Bürglstein

The Bürglstein is a small hill just south of Salzburg’s Kapuzinerberg, separated by Arenbergstraße but geologically part of the same ridge. Rising to 451 metres, it is sometimes called the city’s smallest Stadtberg. Today the hill is covered in woodland, yet traces remain of an old garden layout that once drew visitors. The hill has been known since the 12th century, when records call it Pirgelin or Pirgel. By the 15th century it was called Bürglstein, after the rocky slopes that lead down to the Salzach. In the 14th century a small house stood here, rebuilt as a castle around 1600. After a fire in 1814 the ruins were joined by a new central wing under Princess Sophie Arenberg, creating Schloss Arenberg. The Kunstgärtner Josef Rosenegger turned the slopes into a fashionable pleasure garden in the late 18th century, complete with a wine tavern, Roman museum and boat landing on the unregulated Salzach. Visitors today find a quiet wooded hill where former terraces and paths can still be traced. The remains of the Gloriette lookout shelter stand at the plateau’s edge, and iron rail posts recall the Arenberg era. A narrow path from Bürglsteinstraße climbs to the long plateau, from which another route descends into the Rasenpark of Schloss Arenberg, where modern sculptures dot the lawns.