Salzburg’s museum landscape is already very diverse in itself. In 2020, a major provincial exhibition will be added from 25 April to 31 October: Great World Theatre – 100 Years of the Salzburg Festival.

On 22 August 1920, the call of Jedermann rang out for the first time on Domplatz. Since then, numerous opera careers have begun at the Salzburg Festival, such as those of Christiane Hörbiger, Placido Domingo or Anna Netrebko. Herbert von Karajan slapped a press photographer here. It was here that political censorship attempts by the Nazis almost brought the Festival to a standstill. And in 1951, the Salzburger Nachrichten called Berthold Brecht the “noble marten in Salzburg’s cultural henhouse”. The exhibition in the Neue Residenz traces all these events and much more. In addition to the chronology of the Festival, documents, stories and original pieces from productions of the last 100 years are on display.

The DNA of a monumental event

The cultural editorial department of the Salzburger Nachrichten has published the opulent, very readable 270-page magazine “Die Weltbühne 100 Jahre Salzburger Festspiele” to mark the occasion. In the foreword it says “We look into the DNA of this monumental event, explore the temperament of great conductors, bring the protagonists before the curtain, put guests in the spotlight. We climb the three-pointed F and dive down into the catacombs of the festival district.”

That works. These 270 pages are exciting reading that illuminates the Salzburg Festival from the most diverse angles. In the current Corona crisis, this magazine gives a very authentic picture of the Salzburg Festival from afar and makes you want to hopefully soon be able to track down what you have read on site.

The magazine “Die Weltbühne 100 Jahre Salzburger Festspiele” can be ordered here. For exciting reading during the Corona compulsory break.

The Salzburg Museum has announced that the provincial exhibition “Great World Theatre – 100 Years of the Salzburg Festival” will start at Whitsun at the earliest, i.e. at the end of May 2020. The planned duration of six months is to be maintained.

Update 5.06.2021: The exhibition “Great World Theatre – 100 Years of the Salzburg Festival” in the Neue Residenz has been extended until 31.10.2021. A report on the exhibition 100 Years of the Salzburg Festival can be found here.

www.salzburgmuseum.at