Baroque Splendour, Baroque Power

More than 400 years ago, the powerful and wealthy Prince Archbishops began transforming Salzburg into a Baroque jewel, following the Italian model. They created an urban masterpiece that is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In cooperation with the Berlin-based company tonwelt, the DomQuartier developed an audio guide that brings history to life.

For centuries, Salzburg was ruled by Prince Archbishops. They made decisions on both ecclesiastical and secular matters and, thanks to the wealth generated by salt and gold, transformed the city with magnificent Baroque buildings.

“Since May 2014, the DomQuartier in Salzburg – which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site – has invited visitors to experience a unique tour through the former centre of power,” explains Dr Elisabeth Resmann, who has been the director of the association comprising the Residenzgalerie, the North Oratory, the Cathedral Museum and the Museum of St Peter’s Abbey since its foundation.

At that time, the Cathedral and Residence complex was reunited with the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter and opened to the public. For 200 years, there had been no connection between the individual buildings.

Today, 15,000 square metres and 2,000 exhibits spanning 1,300 years bring together architecture, history and art.

For the 1.3-kilometre route, an audio guide was created in cooperation with the Berlin-based company tonwelt.

According to Elisabeth Resmann, interpretation at the DomQuartier relies heavily on the audio guide.

“90 percent of visitors take the free audio guide with them into the exhibition (it is included in the ticket price). We deliberately decided against using a multimedia guide. We want visitors to experience our architectural and artistic treasures with their own eyes rather than looking at a device all the time.”

The challenge, explains Elisabeth Resmann, is to communicate the importance of this World Heritage Site in an engaging and compelling way.

“Our audio guide version created by and for children is particularly charming. It uses a different language and appeals to younger museum visitors in an age-appropriate way. Families often choose this version,” says Elisabeth Resmann.

The journey into the era of the Prince Archbishops begins in the Residence. Here, visitors pass through the state rooms of the building, where the ecclesiastical rulers once governed and lived.

The impressive ceiling paintings and magnificent stucco decorations in the Knights’ Hall, Council Chamber and bedrooms reveal the wealth and influence of the rulers.

From there, visitors enter the Residenzgalerie. Across eleven rooms, it presents paintings by European artists from the 16th to the 19th century, while also providing insights into their living and working conditions.

The focus is on works of art from the Baroque period. The next stage of the tour offers a very special view: From the Dombogenterrasse, which connects the Residence with Salzburg Cathedral, visitors can look towards the Cathedral on one side and the Residenzplatz on the other.

They can also enjoy views across the historic city centre and the surrounding hills – Kapuzinerberg and Mönchsberg – while listening to the detailed explanations provided by the audio guide, which is now available in ten languages.

“Because it is our primary interpretation tool, we continuously improve the audio guide. We review it, record new versions, expand it with paintings from the Residenzgalerie, integrate temporary exhibitions, or make corrections when new research findings have made previous information outdated,” explains Elisabeth Resmann.

For this reason, close communication with tonwelt is essential, says the DomQuartier director.

tonwelt sees itself as an editorial and content partner, supporting the project during the concept development, text creation and editorial phases. The company has long been established in the industry and has many years of experience producing audiovisual content.

Among other projects, tonwelt has supplied major museums worldwide, including the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Louvre in Paris. The company also offers comprehensive visitor guidance solutions through its own audio guides, multimedia guides and apps – all integrated within a multiplatform approach.

During the creation of the audio guide for the DomQuartier, Hans von Seggern provided consultancy and highlights the advantages of the system:

“Our supraGuide ECO is particularly attractive because it is very small and lightweight. Visitors barely notice it when they wear it around their neck: it weighs only 70 grams.

It also features a tactile keypad with Braille markings and is suitable for blind and visually impaired visitors. It has been recommended by the German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.”

The supraGuide ECO is also an economical solution.

“It is not only cost-effective, but also consumes very little energy. The battery lasts at least one week. Since the device does not have a backlit display, it requires significantly less power.”

Visitors who would like to learn more about the eventful history of Salzburg’s Prince Archbishops, as well as fascinating details about the architecture, artworks, paintings and sculptures of the DomQuartier, can now also do so using their own smartphone.

As an additional service, the DomQuartier provides the audio guide as a Progressive Web App (PWA). This means that the audio guide can also be accessed directly via visitors’ own smartphones.

This text was originally published in German. The English translation provided here was generated using AI.