A museum of historic marionettes inside Hohensalzburg Fortress, housed in the former Feuergang where cannon barrels still line the stone walls. Included in the fortress ticket. The essential companion to a Salzburger Marionettentheater performance.
The Story
The room is called the Feuergang: the old gun deck of Hohensalzburg Fortress, where the stone walls still show the cannon housings. This is where Anton Aicher's marionette legacy is preserved.
Anton Aicher founded the Salzburger Marionettentheater in 1913 and opened the museum inside the fortress to house the original puppets and document the technique that made the theatre famous. The collection now holds approximately 500 wooden figures, each hand-carved from linden wood in the Aicher family workshop, displayed alongside stage sets, costumes, and a century of production documentation. A diorama of the 1525 Peasant Uprising is among the historical exhibits, because Aicher believed that art and history should stay connected.
The 12-string control system visible on the exhibited marionettes is the technique that earned the Salzburger Marionettentheater its UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status in 2016. Each string controls a different part of the body; the puppeteer works from a bridge two metres above the stage. Seeing the string architecture up close in the museum makes the live performance significantly more legible.
The fortress setting adds its own dimension. The cool stone of the Feuergang, the cannon remnants in the walls, and the dim display cases create a contrast between medieval military architecture and the delicate wooden performers inside.
Visiting
Inside Hohensalzburg Fortress, Mönchsberg 34. Included in fortress admission and Salzburg Card. No separate ticket needed. Hours follow fortress hours: typically 9:30am to 5pm, extended in summer. Allow 20 to 30 minutes as part of a fortress visit. Visit before attending a Salzburger Marionettentheater performance if possible. Reach the fortress by Festungsbahn funicular or on foot via Festungsgasse.