On Mozart

An Austrian or German Composer?

By Gerhard Ammerer

Top Photo: A Mozart-impersonator in front of the composer’s birthplace in the city of Salzburg. Salzburg Tourism

THE CITIZENSHIP OF SALZBURG’S PRODIGAL SON HAS BEEN FIERCELY DEBATED. BOTH GERMANY AND AUSTRIA LAY CLAIM TO THE ICONIC COMPOSER’S HERITAGE.

In 2003, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was named the greatest Austrian of all time ahead of other 20th-century natives like former chancellor Bruno Kreisky, alpine ski racer Hermann Maier and entertainer Peter Alexander. If we are to believe marketeers and experts in public relations, this is not about to change anytime soon. Without doubt, Mozart is one of the most significant people in world history and has been “working” as a valuable “Austrian” brand more than ever. According to a poll, which was conducted around the same time, the first post-WWII chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, was considered Germany’s No. 1. As a side note: Austrians Mozart and Sigmund Freud also found their way into the German ranking.

The contemporaries of the 18th and early 19th century have been more than generous on national affiliation or usurpation: Mozart was a declared European, a fact that was emphasized during the bicentennial anniversary celebration of his birth in 1956. To which community did Mozart actually belong? As indicated, the answers are biased. A uniquely defined “citizenship” in today’s legal sense of the term was not common in the 18th century. But even Mozart’s nationality is not easy to clarify. In letters, Mozart considered himself a “German” in order to be promoted at a German-speaking court. “Germany” as a sovereign nation did not yet exist: Mozart’s “Germany” rather referred to the German-speaking Holy Roman Empire in cultural terms as the German language became increasingly popular in Europe during the heyday of the Enlightenment in contrast to the Italian (opera) and French (courtly manners) language.

In many territories of the Holy Roman Empire, also in the Habsburg Monarchy, new ideas of a unified group of subjects began to develop, and the term “citizen” became part of everyday language. In particular, Habsburg Emperor Joseph II used that term during his administration in his fight against nobility and the system of estates. The Civil Code of West Galicia, published in 1797, reads as follows: “Every citizen, without distinction of social hierarchy, class or sex, is obliged to promote the general welfare by proper observance of the laws." Only foreigners and outsiders were strictly distinguished from all the further non-defined members of the state. Based on these contemporary criteria of our question, Mozart belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg for most of his life. He was born there, and despite extensive concert touring, Salzburg was his main home base until 1781. Even before his first trip to Italy in December 1769, he was appointed court concert master by the Prince-Archbishop Sigmund Count Schrattenbach, and therefore became a member of the court of Salzburg. After moving to Vienna, that city became his place of residence, where he asked permission to marry and eventually secured a position as court composer at Vienna’s imperial court in 1787. By living and working in the capital of the Habsburg Monarchy, Mozart became a Habsburg or Austrian citizen, and remained “Austrian” until his death on December 5, 1791.

Dr. Gerhard Ammerer is Professor of History at the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg.