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Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf Thun had the 35 bells financed through investments in the East Indian Company and purchased them in Antwerpen in 1695 from the bell-founder, Melchior de Haze. In 1702 the Salzburg gunsmith, Franz Sulzer, and the bell-founder, Benedikt Eisenberger, built the drive mechanism and the brass barrel into which the royal clock-maker, Jeremias Sauter, bored the 7,964 holes required to set the carillon in motion.
The carillon has been in operation since 1705 and plays approximately 40 pieces, many of which were specially composed for the carillon by Johann Michael Haydn and Mozart (both father and son). The clockwork, added in 1873, aided by a device made by the clock-maker Johann Baptist Fischer, causes the melody to ring out punctually at 7.00 am, 11.00 am and 6.00 pm
The new building was originally planned as a new residence. The main part of the building complex was built under Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1587 - 1612). Access to the State Rooms on the second floor is over a stairway with elaborate stucco work in the west wing. Its design was inspired by the palaces of the Italian Renaissance.
The Tugendensaal (Hall of Virtues) originally functioned as an anteroom to the State Rooms. The three Christian virtues (Faith, Love and Hope) are portrayed in the center of the vaulting. The four cardinal virtues (Fortitude, Justice, Prudence and Temperance) are portrayed in the logitudinal spandrels, whereas the broad side bears the coat of arms of the Salzburg archbishopric and Wolf Dietrich's personal coat of arms. The almost square Gloriensaal (Hall of Glories) is named after the centerpiece on the ceiling, a halo of angelic choirs surrounding the symbol of God. Originally, this room may have been used as the reception room, symbolizing the ruler's theological function. The Ständesaal (Hall of Trades) is the largest state room in the New Building and also decorated with elaborate arabesques and ornamentation. Representatives from the various trades in the province of Salzburg met here after 1620. Originally, this room whose ceiling frescoes are separated by elaborate, colorful vines, probably illustrated the archbishop's secular power. The three scenes on the ceiling call attention to one of the noblest traits of a prince, his resoluteness. The Feldherrenzimmer (Field Marshal's Room) presents the busts of four military leaders (Charlemagne, Gottfried von Boullion, Emperor Karl V and Don Juan d'Austria), Wolf Dietrich's idols. Worth special mentioning is the decoration of the bathroom with its colorful stucco work and mosaic tiles. The Bischofssaal (Bishops' Hall) was originally the last of the royal state rooms on the west end. The elaborate panelled ceiling with Wolf Dietrich's coat of arms surrounded by putti (cherubs) is the hall's masterpiece. The hall received its present name during the middle of the 19th century when the protraits of the archbishops were relocated from the old university.
Wolf Dietrich added an east wing to the original building after 1600; Cardinal Max Gandolph Graf von Kuenberg had a south and a west wing added which houses a superb library (the Max Gandolph Library).
Today part of the New Building of the Residenz accommodates the provincial government and the Universität. Salzburg's main post office is located on the ground floor. Since 1942 Salzburg's Heimatwerk (for custom-made traditional attire) has occupied the ground floor of the west tract near the carillon.
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