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Salzburg, music wafts through a very Catholic city
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff Salzburg, Austria
For many Americans of a certain age, enduring
images of Salzburg came to them via The Sound of Music,
Hollywoods version of the von Trapp family, set in this picturesque
Austrian city. While the movie that made Julie Andrews a star was actually a
flop in Austria -- cut a bit too close to ambivalence over the war years, many
say -- music remains a defining characteristic of life here.
Located on the banks of the Salzach River, the city was founded by
the Romans in A.D. 15 as a trading center for the regions rich salt
deposits (Salzburg means Salt City). But Salzburg today depends on
tourists, not white gold.
It is as the birthplace of Mozart and home to a world-renowned
summer music festival that this city of 140,000 draws millions of visitors each
year.
What the tourist agencies do not emphasize, what reveals itself
only after spending a bit of time here, is how deeply and profoundly Catholic
Salzburg is, perhaps as much as any place in Europe.
This is the oldest archdiocese in the German-speaking world and
among the oldest anywhere. Catholicism is deeply in the marrow -- even the best
beer garden in town is run by Augustinian monks.
The Catholic legacy stretches all the way back to the Roman era.
There are catacombs in Salzburg, the only place north of the Alps that has
them. They were built under St. Maximus in the 300s as a place to hide during
the waves of Germanic invasions.
Standing in the catacombs today, one can look out a small window
and gaze upon the glittering baroque Salzburg Cathedral, built by a string of
immensely rich and powerful prince-archbishops -- and reflect on how much
change in Christianity is reflected in just the few hundred yards separating
the two sites.
St. Rupert re-founded Salzburg in 696, with the goal of bringing
Christianity back to the population. He created a monastery for men, St.
Peters, and an abbey for women, called Nonnberg. Run by the Benedictines
since the 900s, Nonnberg is the oldest continually operating religious
community for women in the world. Nonnberg is the answer to a trivia question:
It was actresses playing these nuns who warbled How Do You Solve a
Problem Like Maria? in The Sound of Music.
Salzburg was for most of its history an independent city-state,
governed with absolute authority by its prince-archbishop; only in 1803 did it
lose that status. It was not made part of Austria until 1816. It is probably no
surprise, therefore, that the archbishops residence is one of the most
magnificent buildings in the city. Its glittering state rooms are the most
magnificent anywhere outside Versailles, France, people say, and are still used
for official Austrian functions.
The archbishop himself moved across the street to a more modest
facility in the 1800s.
Speaking of archbishops, its easy to see why people in a
place like Salzburg have a hard time taking members of the hierarchy seriously
when they get too full of themselves. Like anyone whos been around long
enough, Salzburgers know which skeletons are in whose closet.
The Mirabell Garden is a case in point. One of the loveliest spots
in the city, it was designed by the famed Austrian architect Fischer von
Erlach. It contains beautiful terraces, a theater and a magnificent collection
of statues depicting figures from Greek mythology. Salzburgers also know the
story behind the garden: It was built by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau
(1587-1611) for his mistress/wife, Salome Alt.
The archbishop wanted the 10 children Alt bore him to have a place
to play. Raitenau was apparently so madly in love with Alt that he ordered one
of his priests to marry them secretly, claiming to have a dispensation from the
pope.
Given memories like that, it is no doubt especially difficult for
people here to tolerate talk of how clerical celibacy is essential for the life
of the church.
The signature structure of Salzburg is the Hohensalzburg Fortress,
which looms over the skyline. It was built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard and
boasts the distinction of having been besieged but never breached.
What the guidebooks dont say, of course, is that most of
those sieges involved the archbishop being attacked by his own people demanding
more food, lower taxes and greater freedom. They never really had the munitions
to do any serious damage, one reason why Hohensalzburg is the best-preserved
medieval fortress in Europe.
Austria was on the front lines of the Counter Reformation; at one
point three-quarters of the population was Lutheran. Through a combination of
Jesuit evangelization and imperial force-of-arms, the country again became
largely Catholic. But Salzburg, under the iron hand of its archbishop, always
stayed firmly in the Catholic camp, and it is here that the self-confidence and
expressiveness produced by the Counter Reformation exploded in stone.
The Salzburg Cathedral, known here simply as The Dome,
is perhaps the most remarkable baroque edifice outside St. Peters
Cathedral in Rome. The Salzburg cathedral can hold 10,000 people. Its altar
work and side chapels are considered by art experts some of the finest
anywhere. The cupola dates from 1959 and replaces one damaged by Allied bombs
in 1944.
The cathedral is just one example of Salzburgs stunning
church architecture. Theres the Franciscan Church, and the University
Church, and St. Peters, and Dreifaltigkeitskirche (the Church of the Holy
Trinity), and on and on -- a gaggle of spires and flying arches, all within
easy walking distance of one another, and each breathtaking. Salzburg is, quite
literally, an inspiring city. Its an astonishing expression
of Catholicity, a reminder of the time when there was one priest here for every
16 people.
While its easy to see why Austrians might feel stifled under
the weight of all that tradition, it also has an undeniable power and appeal,
especially for American Catholics -- for whom any structure that predates
Vatican II can be considered august.
Salzburg is thus a microcosm of the Catholic past, evidence
certainly of the very human qualities of the people entrusted with guarding the
faith, but also of the beauty and sacrifice that faith can call forth. Even a
good bit of the hauntingly beautiful music that today keeps Salzburg going --
such as the Requiem Mass by the citys favorite son, Mozart --
was inspired by Catholicism. In that sense, spending some time in Salzburg,
soaking in the past that hangs in the air almost like a fog, is a good exercise
for reformers.
One is reminded here that in the urgent task of embracing
tomorrow, there is much from yesterday that should not be forgotten.
National Catholic Reporter, November 6,
1998
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