Bürglstein

The Bürglstein is a cliff of the Kapuzinerberg and often considered to be the smallest of the Stadtberge of Salzburg, the city hills. The Bürglstein is also sometimes considered to be the northern-most outskirt of the Northern Calciferous Alps, alongside with the Nockstein cliff; the Kapuzinerberg, the Festungsberg and the Kühberg. Whilst this might be geologically remarkable, most visitors don′t pay much attention to the rock.

It is situated near Schloss Arenberg; in fact, in its park. There are paths along and up the Bürglstein. Its golden days, however, fall into the years around the 1830ies. Back then, the owner of the Bürglsteingut (today′s Arenberg palace) was a man called Josef Rosenegger. He discovered Roman artefacts and a cemetery on the Bürglstein; back then it was already known that Salzburg was built on the site of a previous Roman city called Iuvavum. But these were the days of Romanticism and people got excited about the findings.

Story of teh Bürglstein Fraud

Rosenegger gradually dug up more and more and cleverly started exhibitions that drew international attention. The famous painter Michael Sattler painted the site (and made it look like a scenery storage room of a Roman theatre) as well as a portrait of Rosenegger himself. Rosenegger soon started to sell Roman artefacts from the Bürglstein; even Ludwig I, King of Bavaria and great admirer of Salzburg (he helped funding the Mozart memorial) purchased some of them in 1833 and 1837.

Only a few years later archaeologists discovered that many of the findings were in fact reproductions: Rosenegger had them made once he had run out of "real" artefacts. Much of the authentic collection from the Bürglstein can be seen in the Salzburg Museum. The Bürglstein itself is only partly accessible for the general public; its base is already part of the park of Schloss Arenberg.

Hidden Treasures of Salzburg

Links

http://www.salzburg.com/wiki/index.php/B%C3%BCrglstein
Bürglstein on SalzburgWIki (German!)


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