The Mozart monument is in the centre of the square
Mozartplatz (Square) was created after Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich tore down several houses. At the centre of the square, you’ll find a statue of Mozart by Ludwig Schwanthaler, which was ceremoniously unveiled on the 5th of September, 1842, attended by Mozart’s sons. The statue was cast in bronze by Johann B. Stiglmayer in 1842. Mozart’s widow, Constanze von Nissen, didn’t live to see the unveiling ceremony, as she died at Mozartplatz 8 on the 6th of March of the same year.
An important advocate of the Mozart statue
Bavarian King Ludwig I personally contributed a significant sum and even donated the marble plinth, now owned by Salzburg Museum. The monument was actually supposed to have been unveiled in 1841 but, as fate would have it, a valuable Roman mosaic floor was discovered during excavation work:
‘hic habitat [felicitas], nihil intret mali’
(here lives happiness, nothing bad shall enter)
so the unveiling ceremony was delayed until the 4th of September 1842.
This subdivided house dates back to between the 16th and 18th centuries
The County Chancellor and War Council Member Johann Ernst von Antretter and his wife Maria Anna Elisabeth bought the ‘Antretter Haus’ on Mozartplatz 4 in September 1765. The Antretter family was closely acquainted with the Mozart family, e.g. Cajetan, one of the Antretters’ sons, and the Mozarts were members of the Bölz infantry and one of the Antretters’ daughters was one of Nannerl Mozart’s pupils. The Antretter family also commissioned the ‘Antretter Serenade’, K 185. There are numerous letters and diary entries that recount the friendly relationship between the two families.
The ‘Schaffner Haus’ on neighbouring Waagplatz is the birthplace of poet Georg Trakl.