Anif is a municipality of Salzburg-Umgebung District in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Geography

It is located at the southern city limits of

. In the south, it borders on Hallein District. Anif is one of the smallest municipalities in the state of Salzburg by area. As of 2011, the population is 4,000. The grounds of Salzburg Zoo stretch from the gardens of Salzburg Hellbrunn Palace down to Anif.

History

''Ad anua Ecclesia'' ("Church near Aneeq") in the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...

was already mentioned in the 788 ''Congestum Arnonis'' register by Bishop

Arno of Salzburg Arno, Arn or Aquila (c. 750–821) was bishop of Salzburg, and afterwards its first archbishop. He preserved his voluminous correspondence from the scholar Alcuin of York. Early years He entered the church at an early age, and after passing ...

. The name is probably of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

origin and dates back to the

Hallstatt era The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

. For centuries the village belonged to the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

. The present-day St Oswald Church was supervised by the monks of St Peter's Abbey. Aneeq Castle, erected in the early 16th century, was rebuilt by Prince-Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun about 1693 and afterwards served as the summer residence of the Bishops of Chiemsee. Redesigned in a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style in the mid 19th century, it was the refuge of the deposed king

Ludwig III of Bavaria Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfred; 7 January 1845 – 18 October 1921) was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. Initially, he served in the Bavarian Army, Bavarian military as a lieutenant and went on to hold ...

during the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. The romantic palace became famous as a set of films like ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', ''

The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor epic slapstick comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross) and with music by Henr ...

'' (1965), and ''

The Odessa File ''The Odessa File'' is a thriller by English writer Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to discover the location of a former SS concentration-camp commander. The name ODESSA ...

'' (1974). It was also used as Cinderella's home in '' The Slipper and the Rose'' (1976). In 1782, the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

recorded from the ''Brixener Volksbuch'' a local tale about a peasant and a Wild-woman (''Wilde Frau''). Anif as a village became a municipality in its own right, when it with neighbouring Niederalm was separated from the village of

Grödig Grödig is a market town of Salzburg-Umgebung District in the state of Salzburg in Austria. Geography Grödig is located south of the Salzburg city limits in the historic ''Flachgau'' region, near the border with Bavaria, Germany. The market t ...

on 17 July 1884. Later on a third part was established, Neu Anif. Today Anif is one of the most affluent southern Salzburg suburbs. The main employer is a Sony DADC manufacturing plant at Niederalm.

Politics

Seats in the municipal council as of 2019 elections: *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP): 8 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ): 2 *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ): 1 *

The Greens – The Green Alternative The Greens – The Green Alternative (, ) is a green political party in Austria. The Greens currently sit in opposition. Formerly, they were part of the Schallenberg government, the Second Kurz government, and the Nehammer government. It won ...

: 1 *Unabhängige Liste KRÜ Gabi Gehmacher (KRÜ): 9

Twin towns — sister cities

Anif is twinned with: * Eppan an der Weinstraße,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Notable people

* Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989), conductor, lived and died in Anif and was buried here *

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

(born 1941 in Naples), conductor, lives in Anif *

Karl von Habsburg Karl von Habsburg (given names: ''Karl Thomas Robert Maria Franziskus Georg Bahnam''; born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian politician and the head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the former royal house of the defunct Austro-Hungarian thrones ...

(born 1961), grandson of last Austrian Emperor Karl I, lives in ''Swoboda Villa'', today called ''Casa Austria''.

Historical inns

* ''Kaiserhof'': first mentioned in the 15th century, today a hotel * ''Friesacher'': in the 16th century granted the right to serve beverages at the farmhouse ''Puechnergut'', today a well known hotel * ''Zum Husaren'': existing since 1877, the building itself had been established in 1645 * ''Schlosswirt'': building mentioned first time in 1380, since 1607 the licence to serve wine and beer

References

* ''Anif, Kultur, Geschichte und Wirtschaft von Anif, Niederalm und Neu-Anif'', Heinz Dopsch, Ewald Hiebl, 2003, 688 pages about the history of Anif, edition without an ISBN {{authority control Cities and towns in Salzburg-Umgebung District