| January 2005 • Volume 25 • Number 1 • The Meeting Professional |
Showcase Destinations Salzburg, Austria: The Sound of Meetings
By Ian Sclater
"Welcome to Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”
The flight attendant’s announcement left no doubt as to whose town this was as the aircraft touched down on an emerald green plain (the bed of an ancient lake) dotted with cuckoo clock chalets and cradled by a shark’s jaw of jagged Alpine mountain peaks.
The maestro and his birthplace are forever linked. Mozart is everywhere: on the sides of buses, on branded souvenirs, on life-sized cardboard cutouts outside confectionery shops enticing passers-by with the famous Mozart-kugeln (chocolate balls) featuring his portrait on gilt wrappers. Even Salzburg’s airport (W.A. Mozart) is named after him. With a yearlong musical celebration planned for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth in 2006, interest in the great com-poser is only increasing among locals and visitors.
The city is also famous for the classic musical The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews, and many of Salzburg’s landmarks are instantly recognizable to fans of the film. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the film’s release.
Salzburg isn’t popular only with tourists, however. The city boasts a strong meetings infrastructure that
can accommodate many group sizes and types.
ORIENTATION
The Old City—a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site—comprises a charming cluster of Baroque buildings watched over by the magnifi- cent medieval Hohensalzburg
Festung (fortress).
Most of the attractions are within strolling distance of each other, with a short walk over the Salzach River necessary to visit the Mirabell Gardens and Palace. A brisk walk up the Kapuzinerberg—named after the Capuchin monastery that still stands there—offers a spectacular city panorama.
WHAT TO SEE
No visit to Salzburg is complete without a pilgrimage to the birthplace of its favorite son. Mozart was born
on Jan. 27, 1756, in the bright ochre-coloured building at 9 Getreidegasse. Today, the family’s third-floor apartment and second floor are a thriving museum with a shop selling Mozart memorabilia.
For a bird’s eye view of the town and surrounding area, head for the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the oldest preserved citadel in central Europe. It is reached by a funicular railway or by foot from the Old City—the latter approach best re-vealing the soaring vertical rock base. Even on an overcast day, its white walls seem to gleam from within. Wandering around its inner courtyards is like strolling through the past, while the display rooms hold a fascinating collection of fearsome weaponry, religious artifacts, furnishings, panelings and carvings.
The small but densely populated Monastery of Saint Peter cemetery is a touching and mystical scene. A small forest of headstones and wrought iron grave markers are decorated with gilt facings, painted Madonnas, crucifixions, cherubs and photographs of the deceased. Older remains are entombed in catacombs cut into the limestone rock face.
The city’s largest open space houses the Mirabell Gardens, which have remained virtually unchanged since 1730. Fountains and a series of statues based on classical mythology and an unobstructed view of the fortress make a stroll here a delightful experience. A curious feature is the Dwarf Garden, with its grotesque marble statues that served as Renaissance-era reminders of the world’s imperfections and deformities.
Today housing the city’s administration offices and library, the Mirabell Palace still shows numerous touches of its former opulence as an archbishop’s country house. The magnificent Angel Staircase is adorned with carved cherubs, and the first floor Marble Hall is a spectacular event venue.
FOOD AND DRINK
There is no really authentic Salzburg cuisine (or even Austrian, for that matter), but meat figures prominently. Two local specialities not to miss are käsesuppe (cheese soup) and a feather-light soufflé dessert called Salzburger Nockerl.
First mentioned in the year 803 on the occasion of a visit by the Emperor Charlemagne, the Stiftskeller Saint Peter is central Europe’s oldest documented restaurant. Hewn out of the limestone cliff that protects Salzburg from the westerly winds coming off the Alps, the restaurant can accommodate up to 800 in 12 rooms. Go for a Mozart lunch concert (two courses with opera singer/concert pianist duo) or a candlelit dinner concert (three courses, a five-piece ensemble and two singers) in the Baroque Hall, and select from menus based on recipes from Mozart’s time.
The Hotel Goldener Hirsch (Golden Stag, established 1407) boasts two fine restaurants with very different atmospheres. The main dining room offers haute cuisine and is a favourite rendezvous among well-heeled patrons of the nearby Festival halls. The less formal Herzl (Little Heart)—where the staff wears traditional dress—is popular with locals.
For Salzburg’s most intimate dinner setting, the Hotel Schloss Mönchstein has perhaps the world’s smallest restaurant: a room in the top of the castle tower seating two or four and with the service of a per-sonal butler.
Beer lovers will want to taste Stiegl, a refreshing local lager brewed just outside town. Stiegl’s Brauwelt (World of Brewing) is open to the public.
SHOPPING
Salzburg’s main shopping thoroughfare, the Getreidegasse, is renowned for the guilded signs that hang outside almost every store depicting the merchandise for sale inside. Alleyways lead off the main street into inner courtyards with a variety of gift shops.
Probably the most popular Salzburg souvenirs are the aforementioned Mozart-kugeln. Legally, Café Fürst is the only outlet permitted to call theirs “original,” as the framed newspaper article in the shop
window proudly proclaims.
Incredibly for a city whose reputation is based squarely on music, there is only one CD store in Salzburg’s Old City. Kakholnegg has a huge selection, with an emphasis on classical and jazz.
MUST SEE AND DO
Visitors should buy Salzburg Cards, which offer free admission to all attractions, plus unlimited use of public transportation.
Attend a Salzburger Festungskonzert,
an atmospheric evening of chamber music amid the magnificently musty smell of antiquity in the Princes Hall of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. Try to catch the accom- plished Hungarian-born pianist Viktoria Benyi, soloist with the Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
Browse the light-flooded galleries of the recently opened Rupertinum Museum of Modern Art, which has works by Austrian greats such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. The museum is reached by a lift from Gestättengasse.
Visitors can see famous film locations
on The Original Sound of Music Tour with Panorama Tours or watch the world go by from one of Salzburg’s famous cafes: Café Glockenspiel, Café Tomaselli or Café Bazar.
They can also sip cocktails on the roof terrace of the riverside Stein Hotel (with so-close-you-could-almost-touch-it views of the Old City) or hook up with a licensed guide for a half-day walking tour for a lively insight into Salzburg’s history and traditions that no guide book can offer.
MEETINGS
The 161,000-square-foot Salzburg Congress Center, which opened in 2001, is the city’s premier facility. It consists of a main hall, a middle hall and up to 15 additional, flexible meeting rooms. Additionally, there are 1,200 guest rooms within walking distance of the center, including the Sheraton Salzburg Hotel (which is attached to the center) and The Crowne Plaza Salzburg - The Pitter.
The Sheraton Salzburg Hotel has 3,600 square feet of meeting space spread through four rooms that can accommodate up to 130 delegates. The hotel is also the exclusive caterer for the Salzburg Congress Center.
Adjacent to the Mirabell Gardens and opposite the center, The Crowne Plaza Salzburg - The Pitter features 187 guest rooms and suites, 5,000 square feet of meeting space and seven function rooms equipped with the latest technical capabilities.
For large-scale events, the Salzburg Arena is the city’s biggest multipurpose venue, with seating for more than 6,800 and an exhibition area of 28,500 square feet.
Planners may also wish to consider basing their meetings out of town in the calm of the surrounding countryside. Options include the Salzburg St. Virgil, a self-described oasis in the city; the Alpinseminar, 40 miles south in the ski resort of Zauchensee with its exhilarating mountain setting; and the ArabellaSheraton Hotel Jagdhof, set in a 15-acre wooded park above beautiful Lake Fuschlsee and only 20 minutes by car from Salzburg.
TMP
IAN SCLATER is a freelance writer
Salzburg By the Numbers
Meeting Facilities: Salzburg Congress Center (161,000 square feet), Thermen Congress Bad Gastein (48,700 square feet), Salzburg Arena (28,500 square feet), Renaissance Salzburg Hotel Congress Center (18,300 square feet), Kultur- und Kongresshaus Am Dom (11,300 square feet), ArabellaSheraton Hotel Jagdhof (8,900 square feet), Schloss Leopoldskron (8,900 square feet), Castellani
Pakhotel Salzburg (6,000 square feet), Dorint Salzburg (5,600 square feet), Crowne Plaza Salzburg - The Pitter (5,000 square feet), Sheraton Salzburg
Hotel (3,600 square feet)
Getting Started
Austrian National Tourist Office
www.austria-tourism.biz/us
Salzburg Convention Bureau
www.salzburgcb.com
Your MPI Connection for Salzburg
Didier Scaillet
Director of European Operations
and Global Development
MPI European Office
15, Route de Grundhof
L-6315 Beaufort
Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
+352-2687-6141
dscaillet@mpiweb.org
What’s New in
Salzburg?
• The new amadeus terminal 2, scheduled to open at Salzburg’s W.A. Mozart
Airport in May, will come equipped
with its own meeting space suitable for groups of up to 1,500. Learn more at www.amadeus-terminal2.com.