Archbishop
26 March 1559, Hohenems, Vorarlberg, Austria - 16 January 1617, Hohensalzburg Fortress (died in captivity)
Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau ruled Salzburg from 1587 to 1611 and transformed it from a medieval city into a baroque capital. The streets, squares, and palaces visitors walk through today are, in large part, the city he imagined.
Wolf Dietrich came to power at 28, backed by a network of papal connections his mother Helene von Hohenems had cultivated through her Medici ties. His vision was blunt: make Salzburg the “Rome of the North.” He had studied at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome, absorbed Italian Renaissance planning, and returned north with an ambition that had nowhere modest to land.
When a fire tore through the old Romanesque cathedral on 11 December 1598, Wolf Dietrich saw an opportunity. He ordered the surviving shell demolished, over the objections of locals, and commissioned architect Vincenzo Scamozzi to design something grander. He also cleared 55 burgher houses to create Residenzplatz, the open baroque square that still frames the city. The new Salzburg Cathedral was not finished in his lifetime. His cousin Markus Sittikus completed it under architect Santino Solari, and Paris Lodron consecrated it in 1628. But the decision was Wolf Dietrich’s.
In 1606 he built a palace on the north bank of the Salzach for Salome Alt, the merchant’s daughter who had been his partner since 1593 and the mother of his 15 children. He called it Altenau. Rome refused his petition for a marriage dispensation, so they remained unofficial, but he granted her the noble title “von Altenau” in 1600 and had Emperor Rudolf II confirm it in 1609. After his fall, Salome fled to Upper Austria and reportedly passed secret notes to him inside the fortress in pastries. She outlived him by sixteen years, dying in 1633 at age 94.
Wolf Dietrich’s downfall came from a salt-trade dispute with Bavaria. When negotiations collapsed, Duke Maximilian I sent 10,000 troops and Wolf Dietrich had no allies to call on. He fled on 23 October 1611 and was captured and imprisoned in Hohensalzburg Fortress, the very castle that towered over the city he had rebuilt. He died there on 16 January 1617. His mausoleum stands at Sebastiansfriedhof, a short walk from the palace he built for Salome. Markus Sittikus renamed that palace Mirabell.
On the map
The 7 places on this page, where they actually stand.
Locations
Founded 1599
The Capuchin monastery at the summit of the Kapuzinerberg, founded 1599-1602 by Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau as part of his Counter-Reformation programme. The building that gives the hill its name. Stefan Zweig lived on the hill below.
Founded 1077
One of the largest and best-preserved medieval castle fortresses in Europe, perched on Festungsberg hill above Salzburg's Altstadt. Founded in 1077 by Gebhard von Helfenstein, transformed into a princely residence by Leonhard von Keutschach, and never conquered. The defining landmark of Salzburg's skyline.
Built 1606
Built in 1606 by Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau as "Altenau," a palace for his mistress Salome Alt. Renamed "Mirabell" by Markus Sittikus. The current baroque building is largely the work of Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (1721). Today it serves as Salzburg's city hall. The Marble Hall is one of the finest baroque rooms in Austria.
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.
Baroque
A small baroque chapel within Mirabell Palace, originally built by Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau for Salome Alt. Today used by Salzburg's Old Catholic community, one of the smallest but most theologically serious Christian denominations in the German-speaking world.
Renaissance / Baroque
A 16th-century Italian garden cemetery on Linzer Gasse, containing the mosaic mausoleum of Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, the grave of Paracelsus, and the burial places of Leopold Mozart and Constanze Mozart. Completely different in character from Petersfriedhof.
