The wide-eyed 13-year-old boy stares at the viewer from under a Baroque wig in the 1770 painting Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 13 in Verona. At this age, Mozart was already a professional musician. Dressed in red, he sits at a harpsichord.
“The portrait was sold at auction a few years ago for an incredible €4.6 million (US$5 million),” says Linus Klumpner, director of the Salzburg Mozart Museums. “The new owner in Asia eventually granted us a permanent loan after long winding negotiations.”
Today, the portrait hangs in the eight-room home into which Mozart and his family moved in 1773. Eager tourists can admire the original piano with only 61 keys. The maestro’s aura can still be felt in its spacious ballroom.
Many other places in Salzburg take visitors back to the Mozart era. The Magic Flute Lodge, which has been on display in the courtyard of the museum since 2024, is also original. Legend has it that Mozart was locked into the hut to complete his opera The Magic Flute on time.
The popular opera has been part of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre’s repertoire since 1952. Puppeteer Heidi Hölzl has performed the piece over a thousand times.
