Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart came to Vienna from Salzburg in 1781, initially at the insistence of his employer Count Colloredo, Archbishop of Salzburg, who was visiting the city. He famously fell out with the Archbishop, gave up his job, and decided to take advantage of the musical opportunities he could see in Vienna, as a performer and composer. He took lodgings with the all-female Weber family (the father Fridolin Weber had died in 1779), and married Constanze Weber, then aged 20, in August 1782; Constanze was a cousin of the composer Carl Maria von Weber.
Mozart is thought to have lived at 13 different addresses in Vienna, Constanze joining him at the fourth when they married. Their only surviving home is the apartment on the first floor of Schulerstrasse 8, Mozart's 'best' address in Vienna – largest, most elegant and most expensive – in which the family lived from September 1784 until April 1787, at the height of Mozart's career. The house is now the Mozarthaus (previously called the Figarohaus) and is managed by Wien Museum. The entrance is at the back, at Domgasse 5, as the original entrance was bricked up in the 19th Century.
The museum was redesigned on three floors for the 250th anniversary in 2006, and is quite brilliant, with a thoughtful and well-produced audio guide. No photography allowed inside unfortunately. The tour starts on the third floor, with details of Mozart's lifestyle, while the second floor is mainly about the operas. There is almost no information available about Mozart's furnishings and his use of the rooms in his first floor apartment, but clearly much thought has gone into presenting the best possible guess. I stayed an hour and a half, not really long enough. |
