Snapshot

Itzling is a working district on the right bank of the Salzach, north of the Altstadt. Its recorded history goes back to 711 AD, its character today is industrial and residential, and its two points of interest are a remarkable piece of contemporary architecture and a pilgrimage church on a hill above the village.

The Story

The name Uzzilinga appears in a document from 711 AD, recording a settlement gifted by Duke Theodebert of Bavaria to the Salzburg bishop. The area grew slowly for over a millennium, held back by its position on the wrong side of the main trade routes. The railway changed that: the Westbahn in 1860 and the Giselabahn in 1875 brought rail workers and their families, and by 1910 the population had reached nearly 4,000.

Incorporation into Salzburg came in stages between 1935 and 1950. Today Itzling is the kind of district that tourists pass through on the way north, full of logistics operations, apartment blocks, and the practical infrastructure that keeps a city running.

Two things interrupt the utilitarian picture. The NVZ Itzling commercial centre on Raiffeisenstrasse is a 200-metre glass facade by architect Johannes Schallhammer, with a suspended office block that appears to float above the street level and a public rooftop garden accessible to anyone. It is a supply hub for northern Salzburg that also functions as a serious piece of architecture: transparent, dynamic, and rooted in the local topography in a way that its programme does not require.

Maria Plain sits above the district on a hill, a pilgrimage church with a history going back to the seventeenth century. It draws visitors with religious purposes and offers a view of the city and the northern Flachgau from the hill.

Planning

Itzling is served by public transport from central Salzburg; the Aiglhof rail stop connects to the main rail network. No dedicated visit is needed for most travellers, but the NVZ Itzling is worth seeing if contemporary architecture is an interest, and Maria Plain is worth the hill climb for the view alone.