Founder of the university and a stern ruler
Paris Lodron kept Salzburg out of the Thirty Years’ War.
Ambitious even as a child
Paris von Lodron was born in Trentino on 13 February 1586. He was a member of the aristocratic von Lodron family. At the age of only 11 years, he went to Trento and Bologna to study theology. He finished his studies in Ingolstadt in 1604.
He died on 15 December 1653 and was buried in Salzburg Cathedral.
A calculating misogynist
At the wish of Archbishop Mark Sittich, Paris von Lodron was elected the new Archbishop of Salzburg on 13 November 1619.
He seems to have had a particular dislike of women. He imprisoned the widowed Countess Maria von Raitenau in Nonnberg Abbey and assumed guardianship of her children. Apparently, the prince-archbishop did this in order to gain control of the children and thus add Gmünd to his territories. Not only this, but he also confined his sister Barbara in Nonnberg Abbey against her will in October 1651.
Father of the fatherland
Paris Lodron had considerable influence on the history of Salzburg. In 1622, he founded the University of Salzburg.
He began with the drainage of Itzlinger marsh. The main motive behind this was probably the outbreak of the plague in 1625. Salzburg today honours him as “Pater Patriae” – the father of the fatherland.
Averting involvement in war
He was shrewd enough to manage to keep Salzburg out of becoming caught up in the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). However, the hardships resulting from the war caused the peasants in nearby Fügen to rise in rebellion.
Paris von Lodron was the only Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg to be included by King Ludwig I of Bavaria in his “Walhalla” hall of fame near Regensburg.
Construction projects
- Foundation of Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg
- Finalisation of Salzburg Cathedral
- Enhancement of Hohensalzburg Fortress
Paris von Lodron commissioned his master builder Santino Solari to construct the very latest in Venetian works of defence in the city and the surrounding lands. A defensive ring consisting of five large bastions was built around the ‘New City’ district. In the Old City, the escarpments of the Mönchsberg mountain were used as a natural defensive wall. The Müllner redoubt to the north connected the Old City to the left bank of the River Salzach. The Fortress Hohensalzburg was also upgraded with the latest military technology, particular its outworks.