Mozart's Birthplace or the Mozart Residence in Salzburg: how the two houses differ

The short answer

Mozart's Birthplace and the Mozart Residence are two separate houses, both run as museums by the International Mozarteum Foundation, and they tell two different chapters. The Birthplace at Getreidegasse 9 is where Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 and where the family lived until 1773; the Residence at Makartplatz 8 is the larger apartment they moved into that year, where, by the foundation's English account, Mozart lived until he left Salzburg at the end of 1780.[3][2] One foundation, one ticket system, two visits.

Who runs them

The International Mozarteum Foundation (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) describes itself as a non-profit organisation that offers concerts, maintains the Mozart museums and supports research. It dates its foundation to 20 September 1880, by Salzburg citizens, with roots in the Cathedral Music Association and Mozarteum of 1841, and says Mozart's widow Constanze and their two sons donated most of his personal belongings to it. Its German Birthplace page says the museum there was founded by the foundation in 1880, although its history page also records a first "Mozart Exhibition" in the house in 1856.[2][7]

The two houses side by side

The Birthplace. The foundation's German page puts the family in this house for 26 years, until their move in 1773, and calls the family's 130 m² apartment on the third upper floor the core of the museum, which now extends over the whole building.[2] Its school-tour page says Mozart himself lived on Getreidegasse for 17 years, and calls the Birthplace an 800-year-old building.[6] The English page describes a three-storey exhibition on his childhood, family, friends and patrons, and says the visit takes about an hour, with a text guide for mobile phones and wall texts beside the exhibits. The German page says a visit gives insight into the foundation's collection of original family possessions and instruments, and the English page profiles several of those instruments, from his childhood violin to his clavichord.[2][1]

The Residence. The foundation says the house was already nicknamed the Tanzmeisterhaus (dance master's house) in the early 18th century, that the family moved into an eight-room apartment on its second floor in 1773, and that it quickly became a social centre of Salzburg.[3] Part of the building was destroyed in October 1944; it was reconstructed to the old plans and reopened as a museum in 1996.[4] The Magic Flute House, the small wooden garden house from Vienna in which, according to some sources the foundation cites, Mozart wrote part of The Magic Flute, now stands in the Residence courtyard and is visited as part of the museum. The building also holds two collections that are not ordinary exhibition rooms: the Mozart Audio-Visual Collection, open free of charge during its own opening hours, and the Autograph Vault, which the foundation says can be visited only on special guided tours.[3]

Across the river

The two houses are on opposite sides of the Salzach. The foundation's school-tour page says that soon after moving "to the other side of the Salzach River", Mozart left the city.[6] XTOUR publishes no walking time between the two.

When exactly he left is phrased three ways in the sources XTOUR read. The foundation's English Residence page says he lived there until the end of 1780, "when he left Salzburg for good"; its German page says he lived there until 1780 before moving to Vienna; and the Austrian Commission for UNESCO says he lived and worked in his birth town until his break with Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo in 1781.[10][4][3] They are not necessarily in conflict, but they are not the same claim, and XTOUR does not merge them into one date.

Tickets, as the foundation describes them

Each house has its own ticket, and the foundation also sells a combined ticket for both. Its pages say the combined ticket is valid for 48 hours from the time it is validated on site and is not transferable to another person, and that tickets are sold online or at the museum box offices.[3] The foundation warns that online tickets are sold only through its own official webshop and that tickets bought from third-party providers will not be accepted at the Mozart museums. The Salzburg Card is accepted at both houses.[3][1] XTOUR does not publish the prices.

Whether a guided tour is included depends on which language you read. The English pages say the admission fee does not include a guided tour; the German pages say the prices include no guided tour "except publicly offered tours of the Mozart museums".[2][1] The tours page says guided tours are available only on request, and that groups not taking a guided tour need no reservation.[6]

Dated notices on 9 October 2026

The foundation's Birthplace page lists dated closures and open days; check it before a visit.[1] The Residence page listed the exhibition "Cosmos Magic Flute" until 6 January 2027 and "Mozart & Mozarts", on Mozart portraits and forgeries, from 16 January to 16 April 2027.[3] The German Residence page adds that special events and set-up work can close it temporarily or restrict visits.[4]

Where the foundation's pages differ

Two more differences are worth knowing before you quote the foundation. Its English Birthplace page calls the house "one of the most visited museums in the world"; its German page says it counts among the most visited museums in Europe.[2][1] XTOUR repeats neither as a fact. And the Residence page describes the Audio-Visual Collection as holding 50,000 sound titles and 5,000 video productions, while the German museums overview describes it as holding over 45,000 sound and data carriers.[5][3]

Choosing one or both

XTOUR's reading is that the choice is about which part of the story you want. The Birthplace is the house of his birth and childhood and the family's first apartment; the Residence covers the family's later Salzburg years, and adds the Magic Flute House and the foundation's archives. The foundation's own pages make one practical difference explicit: it describes the Birthplace as not barrier-free and the Residence as barrier-free through its Theatergasse entrance.[3][1] XTOUR has not checked either on site.

Mozart's Salzburg is wider than these two houses. The DomQuartier's page on the Residenz state rooms captions the Conference Room as the place where he gave his first concert; see the DomQuartier guide.[9] The Salzburg Festival has its own guide, and the Mozart Week (Mozartwoche) is advertised on the Mozarteum Foundation's own site, whose home page was offering tickets for Mozartwoche 2027 when XTOUR read it.[8] For the city, see Salzburg.

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR does not publish the opening hours or prices of either house, does not know how the "most visited" claims were measured, and has not checked step-free access beyond what the foundation's pages say. It has not read the foundation's visitor regulations in full.