Mozart´s Birthplace at Getreidegasse no. 9 (Salzburg´s pedestrian zone) is one of the most famous buildings in the city and probably one of the most famous in the world. Here, the Mozart family lived from 1747 to 1773 and the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. Today, the rooms once occupied by the Mozart family house a museum. The most famous exhibits include:
- Mozart´s childhood violin
- his concert violin
- the pianoforte (his clavichord)
- portraits and correspondence of the Mozart family.
The International Mozart Foundation first set up a museum in Mozart´s Birthplace in the early 1880´s. During the last few decades, the museum was renovated several times and has become a cultural site attracting thousands of visitors from around the world to Salzburg year after year.
The museum in Mozart´s Birthplace attracts thousands of visitors to Salzburg
The Mozart family lived on the third floor of the "Hagenauer House" for nearly a quarter century. The house was named after its owner and Mozart´s friend, the grocer Johann Lorenz Hagenauer (1712 - 1792), and consisted of a kitchen, a small chamber, a living room, bedroom and study. On exhibit in the historical rooms are manuscripts (facsimiles), documents, souvenirs and also the original portraits of the family members. For example such as the 1789 unfinished oil painting "Mozart at the Piano" by his brother-in-law Joseph Lange as well as the historical instruments (Mozart´s concert piano, clavichord, Mozart´s concert and child´s violin and his viola). The Mozarteum Foundation acquired Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart´s instruments from his widow Constanze Nissen (1762 - 1842) and her sons Carl Thomas (1784 - 1858) and Franz Xaver Wolfgang (1791 - 1844).
The museum shows many exhibits of the illustrious Salzburg Mozart family
In 1994, Mozart´s Birthplace was carefully renovated and reorganized by the Viennese architect Elsa Prochazka, according to state of the art museum technology to protect the exhibits from damage.
In 1985, the apartment of Mozart´s neighbor, Babette von Moll, the aunt of the famous Salzburg geologist and natural scientist Karl von Moll (1760 - 1838), located in the rear part of the house facing the university Square, was redecorated with private funds into a "commoner´s apartment in Salzburg in Mozart´s time". In addition to furniture and everyday utensils, three themes are documented:
- "Mozart and the university of Salzburg"
- "Mozart´s friendship to Salzburg families" and
- "Sacred music and reverence of the saints".
The second floor is dedicated to the theme "Mozart at the Theater". Numerous diorams (miniature stages) illustrate the history of the reception of Mozart´s operas. Stage sets from the late 18th to the 20th century display the many different interpretations of Mozart´s works. Since 1981, different "Mozart" exhibitions on the first floor of Mozart´s Birthplace have been presented each year.