The Getreidegasse is one of the oldest and most important trade streets in Salzburg’s old town. Easily recognizable because of the unique old wrought-iron guild signs that hang on the facades of the houses, it has been the most famous shopping street in the city since the beginning of the Salzburger Festspiele in the 1920s. It is also the street where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and lived until he was 16 years old.
Today it is difficult to walk down the Getreidegasse without having to fight your way through crowds of tourists looking for Mozart souvenirs and taking selfies in front of the famous yellow Mozart Geburtshaus at Getreidegasse No. 9. But in Mozart’s day, the street was bustling with merchants selling their wares as they traveled through Europe.
The street also had permanent businesses and residents, many of whom the Mozarts were associated with. Friends and acquaintances including the Schidenhofens and the Hafners also lived nearby.
In this final episode of Mozart Snapshots, Katie takes a trip down memory lane on the street where Mozart lived and ends on a high note in conversation with renowned operatic tenor and artistic director of the International Mozart Foundation, Rolando Villazón.
See all episodes of Katie's Mozart Snapshots, where she walks in the footsteps of Mozart in his hometown of Salzburg.
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