Dom: Admission brings one million euros this year
According to the Archdiocese of Salzburg, with the income of one million euros, 80 percent of the annual maintenance costs of the cathedral can be guaranteed. Next year it should be 100 percent. The Salzburg Cathedral in its current form is almost 400 years old and is the destination of one and a half to two million visitors every year – most of whom are tourists.
A visit to the cathedral costs five euros
Since the beginning of the year, you have had to pay five euros per person for the visit. “With the contribution of tourists, we can preserve the cathedral, the cathedral music and the cathedral museum. These three things belong together, they belong to the cathedral church fund,” says the cathedral custodian of the Archdiocese of Salzburg, Johann Reißmeier.
Maintenance of the cathedral consumes 1.2 million per year
The maintenance of the Salzburg Cathedral costs an average of 1.2 million euros per year: “Cleaning the west organ alone cost 180,000 euros. The restoration of the historic pews took years and cost over 600,000 euros,” says Reißmeier.
Admission has been levied in full since March
The maintenance contribution for the Salzburg Cathedral was collected exactly one year ago, it has been introduced in its entirety since March. The Archdiocese of Salzburg expects that around one million euros will be collected by the end of the year. “That’s not enough for the annual maintenance of the cathedral, our plan is of course to generate higher maintenance contributions in a full year of operation,” says Cornelius Inama, Director of the Treasury of the Archdiocese of Salzburg.
Entry into the cathedral was controversial within the church
The introduction of entry fees was controversial for a long time, not so much among the visitors, but above all within the church: “Inside the church, it was very difficult to accept this idea. One must not forget, of course, that the church is a non-profit operation, if one can say so. And there will now enter a non-profit operation
Profit area implanted. And that’s natural, because it crackles,” says the cathedral curator Johann Reißmeier.
Cathedral remains the only church with admission
For the time being, the Salzburg Cathedral will remain the only place of worship for which visitors have to pay an entrance fee. For believers who come to a mass or to pray in the cathedral, the visit is still free of charge.
Dom: Admission brings one million euros this year
For a year now, visitors to Salzburg Cathedral have had to pay five euros for admission, with the exception of people who come to the church to pray. The proceeds are used for the maintenance of the cathedral. The earnings so far suggest that the first million will already be reached today.