“Anyone who comes to church service or to pray will be admitted free of charge,” assured Hermann Signitzer, head of guest services at the cathedral, of the “Kronen Zeitung” (Sunday edition). And those who pay church fees in Salzburg will receive a voucher for an annual ticket from the New Year, which entitles them to free admission.

Signitzer announced this and other innovations at a press conference in June; The cathedral preservation contribution, but also thematic tours and an audio guide as a companion on various tours are intended to make Salzburg Cathedral “fit for the future”.

Renovation work is pending

At that time, it was said that donations alone, for example from collections, offering sticks or the sale of candles, could no longer be covered by renovation and refurbishment work or ongoing tourist operations.

Tourists who love art and music also get a number of offers for their obulus: the approximately 40-minute cathedral tour, which the nun starts every day at 2 p.m., thematic tours by appointment, as well as “music for lunch” on the organ landscape of the cathedral with seven instruments – daily at 12:05 p.m. for six euros.

Dom is an independent legal entity

Also new are the free cathedral app and audio guides that can be borrowed for three euros and accompany you on three different tours through the cathedral and its history. The guide is also available free of charge in the “Progressive Web App”, which can be downloaded via QR code and the Salzburger-dom.at website.

The Salzburg Cathedral has long been an independent legal entity that has to finance itself. With the introduction of the conservation contribution, the authorities also want to direct the flow of tourists: Especially around lunchtime – the “rush hour” for day visitors – the cathedral is often “not recognizable” as a sacred space.

Tourists pay without grumbling

According to the “Kronen Zeitung” newspaper, several hundred visitors paid for the cathedral visit without complaint on the first day of the entry system. “We are surprised ourselves how well it is going,” said a delighted Hermann Signitzer. A young tourist from Berlin quoted the newspaper as saying: “If something is offered, for example music, then I think the entry is okay. But that’s not okay just for the visit. “

For “the top sights of Mozart’s city”, Signitzer wishes “that as many people as possible come out of the cathedral enthusiastically, because they take something of the many stories and secrets of this church with their everyday lives. For this we work with our concept for pastoral care, with church music, art installations and concepts ”.