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SALZBURG

Volume 19 · 660 words · 1842 Edition

At present this district forms a circle of the Austrian province of Upper Ens, extending over 2836 square miles. It was formerly one of the most valuable of the independent ecclesiastical states of Germany, in the circle of Bavaria, under its own archbishop, whose revenues and dignity were of the highest class. It then contained sixteen cities, twenty-three market-towns, and 250,000 inhabitants. Owing to a severe persecution of the Protestants, which the archbishop instituted between 1729 and 1733, many of that religious party emigrated, and established themselves in other parts of Germany, and thereby the population was more than one third reduced; and those who had abandoned it were the most active portion of the community. During the French revolution, the country was secularized, and by the treaty of 1802 was, with Eichstadt, Berchtesgaden, and a part of Passau, given to the archduke of Austria, Ferdinand, as an indemnification for the loss of Tuscany. By the peace of Presburg in 1805, Salzburg was secured to the emperor of Austria, and Eichstadt, with Passau, ceded to Bavaria. The treaty of 1809 left Salzburg at the disposal of Napoleon, who, in 1810, transferred it to the kingdom of Bavaria; but by the general peace of 1815 it was again delivered over to the Austrian monarchy, of which it still forms a portion. It is a most romantically interesting country, very rich in the long valley through which the river Salza flows, and in the smaller valleys which proceed from it, especially on the southern side of that stream. On both sides of these valleys are lofty mountains, forming a part of the Noric Alps, whose tops, especially that of the Nockhorn, which is 10,380 feet in height, are covered with perpetual snow, and exhibit, like the Alps in Switzerland, the striking objects which attract such numerous visitors. There are various mines in the territory, the most prolific of which are those of rock-salt, which yield more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants. Formerly, several mines of gold were worked, and some of silver; but of late years that employment has been diminished, and applied to other subterranean objects. These are iron, arsenic, rock-crystal, marble, serpentine, saltpetre, cobalt, and asbestos. The iron is made into cutlery and other hardwares for domestic use, but no raw iron is exported. The circle yields flax and hemp, which, with the wool of their sheep, is spun and woven by the peasantry during the winter months, and converted by themselves into the necessary articles of clothing. The whole number of the inhabitants at present is 152,000.

a city, the capital of the Austrian circle of the same name. It stands on the beautiful valley of the Saltz, on both sides the river of that name, over which there is a Salzweidel bridge three hundred and seventy feet long and forty feet broad. The city is surrounded with walls, but the suburbs are more extensive and more elegant, and extend to a considerable distance, containing the best of the modern residences. The streets within the city are narrow and crooked, but there are several handsome open plazas or squares, and a great number of those large and striking buildings which are tokens of its former ecclesiastical sovereigns. On a hill overlooking the city, and six hundred feet above it, is the ancient fortress of Moncksberg, now dismantled of its artillery; but it is an object of curiosity from a road having been hewn out of the solid rock on which it stands, forming an archway a hundred and fifty yards in length and eight in breadth, which terminates in a most delightful prospect of the surrounding country. It contains, with the suburbs, 16,500 inhabitants, who have little trade except at two large fairs, which become entrepôts for exchanging the productions of Italy with those of Germany. The environs are highly enchanting from the scenery they exhibit. Long. 13. 54. 5. E. Lat. 47. 43. 10. N.