Painter
28 August 1812, Vienna - 12 March 1905, Vienna
The painter who captured Salzburg before the modern world arrived. Rudolf von Alt’s detailed, luminous watercolours of Residenzplatz, Salzburg Cathedral, and Getreidegasse constitute one of the most important visual records of the city in the 19th century, preserving the Altstadt before industrialisation and mass tourism transformed it.
Extraordinarily prolific (over 2,500 known works) and one of the most admired artists in the Habsburg Empire. In 1897, at the age of 84, he became the first honorary president of the Vienna Secession, an almost unimaginable gesture of solidarity across generations.
On the map
The 3 places on this page, where they actually stand.
Locations
Salzburg's most famous street and the heart of the Altstadt. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at No. 9 (Mozart's Birthplace). The Hagenauer family, the Mozarts' landlord, lived in the same building. The street is known for its medieval wrought-iron guild signs, narrow passages (Durchhäuser), and historic shopfronts.
Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau demolished 55 houses and Salzburg's medieval cemetery in 1587 to build this square. He had been to Rome and wanted Salzburg to have a proper Italian piazza.
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.
