The search for works of art from Salzburg that were believed to be lost ended with the Habsburgs, who helped themselves to the prince-archbishop’s treasuries during the Napoleonic Wars.
A gold-colored clock adorns the presidential office in the Vienna Hofburg today. Although the Habsburg Elector Ferdinand actually wanted to bring the work of art to Florence, the Salzburg property ended up in Vienna during the Napoleonic Wars. Today it stands as an example of many cultural assets that found their way from Salzburg all over the world. In 2016, a team of experts began building a digital cultural assets database that records the path of all Salzburg art objects that were thought to be lost. The more than 2,000 entries show which works of art were transported from Salzburg to Habsburg Vienna over the past centuries. The aim is to expand the database to other countries. Objects from the treasuries of the prince-archbishops can also be found in museums in Paris, Florence, London, St. Petersburg and Los Angeles. Maintained by the Salzburg Museum, the digital database is freely available to anyone interested.
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