story1

This is the house I was born in, at Number 9 Getriedegasse in Salzburg, today part of Austria--only it wasn't bright yellow in those days. I remember it as a very nice house--what little time I lived there, as we were constantly on the road. The picture on the right gives you an idea what it looked like through one of our windows.

...And this is the

bronze Baptismal font in Salzburg Cathedral

where I was christened Johannes Chrystostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

(The Amadeus part came later.)

A lot of things have been written about my Papa, and not all of them are very flattering. He was often jealous, spiteful and controlling. More often than not, he put money and opportunity ahead of the health and comfort of his family. But at the same time, he was a loving and patient father and teacher. He gave me my sense of self-confidence as well as my trainng--but perhaps more importantly, he gave me the self-discipline and iron will that helped me when times were dfficult and not so.happy. And for that precious gift, my music and I owe him everything.

The very nice lady on the left is my Mama, Maria Anna Pertl Mozart. She was born in the pretty lakeside town of St.Gilgen, which is not far from Salzburg. She thought that Papa was the wisest man in the world, so our household was full of fun and laughter as long as she was alive. From her, I inherited my good-natured sense of humor, my love of fun, and my honker of a nose!

The young lady on the right is my older sister, Marianna Mozart, known in the family as Nannerl--which is much like the English name, "Nancy". As you can see, she also has Mama's honker of a nose--and she shared a musical talent with Papa and myself. Although there was some degree of sibling rivalry between us, she was my best friend and confident when I was growing up.

And now for a little family history!

This medieval farmhouse I am standing next to is located in the tiny hamlet of Heimburg, Germany, and it once belonged to a yeoman farmer Andris Motzhart the Elder -- my great-great- great- great-great- great-great- great-great-great- great-grandfather. It is a small dairy farm, still in operation after more than six hundred years, and is in excellent condition! Do you see the head of wheat that actually came from the farm?

Heimburg is so small that there are fewer than a half-dozen houses in it, and it is a bump on the road to Augburg. Over the years, members of my family moved closer in to the big city since it provided much more opportunity for business. Many of my ancestors were masons and architects.

This pretty, early Baroque church was designed and built by my great-great-great-great- great-great- grandfather, Jerg Motzhart (you should pronounce his name "Yerk" Mozart--no jokes, please!) . He lived in the early 1600's, and the church is in the little village of Pfersee, somewhere between Heimburg and Augsburg.

It was my great-great-great-grandfather, David Motzhart the Younger who moved to Augsburg on a construction project as he was a mason. He is the one who got lazy and changed the spelling of our family name to "Mozart".

This pretty pink house is the family house in Augsburg. My Papa was born and raised here, and his brother, Uncle Alois, kept a book bindery on the ground floor. I understand he was a master craftsman.

Mama and I visited here briefly on our way to Paris, and it was here that I met my cute little "Kissin' Kuzzin", Maria Thekla. She is better known in history as "Das Bäsle", which means "Cusin" in the Schwabischer dialect. (That is the German equivilent of "Redneck English")

Meanwhile--

On the Pertl side of the family, this lovely lake is Wolfgangsee--or, Lake Wolfgang. You can just make out the town of St.Wolfgang beyond the trees. My grandfather, Wolfgang Pertl, was born here, and today it is a charming tourist mecca. I'm afraid neither the town nor the lake were named for us.

This is the St.Gilgen Rathaus -- which means the City Hall, and not just a place where political rats live. It is a very attractive building, graced with a statue of me as a child, playing the violin. This is interesting as I never set foot in St.Gilgen--but Mama was born there, and later on, Nannerl heself lived there for awhile.

This is the family house in St.Gilgen before my grandfather moved to Salzburg. Nannerl lived her for a short time with a female relative, after the death of her husband.

I was born on a cold winter day, January 27, 1756--but my story really starts before that, with my father, Leopold, whose portrait is depicted at the right. In his arms are two of his greatest treasures, both born the same year--his Violin School textbook, and of course, me!

Papa was born in the beautiful medieval city of Augsberg, Germany, famous for its proud history, its wealthy merchants, and its proxemity to the Black Forest and the elves. He was the only Mozart to have attended the University of Salzburg, but he was asked to leave in his sophomore year due to poor grades and conduct "unfitting " a student. In spite of all that, he chose to make Salzburg his home.

This is Salzburg at night, illuminated by 20th Century technology. What a beautiful jewel of a city it has become--quite unlike the dull little place it was in my time. The two golden towers in the center belong to Salzburg Cathedral, where I was baptized. The distant, greenish buildings in the background are a mountaintop fortress built by the Prince-Archbishops who needed it from time to time so they could hide from angry citizens. There is also a casino in the hills (which are alive with money).

This is a street location sign near a bus stop, which is there to help tourists know where they are, and to find local landmarks. If you look closely, you'll see that the map is actually a blue shilouette of my profile.

As you can see, my wife's face is painted by sidewalk artists as often as my own. Much more on her later, but the people of Salzburg adore her, and they owe her a great deal.

The Sign of the Golden Arches on my very own street! You've no idea how many Happy Meals Nannerl and I ate at this place.

You can eat a Grossmäc...

And a Fischmäc...

AND THIS is my parent's bedroom--very comfortable in its day.

Of course, this is not the original furniture. if it were, you would still be able to read the math puzzles I scratched into the footboard. Somewhere in here, I think I once lost a small toy. I wonder if it is still here?

I could now bore you intensely with the same old stories of how I began to play piano at three, the violin at five, and wrote my first composition on paper around the same time ----- although I was making up my own music long before that !

I could also bore you with yet another retelling of how papa thought he had a duty to God to show off his talented children (Nannerl and I) to all the Crowned Heads of Europe, while making a great deal of money in the process. But not just now.

Actually, one of my biggest childhood ambitions had very little to do with music. Would you believe that I really did want to be king over all I could survey? Seriously. I shall tell you more about it on the next page...

A very good question! He was Anton Mozart, a successful portrait artist of the 1500's -- alas, an artist largely forgotten today, except he was an ancestor of mine. The detail above shows him holding his sketchpad, taking notes so that he could paint himself into the scene. Such talent runs in my family!

( A little known fact - my Papa, Leopold Mozart, had hidden artistic talents apart from music. He painted pictures for our air-gun targets, and did a lovely little watercolor of Nannerl and myself as teenagers, on the back of a postcard.)

All text, original photos and original artwork by "Daisy Brambletoes"
are the property of
Cheryl W. Duval and Off-Note-Productions.
They are not to be used without permission.
Art & photos by others, have been credited whenever possible.
The character and likeness of Agent K.007 is protected by US copyright
and may not be used without written permission.
So There!

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