Seventeen permanent sculptures by Anselm Kiefer, James Turrell, Abramović, and others, scattered through the Altstadt and Mönchsberg. Self-guided, free, and placed exactly where they create the most interesting friction with the Baroque surroundings.
The Story
The Salzburg Foundation launched this project in 2002 with a deliberate strategy: one internationally significant artist per year, one permanent public work, placed somewhere in the city rather than inside a museum. By 2010, the ten-year program had produced a trail of pieces that span the Altstadt and the Mönchsberg and include some of the most interesting contemporary art permanently installed in any European city.
The placements are not accidents. Stephan Balkenhol's Sphaera, a golden sphere balanced on a plain man in white shirt and black trousers, stands on Kapitelplatz directly in front of the Cathedral. The sphere is seven meters high. The man is entirely ordinary. The juxtaposition with one of Austria's most photographed Baroque squares is the point. Frau im Fels, also by Balkenhol, is a carved wooden woman set into a rock niche at Toscaninihof. She is nearly invisible until you look directly at her.
James Turrell's Sky Space on the Mönchsberg is a chamber with a circular aperture cut in the ceiling, framing a perfect disk of sky. Abramović's Spirit of Mozart stands near the Mozarteum on Makartplatz. Anselm Kiefer's AEIOU pavilion in Furtwänglerpark is a more monumental work. Erwin Wurm's Gurken (oversized cucumbers) appear outside the Mönchsberg Museum without commentary. Anthony Cragg's Caldera at Makartplatz can be walked through; faces emerge from the surface as you move around it.
The trail covers 7.7 km and takes 2-3 hours at a reasonable pace. Nothing costs anything. The only tool you need is the printed map from the tourist office.
Visiting
- Duration: 2-3 hours for the full trail.
- Cost: Completely free. No tickets or booking.
- Schedule: Permanent and accessible during daylight. A few indoor works follow venue hours.
- Getting there: All works are in the Altstadt and Mönchsberg area. Walkable from central Salzburg.
- Tips: Get the trail map from the tourist office on Mozartplatz. Begin at Kapitelplatz or Makartplatz. Frau im Fels at Toscaninihof requires looking carefully: she is set into the rock.