The Mozarthaus on Domgasse
Why is it significant?
You are now in a narrow lane in the shadow of the cathedral, in front of a tall, plain house with a simple entrance. From 1784 to 1787 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived on its first floor, and of all the apartments he rented in Vienna, this is the only one that has survived.
Key Facts
| Place | The Mozarthaus on Domgasse |
|---|---|
| Address | Domgasse 5, 1010 Wien, Austria |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.20820, 16.37490 |
| Part of Walk | Vienna's Old Town Lanes: Stephansdom, Roman Stones and Medieval Legends |
| Generated | Generated |
You are now in a narrow lane in the shadow of the cathedral, in front of a tall, plain house with a simple entrance. From 1784 to 1787 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived on its first floor, and of all the apartments he rented in Vienna, this is the only one that has survived.
Mozart moved house a dozen times or more in his ten Vienna years. But this was the grandest home he ever had: several rooms, a large salon and stucco ceilings, at a rent that shocked his father. He lived here with his wife Constanze and their small son, and he was at the height of his success, giving concerts, teaching pupils and, it seems, playing a great deal of billiards.
It was in these rooms that he wrote The Marriage of Figaro, which premiered in May 1786 at the court theatre. Based on a play that had been banned for mocking the aristocracy, it was a daring choice. The servants are cleverer than their masters, the count is humiliated, and somehow the emperor allowed it.
In February 1785 Mozart's father Leopold came to stay. One evening Joseph Haydn came to hear Mozart's new string quartets and said to Leopold, in words Leopold proudly reported in a letter, that his son was the greatest composer he knew, in person or by name. Imagine that sentence spoken in one of these rooms, by the most famous composer in Europe, about a man of twenty-nine.
The good years did not last. Mozart's popularity faded, money became short, and in 1787 the family moved to cheaper lodgings. He died four years later, at thirty-five, and was given a simple funeral service in a chapel of the cathedral nearby. Today the house is a museum dedicated to his life in Vienna. Now walk a few steps along Domgasse to the corner of a narrow lane with a gory name.