Mirabell

Mirabell, palace and gardens in the City of Salzburg. Palace commissioned by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich for S. Alt in 1606, 1721-1727 remodeled in late Baroque style after plans by J. L. von Hildebrandt. After a fire in 1818 Peter de Nobile, court architect, gave it its present unassuming, neo-classical appearance, since 1950 seat of Salzburg´s mayor and municipal administration. In the interior: marble stairway with sculptures by G. R. Donner, Marble Hall and palace church. Mirabell Gardens laid out in 1690 after plans by J. B. Fischer von Erlach, 1730 redesigned under F. A. Danreiter. Of great importance are the Susanna Fountain (H. Waldburger, 1610), the Hedge Theatre (1704-1718) and the Zwerglgarten (Dwarf Garden), a collection of marble dwarves set up in the Bastion Garden (around 1715). The former aviary is now used as an exhibition pavilion, the Orangerie houses the Salzburg Baroque Museum (Rossacher Collection) with works of European art from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.