign of the square

Sample area with Salzach pebbles

Originally the square was designed with a structured paving made of Salzach pebbles. Most of these stones are preserved under a layer of sand that is only a few decades old. After extensive excavations to research the history of the city of Salzburg and the Roman predecessor city Iuvavum with its elegant town houses, a new, easily accessible, but historically authentic surface is to be laid. In 2007 Max Rieder won an international competition in this regard in the knittels.büro project group . The design is based on an urban planning concept by Vincenzo Scamozzi . After extensive sample areas and the testing of an "art conglomerate" for the spacious, newly spanned, complex square area, the planning in 2009 was put on hold for the time being. This also applied to a proposed light sculpture as a dynamically moving memorial to the book burning of the National Socialists.

The winning project for the redesign of Residenzplatz was presented at the beginning of 2016. The construction work is to be carried out from March 2017 to July 2018, the total costs should amount to 4.9 million euros.

Not even two weeks after the redesign of the Residenzplatz there were initial complaints from residents and business people: the surface stank, and when it rained, large water-based paints would form. The vegetable binding agent of the covering, namely ground seeds from a ribwort , was identified as the cause of the stench . The ballast should be reapplied after every major event.

The town houses on Residenzplatz

House Residenzplatz 2: The late Gothic window reveals from the years after 1500, which were installed by Wolfgang Püchler at the time and were rediscovered and uncovered around 1930 during a restoration, are remarkable. The baroque painter Johann Michael Rottmayr lived in this house around 1693 while he was working in the neighboring Salzburg residence.

House Residenzplatz 3: The house has a baroque portal with pilasters on the side and a volute capital with a marble vase of flowers.

House Residenzplatz 4: The facade design of this house dates from the end of the 17th century.

House Residenzplatz 5 (tin foundry house, corner house at Aschhof = Goldgasse 19): The house has a funnel portal on the Goldgasse side with a historic iron grille door and above it a marble-framed house blessing picture "Holy Family on the Flight to Egypt" from the 18th century.

All of these buildings are listed.

and display information about the image

360 ° panorama from Residenzplatz

The Residenzbrunnen (Hofbrunnen)

Residenzbrunnen

The Residenzbrunnen is a monumental fountain carved from Untersberg marble , a limestone. It is the largest baroque fountain in Central Europe and was designed by Tommaso Garove Allio between 1656 and 1661 on behalf of Archbishop Guidobald von Thun . Antonio Dario was the chief engineer at the time.

The lower fountain basin on all-round step-like plinths is symmetrical on four sides and has a curved and kinked baroque shape. The coat of arms of Archbishop Guidobald von Thun is on each side. The central rock is surrounded by four water-spouting sea rots (hippocamps). The rock carries four atlases with another flat water bowl, in which three dolphins hold a shallow pool of water with their tail fin. This uppermost basin carries Triton , who pushes water vertically into the air from a shell.

The Residenzbrunnen is a monumental fountain carved from Untersberg limestone. At the time it was built, it was the largest Baroque fountain in Central Europe and was allegedly designed by Tommaso di Garona (Tommaso Garove Allio) between 1656 and 1661 on behalf of Archbishop Guidobald von Thun. His brother-in-law, the Italian architect, stone cutter and master stonemason Giovanni Antonio Dario (1630–1702) worked as a senior engineer at fountain construction . Dario's first wife, Francesca Garvo Allio, is likely a sister of Tommaso Garona.

The residential fountain has ideas from the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1648/51) on the Piazza Navona as well as a very close reference to the Fontana del Tritone (1642/43) on the Piazza Barberini in Rome. Both fountains were created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini . As four rivers are symbolically represented in the Four Rivers Fountain in Rome, the Salzburg Residenzbrunnen also has four hippocamps that point in the four cardinal directions. Although the fountain is in front of the entrance gate of the residence and the Triton looks towards the entrance, the four hippocamps are aligned parallel to the east-west orientation of the cathedral, which is slightly more south-facing and thus tries to mediate between the cathedral and the residence.

A clear reference to the Four Rivers Fountain in Rome can be seen in the central rock, which was transferred not only to the Residenzbrunnen, but also to the Pegasus Fountain , dated 1661 . Frogs, turtles, snakes and snails can be seen here and there on the rock composed of rough blocks. The template for the four water-spouting sea horses (hippocamps) could have been taken from Conrad Gessner's Historiae animalium from 1558. As fountain figures, the four large hippocamps are unique and completely unusual in their time and in this size. They do not go back to any sculptural model. The connection between the hippocamps and the upper shell are the three atlases, which are in a strong rotation and with their legs crossed, give each other support. This presentation of atlases is also new and unusual.

The even closer reference to the Fontana del Tritone is clearly recognizable. The upper end of the Residenzbrunnen consists of a round, flat bowl in which three dolphins swim, with their upturned tails holding a shell-like, ribbed fountain bowl on which a triton with a curled fish tail rests, which blows the water out of a conch horn into the air. The architect of the Residenzbrunnen must have seen the Triton Fountain in Rome or an exact drawing of it. Guidobad von Thun studied in Rome and may have expressed the desire to build a fountain that is at least equal to the Roman fountain. Giovanni Antonio Dario's style suggests an education in Rome. He could have been in Rome as an apprentice from 1645 and seen the fountains. It was first mentioned in Salzburg in 1659. But he has probably been in charge of the construction of the Residenzbrunnen since 1656. The design for the residential fountain could well have come from Dario. Under Guidobald von Thun he also planned the cathedral square with the cathedral arches and the pilgrimage church in Maria Plain for Max Gandolph von Kuenburg. Nevertheless, Tommaso di Garona is accepted as an architect, about whose training nothing is known so far.

After the failed attempt to bring water here from the Fürstenbrunn spring on Untersberg, a few years later (1679) the water was taken from the Hellbrunn Sternweiherquelle under the direction of the fountain master Rupert Kraimoser and fed via the Nonntaler Hofbrunnhaus to the Residenzplatz and the Kaiviertel. Since 1962, the fountain has been connected to the Salzburg water supply network again, drawing its water mainly from the Fürstenbrunn spring near Untersberg . Today the drinking water in Salzburg comes mainly from the deep well near St. Leonhard (both in the Grödig municipality ).

The Residenzplatz as an event location

First and foremost, the Residenzplatz is connected as an event location with regular folk-cultural events such as the traditional Rupertikirtag around September 24th, as well as with the Salzburg Christmas market during Advent . Every year, on the occasion of the opening of the Salzburg Festival, before the last week of July, there is a torch dance with various groups from the region. From 1987 to the end of the nineties there were repeated performances as part of the avant-garde festival Sommerszene organized by the Salzburg scene, as well as concerts by great and international stars of the pop and rock music industry (such as Joe Cocker , Tina Turner and Neil Young ) .

In addition to artistic events, the Residenzplatz is occasionally used for singular events of an economic or political nature.

Book burning

On April 30, 1938, shortly after the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, the teacher and writer Karl Springenschmid staged the only book burning in the former Austria on Residenzplatz, almost five years after the comparable event in the Altreich . 1200 works by Jewish writers and artists, but above all writings by Catholic authors and politicians from the corporate state, were burned by the Hitler Youth on Residenzplatz. As a warning reminder of this crime, a commemorative event was held on the 75th anniversary on April 30, 2013 on the square and in its immediate vicinity, which was sponsored by numerous Salzburg institutions.

On April 30, 2018, the 80th anniversary of the book burning on Salzburg's Residenzplatz, a memorial designed by Fatemeh Naderi and Florian Ziller was unveiled. This measures 2.4 × 2.4 meters and protrudes about 45 centimeters from the ground. The black skeleton of a book is visible through a glass plate, the inscription reads April 30, 1938 Book Burning Against Oblivion .

Memorial model book burning (project 2007)
Plaque
Artist group Klangmobile at the memorial event on April 30, 2013
Memorial event of the Salzburg authors' group in the adjacent Michaelskirche on April 30, 2013

literature

Bernd Euler, Ronald Gobiet u. a .: The art monuments of Austria - SALZBURG Stadt und Land , Verlag Schroll, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-7031-0599-2
Josef Hübl: Local history of the city of Salzburg , Verlag Salzburger Druckerei, Salzburg 1965
FW Zillner: History of the City of Salzburg , special volumes of the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies , Salzburg 1885