Hohensalzburg, Headquarter

Archbishop Eberhard II. of Regensberg (1200-1246) was able to upgrade the Bishopric of Salzburg to an Archbishopric in the 13th century. During the so-called "Landwerdung Salzburgs” (translates roughly to “becoming of territory of Salzburg”) the archbishop of Salzburg bought many castles and noble residences. At the same time, he prohibited his ministerials from building new castles and awarded loyal lords with fosterages over the existing castles. This enabled the archbishop to consolidate his power within the new Salzburg archbishopric.

Hohensalzburg was the archbishops’ headquarter within his growing group of castles. From here he controlled, the tasks that the castles, now subordinate to the archbishop, had to perform: the administration and jurisdiction of the territories, tax revenues, safeguarding of the archbishop's own products but also of the trade routes.

Around 1500 Archbishop Leonhard of Keutschach also had numerous castles in Salzburg fortified and extended (e.g. Mauterndorf, Hohensalzburg, Plainburg, etc.). In addition, he extended the road of the trade route over the Alps through Mauterndorf and fortified it anew.