Max Reinhardt bought the then-dilapidated Schloss Leopoldskron at Leopoldskronstraße 56-58 in 1918. He turned it into an internationally known meeting place for theatre makers. For teens, his story shows how strongly a single person and a single building can shape a festival that still exists today.
Anyone who wants to understand why the Salzburg Festival began specifically in Salzburg finds, in Reinhardt's biography, a concrete date and a concrete place instead of a vague cultural story.
Who Max Reinhardt was – explained briefly
Schloss Leopoldskron as a starting point
Reinhardt was born Maximilian Goldmann in 1873 in Baden bei Wien. He bought Schloss Leopoldskron in 1918 and had it lavishly restored. From there, he prepared a new festival together with the writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the composer Richard Strauss.
The first Jedermann performance in 1920
On 22.08.1920 at 6 pm, the first performance of Hofmannsthal's "Jedermann" took place on the Domplatz. Alexander Moissi played the title role, and Reinhardt directed. Further performances followed on 23, 25 and 26 August 1920. That opened the first season of the Salzburg Festival, a format still performed on the same square every summer.
Where the work becomes concrete in Salzburg
The Salzburg Festival chronicle from salzburg.info documents Reinhardt's purchase of the castle in 1918, the Festival's founding in 1920, and names Max-Reinhardt-Platz in today's Festival district as a place of remembrance.
salzburg.info explicitly describes the castle as the "cradle of the Salzburg Festival," linking place and founding story.
The National Fund of the Republic of Austria documents, under the title "The Leopoldskron File," the 1938 expropriation of the castle as a case of Nazi Aryanization.
Why the Altstadt connection stays this concrete
Two places carry this story: Schloss Leopoldskron as the place of preparation, and the Domplatz in the Altstadt as the performance venue since 1920. Both are still publicly accessible or in use today.
The Festival chronicle, salzburg.info, and the National Fund show three angles on the same place: Festival history, civic cultural storytelling, and the reckoning with Nazi injustice. This source picture was checked again for SalzburgTeen on 03.08.2026.
Why this can matter to teens
For teens, this profile is strong because it shows how a single performance became an institution that still runs today.
The 1938 expropriation of the castle as "Jewish property" also makes visible how quickly political persecution could destroy a successful cultural career. Reinhardt emigrated to the US and died in exile in New York in 1943.
Age fit and getting started
The profile fits from age 12, since the Festival history is easy to follow on its own. For the part on the 1938 expropriation as Nazi injustice, a companion or teacher helps younger teens place the historical context.
The Domplatz is freely accessible and free to visit; for Jedermann performances or castle tours, prices and registration follow the respective official sites.
How to connect with this path
- If you're interested in the castle's history, start with the Festival chronicle on Max Reinhardt.
- If you want to read the civic account of the Festival's founding, check salzburg.info.
- Want to try theatre or performance yourself? Then also check Theatre and dance in Salzburg: SEAD, Spielclubs and Act Out.
- If Salzburg's Festival history beyond Reinhardt interests you, also read the profile of Herbert von Karajan.
What matters so this profile stays honest
The statements here rely on the Festival chronicle from salzburg.info, the salzburg.info magazine, and the documentation of the National Fund. Last checked on 03.08.2026.
The profile names the 1938 expropriation openly as Nazi injustice and presents Reinhardt's emigration and death in exile factually rather than softening it.
Conclusion
Max Reinhardt's Salzburg trail can be traced through a purchase year, an address, and a performance date: Schloss Leopoldskron from 1918, and the first Jedermann on 22.08.1920 on the Domplatz. For teens, what counts is less the fame than the question of how a single event became an institution that still runs today, and how political persecution interrupted this story in 1938.