Stadt Salzburg

Notable People

Joseph Mohr

Father Joseph Mohr met Anna Schoiber during his training with the Archbishop's Army in Salzburg. Son Joseph Mohr was the illegitimate child from this relationship. According to the entry in the baptismal register of the cathedral parish, Joseph Mohr was baptized in the cathedral on December 11, 1792.

Children born out of wedlock were given the surname of their father under Salzburg law. In a survey by the authorities, unmarried mothers had to provide precise information about the origins of their pregnancy and pay a fine as an apology. From the fornification protocols kept, it can be seen that the unmarried Anna Schoiber gave birth to a total of four illegitimate children from different fathers, Joseph Mohr was the third.

According to the 1794 census, the one-and-a-half-year-old Joseph Mohr lived with his 36 year old mother Anna Schoiber, his 64 year old widowed grandmother Maria Schoiber, his three year old cousin, Theresia Schoiber and his seven year old half-sister Klara Kregg in the house, 31 Steingasse. The census of 1794 does not allow any conclusions that the house at 31 Steingasse was the birthplace of Joseph Mohr or the permanent home of the family. If Mohr had been born in Steingasse, he would have had to be baptized in the then Andräkirche in Linzergasse and not in the cathedral.


Museums, memorials, events

‘Silent Night 200’

On September 29, 2018, the special exhibition "Silent Night 200th History, Message, Present" was opened in the Salzburg Museum. This was part of the decentralized state exhibition "200 Years of Silent Night", in which a total of nine Silent Night communities in Salzburg, Upper Austria and Tyrol participated.


Local Community - Salzburg City

The first signs of a settlement within today's city limits come from the Neolithic period. The first permanent settlement dates from the time of the Celts and was established in 15 BC, expanded by the Romans to the city of Juvavum.

Around 700 Bishop Rupert von Worms founded the St. Peter monastery. In 739, Salzburg became a diocese, in 798 an archdiocese and in 774, the Irish bishop Virgil inaugurated the first cathedral. The name Salzburg has been documented since 755. Construction of the Hohensalzburg Fortress began in 1077. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Salzburg experienced its second heyday after that of the late Middle Ages. The Prince Archbishops Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Markus Sittikus and Paris Lodron transformed the medieval city into a baroque jewel.

The Salzburg Festival was founded in 1920 and in 1997 the old town was declared a World Heritage Site.

Stadtansicht Salzburg Tourismus Salzburg

Stadt Salzburg (c) Tourismus Salzburg

Christkindlmarkt Salzburg Salzburger Land Tourismus

Christkindlmarkt Salzburg (c) SalzburgerLand Tourismus

Joseph Mohr in the City of Salzburg

Joseph Mohr was born on 11 December 1792 in the city of Salzburg in the area of Dompfarre (cathedral parish). He was the illegitimate son of the embroiderer Anna Schoiber from Hallein and the soldier Franz Mohr from Mariapfarr in Lungau. His birth house is unknown.

For a long time it was assumed to be the building in Steingasse 9 next to the Kapuzinerberg staircase. Mohr’s residence during his school years is also unknown.

The existing infrastructure in music and school education made it easier for gifted boys from the urban underclass to take up education. Joseph Mohr, the lyricist of “Silent Night” received this opportunity and began preparing for theological studies in 1803 shortly before the end of the sovereign ecclesiastical principality of Salzburg.

(Source Silent Night Travel Guide for Salzburg, Upper Austria, Bavaria and Tyrol, Article of Mag. Renate Ebeling-Winkler). Download www.stillenacht.at

SALZBUR Gsteingasse wohnhaus03

Haus Steingasse 31, Stadt Salzburg Wohnort von Joseph Mohr um 1794 (c) Stille Nacht Gesellschaft, Kathrin Gollackner

Stadtansicht Salzburg Tourismus Salzburg

Stadt Salzburg (c) Tourismus Salzburg

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