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Electorate of Salzburg Kurfürstentum Salzburg (German) | |||||||||
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| 1803–1805 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Salzburg between the Bavarian and Habsburg lands | |||||||||
| Capital | Salzburg | ||||||||
| Government | Principality | ||||||||
| Elector | |||||||||
• 1803–1805 | Ferdinand III | ||||||||
| Historical era | Napoleonic Wars | ||||||||
• Archbishopric secularized | February 11, 1803 | ||||||||
| April 27, 1803 | |||||||||
| December 26, 1805 | |||||||||
| Currency | Salzburg Thaler | ||||||||
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TheElectorate of Salzburg (German:Kurfürstentum Salzburg orKursalzburg), occasionally known as theGrand Duchy of Salzburg, was anelectoral principality of theHoly Roman Empire from 1803–05,[1] the short-lived successor state of thePrince-Archbishopric of Salzburg.
In 1800 the territory of the Prince-Archbishopric had been occupied byFrench forces during theWar of the Second Coalition, whereby Prince-ArchbishopCount Hieronymus von Colloredo fled toVienna. Augmented by theBerchtesgaden Provostry and parts of the former prince-bishoprics ofEichstätt andPassau, his lands were reorganized as the Electorate of Salzburg, created for ArchdukeFerdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine, younger brother of EmperorFrancis II.
Ferdinand had held theGrand Duchy of Tuscany until 1801, when Emperor Francis had to cede the rule over Tuscany to France andLouis of Bourbon-Parma according to theTreaty of Lunéville. The grand duke, on good terms withNapoleon, reached his compensation with the former archbishopric in December 1802. The secularisation was accomplished, when Prince-Archbishop Colloredo in his Vienna exile formally resigned in favour of Ferdinand on 11 February 1803. Two weeks later, the episcopal territory wassecularized as part of theGerman Mediatisation (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss).
Ferdinand turned out to be a capable ruler. He established theFaculty of Medicine at theSalzburg University and installed the distinguished pedagogueFranz Michael Vierthaler to introduce aneducation reform. He also ordered the improvement of mountain pass roads toBad Gastein,Sankt Johann im Pongau andRadstadt, while his economic reforms roused opposition by the Salzburgguilds. When in October 1805 French troops again moved in during theWar of the Third Coalition, Ferdinand, like his predecessor Archbishop Colloredo, had to leave his residence for his brother's court in Vienna.
Upon the crushing Austrian defeat in theBattle of Austerlitz, the Salzburg electorate was dissolved by thePeace of Pressburg signed on 26 December 1805. The lands of the former archbishopric with Berchtesgaden passed to theAustrian Empire, while the Eichstätt and Passau territories were annexed by theKingdom of Bavaria. Ferdinand was again compensated, this time with the newly establishedElectorate of Würzburg.
With the final dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire in 1806, the electorate was re-established as the AustrianDuchy of Salzburg and Francis added "Duke of Salzburg" to his title asEmperor of Austria. However, Salzburg remained an object of interests and negotiations during theNapoleonic Wars. After theWar of the Fifth Coalition it passed to Bavaria according to the 1809Treaty of Schönbrunn, incorporated into theSalzach District together with TyroleanKitzbühel,Traunstein andRied im Innkreis in 1810.
The Salzburg region was finally divided between Austria and Bavaria in the 1814Peace of Paris. From 1816 the major part east of theSalzach river was subsequently administered fromLinz withinUpper Austria, until the Salzburg duchy was re-established in 1850.
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Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||
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