Archbishop
27 May 1679, Munich, Bavaria - 22 October 1744, Salzburg
The archbishop who expelled the Protestants. In October 1731, Firmian issued the Emigrationspatent, ordering the roughly 20,000 Protestant inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Salzburg State to convert or leave. In the dead of winter.
The resulting exodus, known as the Salzburger Exulanten, became one of the most significant forced migrations of the early modern era. Thousands of families left for Prussia, the Netherlands, and eventually Georgia in America, where they founded communities that preserved their Salzburg identity for generations.
Firmian was also a patron of the arts and continued the baroque embellishment of the city. But his archiepiscopate (1727-1744) represents the last great exercise of archiepiscopal autocratic power before the Enlightenment reforms of his successors began to change everything.
On the map
The 2 places on this page, where they actually stand.
Locations
Baroque
The official palace and seat of power of the Prince-Archbishops for over 200 years. Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau rebuilt it in grand baroque style. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed for the Archbishop in these very rooms. Troger's frescoes look down from the state rooms. Today the Prunkraume and Residenzgalerie are open to visitors. Directly on Residenzplatz.
Consecrated 1628
The first baroque cathedral built in the German-speaking world, and the dominant church at the heart of Salzburg's Altstadt. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptised here on 28 January 1756. The site has held a cathedral since 774, when Saint Virgil of Salzburg consecrated the first one.
