Salzburg – Welterbe, Bier, Barock und Lebensart

  

 

Salzburg - again! Our guidebook on this Austrian city is still selling very well and we try to visit, to catch up with news on a regular basis. Also, it's an easy 3-hour-train trip from Augsburg, and, free with our Deutschland Ticket. The trip could even be done in one day, but we treated ourselves to one overnight.

 

Main reason for our visit: to see the newly opened Orangerie Salzburg – Panorama | Welterbe, part of the Salzburg Museum. The Orangerie is part of Schloss Mirabell and located in the beautiful Mirabellgarten (left photo), in the "new part" of town (Neustadt). We had a hard hat-tour last year, before the museum officially opened in summer 2026.  

 

It's a perfect new starting point for visitors thanks to a great introduction, including digital maps with sights, museums, facts & stats, etc. 

 

The museum consists of two main sections: First, the Forum - the meeting point with a seating area, a video wall and an exhibition about the UNESCO world heritage, including short films and a lot of digital, multi-media and AI generated, animated contents.The computer stations make for easy and playful way access to plenty of information about different aspects of Salzburg (right photo). 

 

In addition, there are changing exhibitions upstairs, focusing on Salzburg's history and current situation as a World Heritage site (city model and past and future projects on the photo below). 

Second, there is the famous Salzburg Panorama of Sattler in a completely new presentation. This huge 360 deg., curved mural - 25 meters in diameter, 130 square meters large – by Johann Michael Sattler (1786–1847) shows a view of Salzburg about 200 years ago. 

 

1829 Sattler presented his panorama for the first time on the local Makartplatz and it was good promotion. He even toured Europe with this 5x26 meter large oil painting. Back in Salzburg, the painting was shown in a pavilion building in the Mirabellgarten, 1977-2002 it was presented on the Mönchsberg, and, from 2005 on it was converted into the Panorama Museum at Residenzplatz. For the anniversary „30 Jahre UNESCO-Welterbe Salzburg“ the mural returned to its original location in the Mirabellgarten.   

 

©SalzburgMuseum

 

 

 

 

After our visit we went for a quick walk through Old Town and took the Mönchsberg lift up to the Museum der Moderne with its beautiful views from its observation terrace (first photo of this post). At sunset, we hiked through the wooded, park-like area of the Mönchsberg on idyllic trails in about 20 minutes to Kloster Mülln with its church and - more importantly - with its brewery, Augustiner Bräu. Not to be mixed up with the brewery in Munich of the same name!!!

 

Since 1621 beer is brewed here. The restaurant, "Augustiner Bräustübl", is the largest brewery restaurant in Austria with over 5,000 sq.m inside and more than 1,400 seats outside, in the beer garden (Gastgarten). 

 

 

Traditionally, the beer is aged and stored in wooden barrels and is poured in steins, either 1 liter or 1/2 liter. Unique is, as well, that there is a "Schmankerlgang" (photo above), sort of a traditional market hall, where different vendors sell deli food – Leberkäse, sausages, dips, crunchy pork knuckle (Surstelze - photo further below), baking goods, raddish or salads. 

 

The food can be enjoyed in one of the the five big beerhalls, same with the beer. You'll get it at the "Beer Fountain", but first you choose your stein, wash it at the fountain, and - after paying at the cashier - bring it over to the counter for pouring. There is even a "beer warming device".

 

 

 

 

 

The brewery was founded in 1621 by Augustinian friars, 1895 Johann Mühlbacher became the first real brewmaster. In the course of time the restaurant was modernized and expanded, in 1926 a third hall was added and the beergarden became larger. In WW2 a lot of the building was destroyed. It took time, but all came back, bigger and better.

 

 The restaurant as well as the brewery itself are unique. Guests usually sit together at big tables (a good opportunity to get to know the Salzburgers!). There are 242 Stammtische (regulars' tables) - which meet at least once a month at a fixed day and time. They have signs (to be seen on the walls) which are then put on their designated tables. 

 

The beer fermentation is still done the old way, too: in open fermenting vats. Most of the beer - assumingly around 80% - is poured on property, only few is served in selected restaurants in town and the only place to buy the beer in bottles or party barrels is the brewery itself. And, there is usually only one basic variety, Märzen, plus seasonal beers: a "Fastenbier" before Easter and a bock in winter.

 

Schrannentag - Schrannenmarkt am Mirabellplatz – is a Salzburg tradition. This weekly farmers' markets is the second largest in Austria, after the Vienna Naschmarkt. Around 190 market vendors - most of them family operations who are active for decades -  set up their boothes every Thursday, starting at 5 am in the morning, around a church, St. Andräkirche, across the street from Schloss Mirabell. 

 

Main focus is "seasonal" and "regional", mostly food and flowers. In addition, cooked meals - like Backhendl (fried chicken), fish soup or sausages are being served and there are some vendors with basketery, leather goods , kitchen utensils or apothecary goods. 

 

The market was founded in 1906 as a "Wochenmarkt für Landesprodukte“ - a market to provide the city population with products from the countryside. Still today, it's mostly farmers offering their veggies and fruits, as well as dairy products (cheeses). There are many butcher stores (sausages, meat, innards, game, poultry, speck, etc.), bakeries (bread, typical Austrian baking goods) and deli stuff like nuts, dried fruit or mushrooms, plus, artistic dried bouquets and plants. 

 

After our shopping spree on the market we went for another walk through Old Town, to check out what has changed. Of course, we had to buy bread at the Stiftsbäckerei St. Peter, which changed ownership last year, but is still a big tourist magnet. It dates in the 13th century, the flour comes from its own mill (water wheel to be seen outside the bakery!) and the sourdough rye bread is baked in a wood fired oven. 

 

Afterwards, we strolled around the historic St. Peter's cemetery with beautiful old gravesites, bought sirup in the monastery shop and checked out the Festspielbezirk, for which a comprehensive renovation project (www.festspielbezirk2030.at) is planned.

 

Passing by the Dom (and its famous Fiaker - horse-drawn carriages which seem to still have a good standing in Salzburg - other than in NYC,,,), we concluded our Salzburg visit at the Weihnachtsmuseum/Christmas Museum (photos further below) before we walked back to the railroad station to catch a train back.

 

 

 

  

 

©Text & Fotos: MB sofern nicht am Foto anders angeben.

Farewell to NYC

 

On the left, our home for a week: The Sugar Hill House (first brownstone, center) and, as always, it was the perfect accommodation: spacious, cozy, comfy, quiet - couldn't be any better! 

After packing in the morning, we still went out for a little neighborhood walk. Below, the (ugly) church which bells we heard in the bedroom (which felt so familiar), further below some of the houses in the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill National Historic District. 

Sugar Hill got its name in the 1920s when wealthy African Americans moved here during the Harlem Renaissance. Prominent writers, politicians, musicians and artists lived here, e.g. W.E.B. Du Bois, Duke Ellington or Langston Hughes. It was an affluent neighborhood with nice buildings, and, still, is considered a top address.

Corner stores or delis like the one on the photo are to be found on many street corners up here in Harlem. They carry all you need, from snacks to fresh fruit to some hardwear.

Community gardens (below, right) are very common, too, On the ten blocks we walked, we saw at least three or four.

A cemetery (left), one of the larger condo buildings with a garden in front (below), another building called "The Bavaria" and the famous Bailey House (below, right side), a freestanding limestone mansion built for circus co-founder James A. Bailey.

Well, that was NYC 2026. We are sitting at EWR (Newark International) and enjoying the view of the city skyline from far (below). From door to gate it took us not quite two hours (much better than from MUC to Augsburg!), though we had to walk to the subway station (5 min), from there by subway to Penn Station (15 min), on by train to the airport in Newark/New Jersey (25 min) and by bus (the AirTrain is currently not working) to the Terminal building. Quick, easy and smooth - if there would only be some more escalators and elevators instead of stairways!

Smack in the middle: Times Square and Broadway

 

Times Square on Monday morning. Not our most favorite place in NYC, but a must-see. We had an appointment at 1 Times Square (building on the left photo, right), the highrise from which the New Year's Ball is dropped. 

There, a new attraction opened this summer: Times Square New Year's Eve Ball Experiences. From a new plattform, called Skywalk, with a partial glass floor, it's possible to view the Ball up close and have 360-degree views of Times Square and NYC. There are a couple of "interactive journeys" through the history of Times Square, too. Below some of the views and sights:

On the left photo is the button they pull to activate the "ball drop" on New Year's Eve. Below, two of the "experiences", one showing the construction of the building, the other imitates a taxi drive on Times Square.

A couple of the former glass balls (not in use anymore) are to be seen in one exhibition hall. The new (9th) ball - The Constellation Ball - shows a display of over 5,000 Waterford crystals and radiant lights and is positioned on top of One Times Square (photo further above).

Passing the Flatiron Building (left), we walked to our lunch appointment at a new modern Turkish bakery - "Red Beard Bakery" (named after the owner's nickname). Though it is only a hole in the wall in the East Village, the baking goods were exceptionally good: croissants, hand-held borek with spinach & feta, cube-shaped croissants with a filling, Babka swirls, Baklava Donuts, etc., and, of course, Turkish Simit and Turkish coffee. We talked to the very friendly Turkish owner and his Turkish baker about their concept and their recipes, and, had a good time eating and chatting. 

 

A welcome break before we headed out along Broadway to explore NoHo, SoHo (North & South of Houston St.), Chinatown and Little Italy. The weather was so gorgeous, sunny and warm, and it was fun to explore the different neighborhoods and to admire the elaborate architecture in SoHo.

Broadway above and one of the Mitzvah Tanks, a mobile Jewish promo vehicle, used by ultra-orthodox groups like the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim.

Chinatown below with its street vendors, merging into Little Italy (further below):

 

In the evening we met with our friends Magdalena and Michael in the West Village and checked out a new client of them, another Turkish restaurant, "Foursome", with a bar and really good food. The table went never empty, from different mezzes to watermelon salad and köfte, short ribs and manti to different desserts. A wonderful last evening in town!