Liz and I have decided that Salzburg is one of our most favorite places in Europe to visit.  Salzburg is a beautiful clean city with a historically rich past dating back to Roman times.  Not to mention that Salzburg is the birth place of Mozart. We were in Salzburg for three days as part of a train tour through Germany, Austria, and Hungary.  I was interested in making a point of seeing the Salzburg Stier (Bull) Organ since I remember seeing it being restored in the Utrecht Speelklok Museum shop many years ago.  The organ is actually perched high up on top of the wall of the Fortress Hoensalzburg in a wooden shed next to the chapel steeple.  The fortress itself is a must place to visit taking at least four hours to accomplish.  Getting up into the fortress itself is an adventure.  After all, it was not intended to be easy.  Looking at the fortress on the right side, at the bottom of the outer wall, the tracks of an inclined cable car or funicular can be seen.  Making your way to the bottom of the funicular tracks a ticket is to be purchased for the round trip ride on the funicular and free access into the fortress.  At the top of the funicular you will find that you are not there yet.  There is an up hill walk to get around to the main entrance into the outer courtyard.  From the courtyard there are some steps leading up to the entrance to the guided tour (part of the ticket price) where you are given a speaker box in the language of your choice.  The tour is extensive taking you all around, in and out, and up and down many spiral stair steps inside the fortress.  At one point the tour takes you to the top of one of the many towers that gives a full panoramic view of Salzburg.  The end of the tour takes you down a long dark tunnel to a door with a window through which the Mechanical Organ Salzburg Bull can be seen.  The rest of your time is spent on your own viewing the many rooms, museum exhibits, and, of course, souvenir shops and restaurants.  Make sure to see the Golden Room and the Bishops Bedroom to get an idea of opulent medieval life.  For a better understanding of the fortress history look for a copy of, the reasonably priced, guide book “Top Spot Guide Fortress Hoensalzburg”.

Mike Barnhart