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Austria, Salzburg, Mirabell Palace photo by Andim –

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Mirabell Palace

Mirabell Palace is a historic building in Salzburg, Austria. Mirabell Palace is located in the historical core of Salzburg and is considered one of the most famous sites throughout Austria, not just in the city.

The name Mirabell is a common female name in Italy that expresses its meaning as accurately as possible – “beautiful, admirable.” For decades, the Mirabell Palace and its gardens have been one of Salzburg’s main tourist attractions, not least since they appeared in the film The Sound of Music.

The baroque castle is without a doubt one of the most beautiful structures in the city and one of the most popular wedding venues as well. Mirabell Palace is a popular wedding venue, and the gardens are a favourite setting for photography. Visiting the palace is surely among the things you can do while visiting Austria.

Here are the top 10 outstanding facts about the palace.

1. Mirabell Palace was built about 1606

Austria, Salzburg, Mirabell Palace photo by Andrew Bossi –

The palace was constructed in 1606 on the Salzach river’s north bank, north of the old city walls, at the request of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau.

The Archbishop suffered from gout and had a stroke the previous year, so he decided to build a pleasure palace for himself and his mistress Salome Alt to avoid the city’s small streets.

He constructed it to please his adored mistress Salome Alt and it appears that the castle did the trick. The daughter of a Jewish businessman allegedly had 15 children with the Prince-Archbishop! The pleasant family days were cut short when Wolf Dietrich was deposed and imprisoned. He died in prison in 1617.

2. It was initially named Schloss Altenau

It was initially named Schloss Altenau. Altenau Palace was a palace in Salzburg, Austria, that was constructed in 1606 and demolished in the 1720s to make way for the Mirabell Palace, which still stands in the same location.

It was Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau’s residence. Outside Salzburg’s Bergstraßtor gate, prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau erected a palace for his lover, Salome Alt, and their children in 1606.

3. It was renamed Mirabell palace by Mark Sittich

Hohenems banquet, 1578, Cardinal Markus Sittikus von Hohenems photo by Anthony Bays –

When Raitenau was ousted and imprisoned at Hohensalzburg Castle in 1612, his successor, Mark Sittich von Hohenems, exiled Salome Alt and her family.

Mark Sittich, his nephew and successor, was displeased with Wolf Dietrich’s hidden love nest. He renamed the palace “Mirabell,” a combination of the Italian words “mirabile” (admirable) and “bella” (beautiful), in an attempt to shed its “immoral” reputation.

Mirabell Palace was located outside the city walls of Salzburg. Mirabell Palace was only included inside the city limits of Salzburg when Prince-Archbishop Â鶹APP von Lodron had a new fortification and city wall built.

4. It underwent a lavish baroque-style reconstruction from 1721 to 1727

During the period from 1721 to 1727, Prince-Archbishop Franz Anton von Harrach had Mirabell Palace remodelled into a magnificent baroque palace complex. It was rebuilt in a lavish Baroque style from 1721 to 1727, according to plans designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt.

Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt was an Austrian baroque architect and military engineer who designed stately buildings and churches and whose work had a profound influence on the architecture of the Habsburg Empire in the eighteenth century.

5. Mirabell Palace has a fountain depicting the figure of Salome Alt

The Susanna fountain, which dates from 1612, may be found in the park of the current Mirabell Palace, between the hedge theatre and the well-fountain. Susanna, according to folklore, is a representation of Salome Alt.

6. Mirabell Palace is the birthplace of King Otto of Greece

King Otto of Greece wearing the Greek national costume photo by Carl Rahl –

The future King of Greece, Otto, was born here on June 1, 1815, while his father, Wittelsbach Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria, held the position of stadtholder in the ancient Electorate of Salzburg.

As the second child of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Otto was born as Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria in Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg (during the brief period when Salzburg belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria).

There, his father served as the governor-general of Bavaria. Otto was a direct descendant of the Komnenos and Laskaris Byzantine imperial dynasties through his ancestor, the Bavarian Duke John II.

His father was a well-known Philhellene who generously donated money to the Greek side during the War of Independence.

Check out the most famous Greek Kings in history.

7. Mirabell Palace is a declared world heritage site by UNESCO

The Mirabell Palace and Gardens are some of Salzburg’s most important attractions. The complex is under monument protection and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside Schloss-Belvedere. 

It is a cultural-historical landmark and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg. The baroque palace is without a doubt one of the city’s most beautiful monuments.

8. The iconic Hollywood musical “The Sound of Music” was filmed at the palace

Mary Martin with children, during the production of the Broadway musical The Sound of Music. photo by Antoinette Frissell Bacon –

Mirabell Gardens, along with the Felsenreitschule and the Nonnberg Convent, is one of the most significant filming locations for the popular Hollywood musical “The Sound of Music.”

In the film, Maria and the children sing “Do Re Mi” as they dance around the Pegasus Fountain in front of the palace. The Trapp family stands on the steps in front of Rose Hill at the end of the scene and sings the song’s final bars.

At the same time, onlookers are captivated by the fortress’s extraordinary views across Mirabell Gardens.

9. It is the location where Gretl Braun wedded

Gretl Braun and her second husband, Kurt Berlinghoff photo by Helga (Wagner) Braun –

Gretl Braun, Eva Braun’s sister (who later married Adolf Hitler), married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, who served as Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s liaison officer on Hitler’s staff, on June 3, 1944.

Their wedding took place at Mirabell Palace, in the presence of Hitler, Himmler, and Martin Bormann. Eva, her sister, handled all of the wedding details. Margarete Berta “Gretl” Braun was Eva Braun’s younger sister.

She was a member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle at the Berghof. Gretl became Hitler’s sister-in-law after his marriage to Eva, less than 40 hours before the couple killed themselves together.

10. Mirabell Palace was largely damaged by a town fire

 On April 30, 1818, the palace was largely damaged by a town fire. The vast majority of the frescoes were destroyed, but the massive marble stairway and the Marble Hall were spared.

The palace’s current neo-classical style was created by Peter de Nobile, royal architect and director of the Vienna School of Architecture. The current Neoclassical look originates from around 1818 when the building was renovated following a fire.