Apothekerhof, Salzburg

The Apothekerhof is a manor dating back at least to the 16th century; it is situated at the base of the Gaisberg, a mountain on the doorstep of Salzburg. The neighbourhood in which the Apothekerhof can be found is part of the district Parsch. The building is generally associated with a few well-known burghers of Salzburg who owned the property and partly lived here.

The first VIP-owner of the Apothekerhof was a family called Rotmayer, locally influential officials of Salzburg. The noble family of Ritz were other "famous" owners of the manor; the Ritzerbogenhaus between Universitätsplatz and Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse in the Old Town was their main residence and named after them. In 1686, the manor was sold to Joseph Christoph Mayr, who owned the Fürsterzbischöfliche Hofapotheke (Court Pharmacy).

Since then, the building was known as Apothekerhof, which means "pharmacist′s manor". The court pharmacist also owned the nearby Fondachhof after 1727; as a result, the two buildings were often called "Oberer Apothekerhof" (Upper Pharmacist′s Manor) and "Unterer Apothekerhof" (Lower Pharmacist′s Manor, the Fondachhof) according to their position on the hill.

The Mayr family owned the property alongside with lots of associated land until 1887. In this year, Ludwig Schmederer purchased it; he was a wealthy owner of a brewery and built a villa nearby, the Villa Schmederer. After World War II, the Apothekerhof was made a film studio; many films with marionettes were shot here until the late 1970ies. In 1979, the Apothekerhof was renovated and altered according to designs by the architect Reinhold Seeger.

Further Reading

http://www.salzburg.com/wiki/index.php/Apothekerhof
SalzburgWiki on the Apothekerhof (German)


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