From 1773 to 1787, the Mozarts lived at the so-called “Dance Master’s House”, standing on today’s Makartplatz. The spacious eight-room apartment on the first floor is now home to a museum.

We can trace the history of this house at No. 8 Makartplatz back to 1617. Actually, until 1685 it actually consisted of two buildings. It was first referred to as the “Dance Master’s House” in 1713: Since 1711, a certain Lorenz Spöckner had been offering dancing lessons there for the nobility, in preparation for their life at court.

Friends of the Spöckner family, the Mozarts moved into their apartment in 1773, shortly after their third journey to Vienna. The house on the Getreidegasse where Mozart was born had simply become too small for the family or to host social gatherings appropriately. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived at the house on Makartplatz until he moved to Vienna in 1781. His mother died in 1778 and sister Nannerl got married in 1784, moving to St. Gilgen. The father first lived alone in the apartment – and from 1785 with his grandson Leopold Alois Pantaleon, who had been entrusted to his care.

After Leopold Mozart’s death on 28 May 1787, the house saw several owners. On 16 October 1944, two thirds of the building was destroyed in an air raid. The part that had survived  was bought by the International Mozart Foundation in 1955. An office building was constructed on the site of the ruins, which the Foundation also bought up in 1989. After it had been demolished, the Mozart Residence was reconstructed true to the original building plans.

On 26 January 1996, the Mozart Residence celebrated its reopening. In the museum, you can see – in addition to Mozart’s fortepiano – many original documents and portraits. The exhibition provides an array of interesting facts about the history of the house, Mozart’s Salzburg years and the life of the Mozart family. A multi-vision show as well as rotating exhibitions, concerts and talks offer a very rich and diverse Mozart experience.