The Great World Theater

“The Salzburg region is the heart of the heart of Europe...
As a construct, it falls between the urban and the rural,
between the ancient and the modern...”

Hugo von Hofmannsthal

The Salzburg Festival was inaugurated on August 22, 1920, when Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s morality play Jedermann was performed for the very first time on Cathedral Square, directed by Max Reinhardt. Since that time,
the Salzburg Festival has established itself as the most important festival for opera, drama and concerts.

During the coming season, the Salzburg Festival will celebrate its 90-year anniversary. Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s basic concept - to initiate a festival that includes the entire city - will be implemented by a multi-part Festival Exhibit.

At the center - the heart, so to speak - of this exploration will be a show at the Salzburg Museum (Kunsthalle) to be displayed from July 17 until October 26, 2010, giving an insight into the inner workings of this “world stage”. Starting with the founding idea of this “work of peace after the horrors of World War I”, continuing with the historic development and establishment of the Festival, the journey aims for the heart of the Festival itself, a central installation as a high and final point of this “world stage” - a stylized stage with multi-media offerings.

In addition, a walk-in encyclopedia The Salzburg Festival from A-Z provides the dramaturgical framework or guide to explore the Salzburg Festival. This guideline also follows the idea of the founding fathers: “The entire city is a stage.” Incorporating many Salzburg institutions (e.g. Museum der Moderne Rupertinum, Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, Archabbey St. Peter, Schloss Leopoldskron etc.), we will create a walk through the Festival’s history that includes distinctive landmarks and topics. The topics range from A as in architecture to G as in genius loci (the “spirit of the place”) and J as in Jedermann to W as in Wiener Philharmoniker and Z as in Zukunft (the future).

Stylized letters will go up all around the city, linking certain objects with the letters of the encyclopedia and its locations.

The encyclopedia may function as a self-guided walking tour for people wishing to explore the locations featured in The Great World Theater .