The Authentic Salzburg Mozartkugel – a Tribute to Genius and Craftsmanship
Welcome to the Home of the Inventor of the Genuine Salzburg Mozartkugel – Made According to the Original Recipe from 1880.
As a tribute to the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, confectioner Rudolf Baumann created the very first Mozartkugel in Salzburg around 1880 – hand-turned and carefully wrapped in the characteristic silver foil with a blue Mozart head. Since the early 20th century, this sweet delicacy has been available at the inventor’s home: in Josef Holzermayr’s traditional confectionery shop at Alter Markt 7 – in the heart of Salzburg’s old town. Made with great care and in limited quantities, this sweet specialty remains an exclusive gift to this day – appreciated by connoisseurs around the globe.
Chronicle & History
The Holzermayr confectionery store – a family business in its sixth generation. The roots of the now internationally renowned Confiserie Josef Holzermayr date back to 1865. At that time, the success story of a company that has preserved the highest craftsmanship for generations began in the small village of Werfen. The eldest son of the family, Josef Holzermayr, worked as a gingerbread maker and wax puller at that time – a profession equivalent to today’s confectioner’s trade. With great craftsmanship, Holzermayr soon took over the traditional gingerbread house in Werfen. In the aforementioned Lebzelter House in Werfen, he produced and sold his handmade sweet specialties for the first time. His diligence and passion for the confectionery trade soon made Josef Holzermayr known beyond the region: He was present with his confectionery delicacies at church festivals and farmers’ markets throughout the country.
An important milestone followed:
Josef Holzermayr was appointed purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court and was henceforth allowed to supply Archduke Eugen and his high-ranking guests from all over the world with his sweet specialties. With nothing more than a simple handcart, but filled with great ambition and dedication to his craft, the committed confectioner regularly made his way along the old cart tracks to Hohenwerfen Fortress. There he presented his exquisite creations – an early testimony to the high esteem his products already enjoyed at that time.
Under the motto “Chocolate to enjoy”, Josef Holzermayr opened the confectionery shop of the same name on Mozartplatz in Salzburg’s old town. From here, Holzermayr made it his mission to make his products accessible to a wider audience. From now on, Holzermayr was mainly occupied with the production and sale of his sweet specialties – lovingly handmade and according to his own recipe. While the opening of a confectionery wholesale business formed a new and independent second pillar, the expansion into the Getreidegasse marked a conscious strengthening of direct sales – two paths, one ambition: From Salzburg, bakeries, confectioners, gingerbread makers, and specialist confectionery shops were supplied with selected imported goods – above all, high-quality chocolate for further processing.
In 1919, his son Rudolf Holzermayr moved his business from Getreidegasse to its current location at Alter Markt 7 – directly opposite the traditional Café Tomaselli. Today, the genuine Salzburger Mozartkugel stands for a balanced, classic taste experience at the highest level of confectionery art – and thus clearly stands out from comparable products. In production, the use of palm oil is deliberately avoided – out of conviction and with the claim to use only the best ingredients. Alcohol is also not used in the recipe to enable an intercultural and intergenerational enjoyment.
Especially the confectionery located in the sugar vault of the former Imperial Court Pharmacy found in the difficult years of the First World War as well as in the crisis years from 1927 to 1933 in Mrs. Maria Holzermayr, the owner’s daughter, a dedicated and self-sacrificing caretaker for decades. For more than 60 years, she devoted herself with great dedication to the continued existence of the traditional business and, in the post-war years of the Second World War, contributed significantly through her good relations with the US armed forces to ensuring that the supply of the Salzburg population ran smoothly and that the business itself flourished.
From 1950, Elisabeth Holzermayr took over the business at Alter Markt and again expanded it with a confectionery wholesale in Kaigasse 10. She shared the management of the company with her son Felix Holzermayr. From then on, confectioneries, retailers and specialist shops in the city of Salzburg, in the surrounding area, in Pinzgau and in the Salzkammergut were supplied with the company’s flagship product – the genuine Salzburger Mozartkugel.
Today, the company is run by the family in its sixth generation. After Elisabeth Rossmann (née Holzermayr), her daughter Gabriele Truschner-Rossmann took over the management. Meanwhile, her son Alexander Truschner is also in a leading position and continues the over 160-year confectionery tradition with great care.
