Hohensalzburg Fortress (German: Festung Hohensalzburg, lit. 'High Salzburg Fortress') is a large medieval fortress in the city of Salzburg, Austria. It sits atop the Festungsberg mountain at an altitude of 506 m. It was erected at the behest of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg. The fortress is 250 m (820 ft) long and 150 m (490 ft) wide making it one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
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00:00Hohensalzburg Fortress, German, Festung Hohensalzburg, lit.
00:13High Salzburg Fortress, is a large medieval fortress in the city of Salzburg, Austria.
00:19It sits atop the Festungsberg mountain at an altitude of 506 meters.
00:23It was erected at the behest of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg.
00:27The fortress is 250 meters long and 150 meters wide making it one of the largest medieval
00:33castles in Europe.
00:35Archaeological excavations have shown that a Roman fort existed at the highest point
00:39of the site.
00:40This should not be confused with the more significant Roman Castrum Superius on the
00:44Nauberg Terrace.
00:47Construction of the current fortress began in 1077 under Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein.
00:53The original design was a basic bailey with a wooden wall.
00:56In the Holy Roman Empire, the archbishops of Salzburg were already powerful political
01:01figures and they expanded the fortress to protect their interests.
01:06Helfenstein's conflict with Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy influenced
01:10the expansion of the fortress.
01:13With the archbishop taking the side of Pope Gregory VII and the German anti-king Rudolf
01:17of Rheinfelden.
01:19The fortress was gradually expanded during the following centuries.
01:23The ring walls and towers were built in 1462 under Prince Archbishop Burkhardt II von Weispriach.
01:30Prince Archbishop Leonard von Kutschach further expanded the fortress during his term from
01:341495 until 1519.
01:37His coadjutor Matthias Lang von Wellenberg, who was later to succeed Leonard.
01:43In 1515 wrote a description of the Reischig, a very early and primitive funicular railway
01:48that provided freight access to the upper courtyard of the fortress.
01:52The line still exists, albeit in updated form, and is probably the oldest operational
01:57railway in the world.
01:59The current external bastions, begun in the 16th century and completed in the 17th, were
02:05added as a precaution because of fears of Turkish invasion.
02:08The only time that the fortress came under siege was during the German Peasants' War
02:12in 1525, when a group of miners, farmers, and townspeople tried to oust Prince Archbishop
02:19Matthias Lang, but failed to take the fortress.
02:22In 1617 the deposed Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Ratenau died in the fortress prison.
02:29During the Thirty Years' War, Archbishop Count Paris of Lodron strengthened the town's defences,
02:34including Hohensalzburg.
02:36He added various parts to the fortress, such as the gunpowder stores and additional gatehouses.
02:42The fortress was surrendered without a fight to French troops under General Jean-Victor
02:46Marie Moreau during the Napoleonic War of the Second Coalition in 1800 and the last
02:50Prince Archbishop Count Hieronymus von Colorado fled to Vienna.
02:55In the 19th century, it was used as barracks, storage depot and dungeon before being abandoned
03:01as a military outpost in 1861.
03:04Hohensalzburg Fortress was refurbished from the late 19th century onwards and became a
03:08major tourist attraction with the Festungsbahn funicular railway, opened in 1892.
03:15Standing up from the town to the Hasengrabenbäste, it stands today as one of the best preserved
03:19castles in Europe.
03:21During the early 20th century it was used as a prison, holding Italian prisoners of
03:26war during World War I and Nazi activists before Germany annexed Austria in March 1938.
03:32German ceramicist, sculptor, and painter Arno Lehmann lived and created in Hohensalzburg
03:38Fortress from 1949 until he died in 1973.
03:42Hohensalzburg Fortress was selected as the main motif for the Austrian Nürnberg Abbey
03:47commemorative coin minted on April 5, 2006.
03:51This was the first coin of the series, Great Abbeys of Austria.
03:55It shows the Benedictine convent of Nürnberg Abbey.
03:58In the hilltop on the background, the fortress and the Kahadiner Church can be seen.
04:03Also in 1977, the Austrian Mint issued a coin for the 900th anniversary of Hohensalzburg
04:09Fortress.
04:11That is all.
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