Mönchsberg
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The Mönchsberg, at above sea level, is one of five mountains in the city of Salzburg in
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 ...
. It flanks the western side of Salzburg's historic city centre, and forms part of the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is named after the
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monks of St Peter's Abbey at the northern foot of the mountain.


Geology

The Mönchsberg shapes Salzburg's historic townscape with its long drawn back consisting of conglomerate (''Nagelfluh''). The
massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
is a solidified river crushed stone, deposed as a delta into the interglacial see (Mindel-Riss Interglacial), which was not cleared away thereafter by the glaciers protected from the hard limestone of the adjacent Festungsberg and so remained. Water ingressing into numerous bursts and cleavages can lead to falling stones and demolition of whole rock sections: in the early morning of 16 July 1669 tons of rock fell off the mountain onto the ''Gstättengasse'' street below, killing about 230 citizens in their sleep and destroying two churches, a seminary and 13 houses. Since then the office of a ''Bergputzer'' (mountain inspector) has existed, filled by mountaineers who since 1778 annually dispose of loose rocks on a regular basis, and examine the condition of the mountain surface. Thus new disasters are prevented.


History

Driven into the walls of rock above of the St Peter's Cemetery, established about 700, are Early Christian hermitages, called ''Katakomben'' (catacombs), which however never were funeral places. Between 1137 and 1143, the
Archbishop of Salzburg The Archdiocese of Salzburg (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church centered in Salzburg, Austria. It is also the principal diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian ...
had the ''Stiftsarm'' branch of the tunnelled through the mountain, in order to lead the waters into the city. This early
adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) or stulm is a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage to an underground mine. Miners can use adits for access, drainage, ventilation, and extracting minerals at the lowest convenient level. Adits are a ...
system can be visited during the annual ''Almabkehr'' in September. The ''
Sigmundstor The Sigmundstor, often still known as the Neutor, is a road tunnel in Salzburg that also forms one of the city gates of the historic Altstadt Salzburg, Altstadt. It connects the Altstadt with the Riedenburg quarter through the Mönchsberg mountain ...
'' (colloquially ''Neutor'') city gate, a long tunnel with elaborate
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
portals, was built from 1764 to 1766 through the mountain at the behest of Archbishop
Sigismund von Schrattenbach Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form ...
; it is today one of the oldest street tunnels in Central Europe. Large
air-raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...
s in the mountain were built during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After 1970 some of these were enlarged to an underground car park for more than 1400 vehicles.


Mönchsberg today

The Mönchsberg plateau offers a small-scale change of forests and meadows and therefore is a popular local recreation area for the Salzburg citizens and tourists. Castles on the Mönchsberg include: * The Johannesschlössl, rebuilt by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau around 1590, since 1926 a guest house of the Catholic
Pallotine The Pallottines, officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (), abbreviated SAC, is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman Catholic priest Vincent Pallotti, ...
order. * The archiepiscopal Marketenderschlössl, also held by the Pallottines and since 1960 a study centre run by the
University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...
, California * Schloss Mönchstein, which had been held by the Benedictine
University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...
, has been a hotel since 1948. * The Kupelwieserschlössl, where the Austrian writer
Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrians, Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has ...
lived from 1979 to 1988. He described a walk over the Mönchsberg in his novella ''Nachmittag eines Schriftstellers'' (“afternoon of a writer”). Furthermore several historic fortifications offer panoramic views over the city, to the
Untersberg The Untersberg is the northernmost massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps, a prominent spur straddling the border between Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The highest peak of the Table (landform), table-top mountain is the Berchtesgadener ...
, the
Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (, ) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Lan ...
and the
Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...
mountains: * The Richterhöhe, which makes an excellent prospect on the south of the city and the mountain chain of the alps behind it. The fort structures are documented were first documented in 1278. Prince-archbishop Paris von Lodron strengthened it during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
. * The Bürgerwehr was established about 1487/88 with 4 towers as part of the city walls and was extended with another 4 towers after 1500. * The Müllner Schanze with the military towers of the Augustinerpforte and Monikapforte were built by Archbishop Paris von Lodron in the years 1621 to 1644 as a three-step fortress and a part of the new city wall. * The Humboldtterrasse, a fortification structure also erected under Paris von Lodron, offers a unique panorama toward the Salzburg old town. It was originally called ''Klausenkavalier'' and is today named after
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
, who allegedly once called the areas of Salzburg,
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
the “most beautiful on earth”. * The top of the Mönchsberg since 2004 is the second location of the Salzburg Museum of Modern Art. It used to be the site of the Grand Café Winkler, a popular restaurant destination, and the Salzburg Casino. Since 1890 visitors can reach the place with an elevator in the mountain. The panorama terrace adjacent to the museum is a much visited point with a view all over the old town. Not only due to Peter Handke's stay, the Mönchsberg is frequently called the “mountain of writers”: It plays a significant role in the autobiographic work of
Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...
, but often not in the positive sense: he referred to it as "the suicide mountain". The Austrian author Gerhard Amanshauser also was among the inhabitants of the Mönchsberg. In his autobiography “as a barbarian in the Prater” the mountain and the near Festungsberg are important.


Mountains of Salzburg

The other mountains in
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 ...
are: *
Kapuzinerberg Kapuzinerberg is a hill on the eastern bank of the Salzach river in the Salzburg, city of Salzburg in Austria, which rises to an elevation of . It is located to the north of Altstadt Salzburg, Salzburg's historic city centre, and forms part of th ...
* Rainberg * Festungsberg * Hellbrunner Berg


Literature in German

* Katrin Hauer: ''Der Bergsturz des Mönchsbergs in der Stadt Salzburg von 1669. Wahrnehmung, Deutung und Bewältigung'', in: Historische Sozialkunde, Themenheft 2/2008: Naturkatastrophen (Hg. Christian Rohr), Wien 2008, 21-31. * Reinhard Medicus: ''Der Mönchsberg in Natur- und Kulturgeschichte'', in: Der Gardist - Jahresschrift der Bürgergarde der Stadt Salzburg, 23. Jahrgang, 2003 * Reinhard Medicus: ''Die Felsen des Mönchsbergs und ihre Geschichte'', in: Bastei - Zeitschrift für die Erhaltung von Bauten Kultur und Gesellschaft, 53. Jahrgang, 3. Folge, Salzburg, 2004 * Reinhard Medicus: ''Dreißigjähriger Krieg und Müllner Schanze - Rekonstruktion einer Wehranlage '', in: Bastei - Zeitschrift für die Erhaltung von Bauten Kultur und Gesellschaft, 54. Jahrgang, 1. Folge, Salzburg, 2005 * Reinhard Medicus: ''Die alte Bürgerwehr am Mönchsberg und ihre Geschichte'', in: Bastei - Zeitschrift für die Erhaltung von Bauten Kultur und Gesellschaft, 53. Jahrgang, 2. Folge, Salzburg, 2004


References

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