Salzburg Museum

The Museum in 2010

The Salzburg Museum was founded in 1834, when a small collection of military memorabilia was made accessible to the public to formalize the memories of the Napoleonic wars. After the Revolution of 1848, the collection became the official town museum of Salzburg.[2]

In 1924, the natural history objects of the museum were given to the Haus der Natur Salzburg. One year later, the folk culture collection opened a side-branch in the Monatsschlössl in the parks of Hellbrunn Palace.

During World War II, the museum got three direct hits from bombs. Most of the collection had already been moved to mines that served as bunkers; however, the building was completely destroyed along with many objects too large to move. Several objects disappeared from their bunkers during the US occupation, including a collection of gold coins that had been kept in the salt mines of Hallein. A new building was opened as a provisory museum in 1967. A debate about the final and most worthy location for the headquarters of the Salzburg Museum lasted for decades. Side-branches of the Salzburg Museum were opened during this time: The Domgrabungsmuseum in 1974, the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum) in 1978, and a newly developed Festungsmuseum (Fortress Museum) in 2000. By 1997, promoted by Landeshauptmann Franz Schausberger, local politicians had finally agreed on the Neue Residenz as a new venue for the Salzburg Museum.

The museum reopened in the Neue Residenz in 2005. In 2009, the museum received the European Museum of the Year Award.