Stieglkeller

The Stiegl Brewery was first documented on June 16, 1492 — the same year Columbus sailed for America — making it one of the oldest private breweries in Austria. The name "Stiegl" comes from a small set of steps (Stiegl in dialect) that once stood beside the original brewhouse on the Gstätten. By the 17th century, there were over a hundred brewers in the Salzburg region, but Stiegl had the highest capacity of the twelve breweries operating within the city walls. Even Mozart drank Stiegl beer, and given his fondness for Salzburg's beer gardens, probably more than was strictly advisable.

The Stieglkeller itself was born of necessity. In the early 19th century, the brewery needed cold storage, and in 1820 it acquired a building at Festungsgasse — the steep lane leading up to the fortress — and carved storage cellars directly into the Mönchsberg rock. The beer was lagered in the mountain, kept cool by stone and darkness. In 1838, the brewery received an official licence to serve beer from these cellars, and the Stieglkeller has been pouring pints on the fortress approach ever since.

Munich architect Franz Zell gave the beer hall its current appearance in 1925-26, adding terraced gardens and arcaded dining halls that cascade down the hillside. The views are extraordinary: you sit on a terrace cut into the cliff, looking across the old town rooftops while drinking beer that has been brewed to the same standards for over five hundred years. Below you, tourists trudge up the steep path to the fortress. Above you, the fortress looms. It is an excellent place to take a break.

The Stiegl brewery moved its main production facility out of the city centre in 1912, but the Stieglkeller remains on Festungsgasse, a beer garden literally built into a mountain, serving the same city that has been drinking this beer for over half a millennium.