Mozart was not Austrian

Mozart was not Austrian

News

norman lebrecht

January 09, 2025

Bavarian Radio is claiming him as a local lad, whose family spoke German with a strong Swabian accent.

The Mozarts lived in Augsburg from the 15th century: there is a plaque in the Fuggerei housing complex to prove it. They were bakers and bricklayers.

Leopold Mozart, the composer’s father was the first to leave home, journeying to Salzburg to study and eventually landing a fourth violin seat in the court orchestra. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, but his roots were way to the west and his father never shed the clunky Augsburg accent, or so they say.

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