Schallmoos

Schallmoos is a district of Salzburg. It is a diverse and rather large part of the city, reaching from the Neustadt area along the Kapuzinerberg to neighbourhoods with an almost suburban atmosphere. Schallmoos is generally considered to be a rather unpleasant area with many immigrants and major traffic lines (three major streets and the railway passes the area). However, things have improved significantly in recent years and there have always been rather good residential areas in Schallmoos. The district has a population of approximately 11,000 people; tourists are unlikely to make it there, since it lacks sightseeing attractions.

Schallmoos comprised of swamps and wetlands - "Moos" is an old German word for swamp. Only in the 17th century, Prince Archbishop Paris Lodron started to build drainages and creeks. In fact, not him, but the hundreds of soldiers that he recruited, terrified of the then waging Thirty Years′ War, and who did not have to engage in active fighting. Instead, they drained the area of Schallmoos and Itzling, among others, and created vast tracks of arable land.

Farms were established in these areas, most of them belonging to the Domkapitel or selected families (such as the Lodron family, surprise). Streets were developed, and soon the first manors and villas were built for the landlords of these new lands. The best preserved of these manors is the Baroque chateaux Robinighof, built in 1648 and one of the few sightseeing attractions of Schallmoos. The other preserved manor is the Rauchenbichlerhof; many others were later altered or demolished.

The area was lastingly altered after 1860, when Schallmoos became a railway neighbourhood; the commercial transformation of the area gained momentum after WWII, when road traffic increased and new building projects were developed in Schallmoos. Not to the advantage of the neighbourhood, for that matter. Large apartment blocks and cheap residential space near a station usually doesn′t attract the finest type of people.

However, Schallmoos does have its nice sides; some of the large commercial areas were developed into shopping malls or office buildings in recent years, which helped to improve the over-all appearance of the district. Note also the Baron-Schwarz-Park, which is a remaining patch of land once belonging to a villa. The villa was destroyed in WWII (due to the vicinity to the station, Schallmoos was among the prime targets of US bombing campaigns).

The area near the Kapuzinerberg has become a big place for near-the-centre-shopping-malls. The 19th century neighbourhood bordering the Neustadt area is among the best parts of Schallmoos. For cultural delights, note the Rockhouse Schallmoos and the Urbankeller. Specialists might find the fairly new wooden church of the Romanian Orthodox Christians interesting; other religions have community centres in Schallmoos, too, such as Muslims, Sikh and evangelical Christians.

Further Reading

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schallmoos
Schallmoos on the German Wikipedia

http://www.stadt-salzburg.at/
City of Salzburg, Official Website

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