The first sight of the tour is the Salzburg State Theatre. Already in 1625, a ballroom building was erected in the same spot. It was demolished and replaced with an archbishopric court theatre in 1775, which was also attended by the Mozart family. After several reconstructions and renovations, today’s building in its neo-Baroque style was erected in 1893. Besides its regular programming, the theatre is also a venue during the Salzburg Festival.

The tour’s next highlight is the exceptionally well preserved Pferdeschwemme (= horse pond) at Herbert von Karajan Square. The structure was developed in 1695 and is credited to the famous Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. The purpose of the horse pond was to provide a way to conveniently wash horses.

Not far from the Pferdeschwemme is the festival district of the city of Salzburg. Most venues of the Salzburg Festival are located in this part of the historic city center: the Large Festival Hall, the House for Mozart and the Summer Riding School. Since 1920 the famous Salzburg Festival takes place in this area over a period of 6 weeks during summer.

The next highlight on this city tour is a photo stop at the lake by Leopoldskron Palace, which became world-famous as a filming location for the film The Sound of Music. The Rococo palace was built at the behest of Prince Archbishop Anton Freiherr von Firmian as a family seat in 1736. Max Reinhardt along with Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss founded the Salzburg Festival here.

A short photo stop at Mozart Square for the Mozart Statue. Konstanze Mozart actually lived at Mozart Square and watched from her window the installation of the Mozart Statue - in memory of her late husband.

The last highlight on this city tour is Mozart’s Residence. The Mozart family lived in the so-called “Dance Master’s House” from 1773. The composer himself spent eight years here, before moving to Vienna in 1781. The building at Makart Square has been a museum of the Mozarteum Foundation since 1996.

Your private Mozart City Tour ends at the Mozart Residence and includes admission to the Mozart Residence museum. Explore the museum at your own pace and learn about Mozart’s life in Salzburg, his family, patrons and friends with the included audio guide. Among the various exhibits are some of Mozart’s original instruments and the famous family portraits. The tour of the museum takes about one hour.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 in the house at Getreidegasse No. 9 in Salzburg. Today, this building is commonly known as Mozart’s Birthplace and houses another museum of the Mozarteum Foundation.

Mozart was baptized as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus. Usually he signed his name as Wolfgang Amadé Mozart.

The first years of his life, Mozart lived at his birthplace in Getreidegasse No. 9. In 1781, the family moved to the other side of the river Salzach into the so-called “Dance Master’s House” at Makart Square. Eight years later, Mozart left Salzburg and moved to Vienna, where he lived the rest of his life and died of a fever in 1791 at the age of 35.