The culmination of power and excess came a couple of centuries later under the reign of Wolf-Dietrich von Reitenau, (he who built palace pictured above). His mother was a Medici, and he grew up with an ambition to turn Salzburg into the Florence of the north. Ascending to the Archbishopric in the late 16th century gave him a great boost in his quest. This was fortuitous timing, besides, since it was at this time that the renaissance took hold in the German-speaking lands.
Wolf-Dietrich was nothing if not resolute and decisive. For example, Salzburg had long been proud of its Romanesque cathedral (which replaced the one built 774 C.E.). The problem is, renaissance people were fairly self-conscious about their position in history and in the arts. They were the first to name their own epoch, after all. They also named the era before them, giving it the name of the arch-barbarian tribe, because, of course, since Gothic art and architecture were old-fashioned and therefore barbaric. Now he was stuck with a Romanesque edifice, which, although one of the largest in Europe, was, nevertheless, even older than Gothic! It had to go.
Throughout its Germanic-Christian history, i.e., since the late 7th century, the ruling power lay with the Church. That was a logical result of the work of one Ruprecht, dispatched by the Bishopric of Worms to go create some sort of organization in an area that prior to the descent of the barbarians had been a showplace for Roman-Christian living, complete with catacombs. His successor, an Irish cleric named Virgil, gained the rank of Archbishop, and began work on the first cathedral, which was dedicted 774 A.D.
Given that Salzburg (which Ruprecht named after the primary local industry, a vital necessity and medium of exchange, salt), lacked any other governing entity than the Archbishopric, it was only natural that the power of the Church continued to grow. The power was solidified in the 14th century when Bishop Leonhard von Keutschach invited the local Burgher-Power-Brokers of the newly emerging middle class to his estate in the earby Salzkammergut lake district, then had them clapped in irons in the dungeon until they signed an agreement giving him and his successors absolute political power.
In fact, Mirabel Palace, pictured to the left, provides some evidence of this. This much is certain: Wolf-Dietrich had it built for Solome Alt. Solome Alt gave birth to a number of children fathered by Wolf Dietrich. Beyond this, the truth depends upon which tour guide you ask. The number of children seems to have ranged somewhere between 12 and 18. We have never heard a lower number cited. Wolf and Solome were certainly lovers, but some reports have them secretly married. That makes sense, with celebacy being a part of the priesthood, and all. Solome may have additionally been Jewish, and interesting situation since an Archbishop (not Wolf) had expelled all Jews from the Land of Salzburg less than a century earlier.
On the other hand, how many straight-arrow clergymen rule over whole countries and become famous? It's too bad that his nephew didn't have a little more patience or a little less ambition, because with all the building projects that Wolf-Dietrich started, Mirabel Palace and the cathedral among others, the only thing finished in his lifetime is his mausoleum. As a final insult to Wolf's memory, Marcus Sitticus not only altered the plans for the cathedral, bringing in strong elements of the latest fashion, the Baroque, but he reduced it in size as well. We can be sure that the two Bishops had much to talk about when they got together on the other side.
We, however, have a lot to talk about as we look at, love and experience this alpine jewel, the work of an autocrat with taste.
It's also good for its entertainment value. H.L. Mencken once pointed out that democracy "provides the only really amusing form of government ever endured by mankind." Let's observe here, however, that he referred to the amusement of those governed. This only make sense. People under Stalin, Hitler or Genghis Khan had their sources of amusement, but it rarely involved the government - just people in the government.
On the other hand, a good autocracy will always function more efficiently than the best democracy. If the reigning despot also happens to have good taste, the results can provide unlimited entertainment for future generations. The eminently charming city of Salzburg, set on the northern edge of the Austrian Alps, stands as convincing testimony.
Here in the States we have some pretty definite views on government by the people, of the people and for the people. It's the closest system to fairness for all that the human mind has devised so far.
The Fortress, the largest Medieval fortification in Europe, with St. Peter's Abbey, the oldest existing monastary north of the Alps
The formal gardens of Mirabel Palace, looking toward the Cathedral and the Fortress
Looking from across the River Salzach toward the Cathedral and the Fortress (left); looking from the Fortress toward the Cathedral and the River Salzach
And go it did. One winter night it mysteriously burned. Then the Archbishop had his workers seal up the roof and walls such that when the notorious Salzburg rains hit, large pools formed, causing the walls to collapse. What a shame. Wolf-Dietrich had no choce but to have a new cathedral designed in the cool Renaissance style. Of course, in a true Renaissance fashion, the cathedral had to encircled by five large plazas, so a number of blocks of civilian buildings joined the rubble of the erstwhile Romanesque church.
The result is a city center of uncommon beauty, with wide spaces filled with fountains (every single one of which sports an equine motif -- the archbishops were avid horse-lovers. Much of the inner-city is now closed to vehicles that burn anything more than hay, but the Fiakers (as the carriages are called) are omnipresent. Overlooking it all is the Fortress (don't call it a "castle," or "Burg" either), which started life in the 11th century and upon which work continued until 1683.
It is here that Wolf-Dietrich lived out his final years after his nephew, Marcus Sitticus, staged a coup and usurped the uncles station as Archbishop and chief political officer of the Land of Salzburg. The excuse given: the uncle was too wordly. Given the level of wordliness of others before and after him, not to exclude the nephew, Wolf-Dietrich must certainly have been a lover of pleasures of the flesh.
The Salzburg Cathedral, begun by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Reitenau, fronted by the Univesrity Church of the 18th Century, with the Convent Church of Nonntal behind; the convent is the oldest in a German-speaking land, and for a while housed a young novice named Maria, who later married and took on the family name of von Trapp.
Immediately south of the City of Salzburg, the village of Anif contains the utterly charming Wasserschloss (water palace) of Anif. Click here to see it close up and personal.
