1945 up to today
Salzburg, the modern tourism destination – from the post-war period to today
A clear economic and social upward trend was noticeable in the 1950’s. Many projects encouraged the development of social housings in areas that had been affected by bombings in the war. That way many prime examples of post-war architecture such as the Kurhaus or the Hotel Europe came into existence.
After the war Salzburg’s development to a cultural metropolis continued. The building of the Großes Festspielhaus created more capacities for the Salzburg festivals, which support the status of a cultural metropolis. In the 1960’s the musical film “The Sound of Music” became popular and a whole new tourism branch came into being. But there are also other German movies like “Im Weissen Rössl” or “Saison in Salzburg” which make Salzburg a tourist magnet.
In the matter of education Salzburg has unfolded its magnetic effect. After the Mozarteum was upgraded to a university the city became an internationally visited university town. The university includes all faculties and an aspiring conference business today.
In 1967 a law was passed to protect Salzburg’s old town. The rigorous monument conservation made a complete modernization of the historic centre impossible. Consequently the pedestrian zone kept growing and growing. Besides the old town became part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage in 1997 and is meanwhile protected by many automatic bollards.
The number of guest nights spend by visitors has grown constantly. In 2006 Salzburg registered 2.486.562 overnight stays; this equates 6.800 a day. But these numbers do not include the countless daily visitors who are especially in the summer months and the advent season populating the Mozart-town.
If you want to learn more about history, art and life in Salzburg take a look at some further sites on SalzburgPORTAL!