Hohensalzburg Castle - Salzburg

Hohensalzburg Castle, also known as Festung Hohensalzburg, is located atop the Festungsberg, 1600 feet above the city of Salzburg, Austria.  This medieval fortress has panoramic views of the countryside in all directions, which afforded the Archbishops of Salzburg the strategic base they needed to defend their territory.  Hohensalzburg was begun in 1077 under the guidance of Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein.  Expansion of the castle was begun early and lasted into the 1600s.  Yet, for all the various architectural additions designed to more fully fortify the castle, it was only besieged once, in 1525, during the German Peasants’ War, when townspeople unsuccessfully attempted to gain access to the castle and depose Prince-Archbishop Matthaus Lang.  The fortress remained active through the War of the Second Coalition in 1800, finally ending its military life in 1861.  In later years the fortress was used as a prison.  Since the late 1800s the castle has been a major tourist attraction, boasting what may be the oldest still operating railway line in the world, the Festungsbahn, the funicular railway which transports tourists from ground level to the castle.  It has been in operation in its current form since 1892, but has existed in earlier forms since the early 1500s.        

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