Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Salzburg in Austria. The cathedral now visible at the Residenzplatz is not the first church on that site. The history of Salzburg Cathedral dates back to 774, when the first basilica was completed. A fire in 1127, caused during the casting of the bells, destroyed a large part of the city. However, the second church was also destroyed by fire. This took place in 1167 by order of Emperor Barbarossa. During a fire in 1312, the heat was so intense that the church bells melted. The church was rebuilt for the fourth time. However, this Romanesque cathedral burned down completely in 1598 and was replaced in 1611 by the current Baroque church, which was completed in 1628. The church was commissioned by Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich and designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi and Santino Solari. However, construction did not begin until the reign of Prince-Archbishop Marcus Sitticus. The cathedral is dedicated to the missionaries Rupert and Virgil. The 71-meter-high dome was struck by an aerial bomb during the Second World War on October 16, 1944, causing it to collapse. Restoration of the cathedral began after the war.

One of the means of raising the amount required for the restoration was the issuance of a series of surcharge stamps. A series of eight appeared on August 6, 1948. The designer of the stamps was S. Jahn. The designs were developed by various etchers for intaglio printing. The 1 Shilling stamp depicts the cathedral in the city center with a view of Hohensalzburg Fortress from the year 1077 above it.

The oldest building in Salzburg is the Benedictine abbey Stift Sankt Peter, founded in the year 696. Part of the abbey is depicted on the 60 Grosschen stamp. The abbey's dome was built much later, in 1622, and was heightened in 1757. To the left of the dome, the tower of the late Gothic Chapel of St. Margaret can be seen. On the horizon of the stamp, another dome is visible. This belongs to the University Church and was built between 1694 and 1707.

Salzburg Cathedral from different viewpoints is depicted on the 30 and 50 Grosschen stamps. The 30 Grosschen stamp features an image of the Residenz fountain, which was built between 1656 and 1661 commissioned by Bishop Guidobald Thun. The fountain is 15 meters high and the largest Baroque fountain north of the Alps. The 50 Grosschen stamp shows the Kapitelplatz, where a fountain can also be found.

The Baroque-style facade of the Cathedral consists of three floors, decorated at the top with Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns. Statues of the four evangelists are placed on the balustrade of the first floor. In front of them stands a statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue was created between 1766 and 1771 by the Hagenauer brothers. In front of the Cathedral lies the Domplatz, an impressive square surrounded by colonnades. Archbishop Guidobald Thun commissioned Giovanni Antonio Dario to build the cathedral columns around 1660. The facade and the statue of Mary are depicted on the 40 Grosschen postage stamp.

The cathedral is 122 meters long, 48 meters wide, and 32 meters high. The interior is richly decorated with marble, stucco, and frescoes. Among the treasures of Salzburg Cathedral are, in addition to the pewter baptismal font in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized, the magnificent main organ. As court organist and concertmaster, Mozart composed church music for Salzburg and the cathedral. The main altar is the centerpiece of the cathedral.

The Pacher Madonna is depicted on the 1 Shilling and 40 Grosschen stamp. The statue was designed by Michael Pacher and completed shortly before his death in 1498. The statue stands in the Franciscan Church in Salzburg.

One of the saints, St. Rupert, is depicted on the 20 Grosschen stamp. He was the founder of Salzburg and the city's first bishop. He also gave the city its name due to the salt mining that took place there.

In addition to the series of stamps available at post offices in Austria, a souvenir shop in Salzburg also sold series pasted onto a sheet of cardboard-like paper and stamped with the Salzburg stamp. The amount of the surcharge was given to the restoration fund, the rest went to the seller. He had bought the series for 7 Shillings and 80 Grosschen each and sold the sheet with the pasted stamps for 10 Shillings. And both tourists and collectors gladly bought the stamps. Not because of the restoration, but because they were beautifully designed stamps with clear images that people actually recognized! Austrian stamps are therefore eagerly collected.