The Duchy of Salzburg () was a Cisleithanian crown land of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

from 1849 to 1918. Its capital was

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, while other towns in the duchy included

Zell am See Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its ski resorts and shoreline on Lake Zell. While Zell a ...

and

Gastein Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it i ...

. Before becoming a crown land, Salzburg went through numerous changes of rulership. It is differentiated from its predecessor, the

Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of ...

, as it was

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

in 1803 through the and remained henceforth under secular rule as the

Electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

() of Salzburg; in the following 43 years, it would undergo three more changes of rulership before becoming the crown land of Salzburg.

History

In the course of the German mediatization of 1803, the

Prince-archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of ...

, an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, was secularized as the

Electorate of Salzburg The Electorate of Salzburg (german: Kurfürstentum Salzburg or ), occasionally known as the Grand Duchy of Salzburg, was an electoral principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803–05, the short-lived successor state of the Prince-Archbi ...

, ruled by the Habsburg archduke Ferdinand III of Austria. However, two years later, this short-lived principality was annexed by the newly established

according to the Peace of Pressburg and Ferdinand received the

Grand Duchy of Würzburg The Grand Duchy of Würzburg (german: Großherzogtum Würzburg) was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century. As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in ...

in compensation. The

electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

title became obsolete with the Empire's dissolution in 1806. By the

Treaty of Schönbrunn The Treaty of Schönbrunn (french: Traité de Schönbrunn; german: Friede von Schönbrunn), sometimes known as the Peace of Schönbrunn or Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October ...

of 1809, Salzburg temporarily became French and was released in 1810 to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

, where it formed the . After the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and the 1816

Treaty of Munich The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

, the Salzburg lands came back to Austria, with the exception of the share on the left bank of the

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central ...

river, the so-called ''

Rupertiwinkel The Rupertiwinkel is a small historic region on the southeastern border of Bavaria, Germany. Part of the Archbishopric of Salzburg until the early 19th century, it is named after the first Salzburg bishop Saint Rupert (c.660–710), apostle to th ...

'', which, like the former Prince-Provostry of Berchtesgaden, remained in Bavaria. Some smaller areas in the

Ziller The Ziller () is a right tributary to the Inn, in the Zillertal in Tyrol, Austria. It is long, and its basin area is . It springs from the ridge of the Zillertal Alps, and feeds the Zillergründl Dam. In Mayrhofen it receives the Zemmbach (that ...

and Defereggen valleys fell to

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

; the town of

Friesach Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan (district), Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia (state), Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia. Geography ...

was ceded to Carinthia. The Salzburg territory was administered from

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

as , the fifth district within the crown land of

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

. The decreased significance led to emigration and economic crises. On the other hand, the remote province developed as a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

destination, mainly for Alpinists like Archduke John of Austria. After the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, the Salzburg territory was again separated from Upper Austria and became a new crown land in its own right, the Duchy of Salzburg, by resolution of 26 June 1849. Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, widow of the late Emperor

Francis I of Austria Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...

, chose the city of Salzburg as her residence. According to the 1861

February Patent The February Patent was a constitution of the Austrian Empire promulgated in the form of letters patent on 26 February 1861. Background In the Austrian Empire, the early 1860s were a period of significant constitutional reforms. The revolutions ...

, the duchy received a diet. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it belonged to the Cisleithanian (Austrian) part of Austria-Hungary. With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, the duchy was succeeded by the

state of Salzburg Salzburg (, ; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) (also known as ''Salzburgerland'') is a state (''Land'') of the modern Republic of Austria. It is officially named ''Land Salzburg'' to distinguish it from its eponymous capital — the city of S ...

, part of first

German Austria The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population ...

and then the First Austrian Republic.

References

{{Subdivisions of Austria-Hungary Duchy History of Salzburg States and territories established in 1849 States and territories disestablished in 1918 1849 establishments in the Austrian Empire

Salz Salz is a German word meaning ''salt'' and may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Salzburg, a city in Austria * Salzburg (state), Austria * Salz, Rhineland-Palatinate, municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Salz, Bavaria, town in the district o ...