A monumental Neptune rears on a fish-tailed seahorse above what was once a horse trough: the Kapitelschwemme is a Baroque horse pond on Kapitelplatz, built in 1732 under Prince-Archbishop Leopold Anton von Firmian. The Neptune was carved by Josef Anton Pfaffinger to a design by Franz Anton Danreiter. It is the quieter counterpart to the better-known Pferdeschwemme on Karajanplatz. Free, always open. A Latin chronogram above the niche spells out “Prince Leopold had me erected” in hidden Roman numerals, with Firmian’s coat of arms on the gable.
Curated routes
The Sound of Music bus tours skip the old town because it is pedestrian-only, so this is the half of the film they miss. Fifteen stops from the Do-Re-Mi steps to the gate of Nonnberg Abbey, in the order I walk them. Two to four hours, depending on how many scenes you re-enact.
