An experiment: World Heritage for 5 senses

Seeing: Modern art on old walls

The UNESCO award ensures that Salzburg's historic centre will be preserved in its existing form. Nevertheless, the city has found means and ways to set contemporary accents in the midst of this historical splendour. These include the Walk of Modern Art with its 13 art projects in the most beautiful squares of the old town. If you walk through the streets and alleys with an open eye, you will discover many modern features. In the 1980s, for instance, Friedensreich Hundertwasser installed so-called "tongue beards" made of ceramic on the outer façade of the Rupertinum. In the entrance area of the Old Residenz, Austrian artist Elmar Trenkwalder set a contemporary impulse when he attached more than 400 individual objects to the side walls and the barrel vault. Together with the blue "stars" on the ceiling, heaven and earth appear to unite. The Mozart quote by Sylvie Fleury (2005) on the main building of the Mozarteum Foundation in the Schwarzstraße is also an artistic bridge from the past to the present. Our recommendation: open your eyes and find more art.

Smell: Nine centuries of experience – the bakers of St. Peter's

Anyone who strolls through St. Peter's cemetery will be familiar with this particularly seductive aroma emanating from the nearby St. Peter's Abbey Bakery. Bread has been baked here since the 12th century. At that time, a tunnel was cut through the Mönchsberg for the Almkanal in order to supply the town with water. Directly at the exit of this tunnel, the monastery of St. Peter built a flour mill and also found space for a bakery. The historic vault with the original wood-burning oven offers a select range: wood-fired bread made with pure natural sourdough, brioche rolls and "Vinschgerl" [spiced rye bread rolls]. If you visit the bakery in the late afternoon, you might find yourself looking at empty shelves, because they only produce a certain amount every day.

Taste: Coffee house culture in Salzburg

If Salzburg's coffee houses could talk, they would tell the most beautiful anecdotes. For the people of Salzburg, the café is more than just a mere coffee house, it is a public living room. In Salzburg, you can indulge in the UNESCO-awarded old Viennese coffee house tradition in both a trendy and a classic way. The roots of Café Tomaselli, Austria's oldest existing coffee house, go way back to 1700. With its famous cake ladies, the Tomaselli is one of the most popular meeting places for locals and visitors alike. On the other hand, the UNESCO Old Town also offers the modern coffee-to-go at the former toll house on the left side of the Salzach between the Mozartsteg bridge and the Michaelstor. Bridge tolls were still collected here until the end of 1920.

Feel: Explore Salzburg's "mediaeval underworld"

The Almkanal, which locals like to call "the Alm", is a meeting place for bathers and sun-seekers with surfboards and bicycles. This extraordinary water supply system was built in the 8th century to provide the town with industrial and drinking water. The exciting history of the tunnel system can be explored during three weeks in September, when the tunnel is drained for necessary maintenance work – locally referred to as "Almabkehr". At that time the path inside the Mönchsberg, leading from the Brunnhausgasse directly to St. Peter's cemetery, is also accessible. Equipped with a torch, rain jacket and wellies, you can dive into the "Salzburg underworld". The path is 400 m long, the tunnels are a maximum of 2.20 m high and the ground is paved with marble slabs which, on closer inspection, are ancient repurposed gravestones. Our tip: run your hands along the walls, catch the drops of water and feel the history.

Listen: Historical custom revived: trumpeters on the tower

If you stroll through the city centre on Sundays, you might hear distant trumpet music shortly before noon. This is the Turmblasen at Hohensalzburg Fortress; a concert that takes every Sunday at 11:45 am. Historically, it was customary at almost all the important courts of Europe for trumpeters to warn of danger or accompany important occasions. This custom also existed at the court of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg since the Middle Ages, and in 1465 a trumpet tower was built on the Fortress. Many guests visiting Salzburg in the run-up to Christmas are also familiar with the Turmblasen (every Thursday and Saturday at 6.30 pm) at the Christmas market on Domplatz and Residenzplatz. 
 
Our conclusion: What seemed difficult at first was quite easy in the end. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Salzburg is sensual through and through.