Fortress Hohensalzburg, Medieval castle in Salzburg, Austria.
Fortress Hohensalzburg sits atop the Festungsberg hill, offering wide views over Salzburg's old town, the Salzach River, and the surrounding Alps from its fortified walls and observation platforms.
Construction began in 1077 under Archbishop Gebhard during the investiture conflict, and the fortress expanded over the following centuries, achieving its current form around 1500 under Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach.
The fortress houses several museums including the Fortress Museum, which displays court life of the prince-archbishops, and the historic Salzburg Bull hornwork, which sounds three times daily as it has for 500 years.
The fortress opens daily from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm between January and April and October to December, extending to 8:00 pm from May through September, with access by funicular or footpath from the city center.
Remarkably, Hohensalzburg has never been captured by force throughout its entire history, standing as one of the few European castles to remain unconquered despite numerous regional conflicts over nearly a thousand years.
Location: Salzburg
Address: Mönchsberg 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria 5020 Salzburg
Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 09:30-17:00
Phone: +4366284243011
Website: https://festung-hohensalzburg.at/de
GPS coordinates: 47.79495,13.04766
Latest update: December 2, 2025 09:40
This collection brings together fortified military structures that show how defensive architecture has evolved across different eras and continents. Malbork Castle in Poland spans 140,000 square meters of brick constructions erected by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, while the Alhambra in Granada combines palaces and city walls in a complex where medieval Islamic architecture meets military needs. The Krak des Chevaliers in Syria reflects the defensive ingenuity of the Crusaders, and Suomenlinna, a naval fortress spread over six islands near Helsinki, illustrates how the Swedes and later the Finns fortified their Baltic coastlines in the 18th century. The sites include mountain strongholds like Masada, where Herod built a refuge on an isolated plateau of the Judean Desert, and Chittorgarh Fort in India, covering 7 square kilometers (about 2.7 square miles) and housing a protected city. In Europe, Edinburgh Castle has occupied its volcanic rock since the Middle Ages, while Bourtange in the Netherlands features the geometric bastion layout typical of 16th-century fortifications. Each fortress retains the elements that ensured its defense: walls, moats, watchtowers, and cisterns. These structures tell stories of sieges, conquests, and conflicts that shaped their regions and remain today prominent witnesses to world military history.
Fortress Hohensalzburg
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Wappen Paris Lodron
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Erzbischof Johann Beckenschlager
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Keutschach-Denkmal
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Heiliger Rupert
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Scenic viewpoint
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Wayside shrine, Christianity
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Rosa Leeb
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