What Da Cover Says: Situated in the shadow of the Eastern Alps, Salzburg is known for its majestic baroque architecture, music, cathedrals, gardens. The city grew in power and wealth as the seat of prince-bishops, found international fame as the birthplace of the beloved composer Mozart, and expanded to become a global destination for travel as a festival city. With all its stunning sights and rich history, Salzburg has become Austria’s second most visited city, drawing visitors from around the world.
Hubert Nowak sets out to reveal the lesser-known side to Salzburg, a small town with international renown. Leaving the famed festival district, he plunges into in the narrow façade-lined streets of the old quarter, creating one of the most extensive accounts of the city published in English. Through the stories of those who visited and lived in the city over the centuries, he gives the reader a fresh perspective and gives the old city new life.
What I Says: My knowledge of Salzburg before picking up this book was Mozart was born there and then booted out, it is a pretty city surrounded by mountains and the hills there seem to be alive with music. There is a lot to learn about Salzburg in this book and you realise this as Nowak drops a very interesting fact on the first page, this instantly drew me in with lots of “no ways” from this reader.
The best way to to describe this book is one of those city tour guide books but written by somebody who adores the city. Nowak tells you all the best museums, he lets you know of some of the best views and introduces you to some really interesting locals. Visiting the city you’re not going to meet these hotel owners, architects, gallery directors and artists so reading this book will give you an extra edge on anybody else.
One of the most interesting things I learnt was about crime novels, there are so many that are based at Salzburg and yet there is barely one murder a year there and that always gets solved…..and as Nowak points out this is perfect for a crime novel as cases there always get solved too. Also covered in the book that I found quite interesting is city planning, there is very little space available and getting a new building through planning or even resurfacing a road takes an age.
This was a good book and there is something for everybody here I reckon. One day if I ever decide to leave the safety of this island I live on then this would be one place I’d visit, both my daughters are quite artistic and I think they’d love it there. One bug bear with the book….no map…I love finding the places talked about on a map so had to keep going to google to have a look.
Many thanks to Haus Publishing for this copy. I’ve noticed they have a book about Hemingway in Italy so might have to check that out.
Gnome Appreciation Society 