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Mönchsberg The Mönchsberg, at 508 meters (1,667 ft) above sea level, is one of five mountains in the city of Salzburg in Austria. It flanks the western side of Salzburg's historic city centre, and forms part of the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1][2] It is named after the Benedictine monks of St Peter's Abbey at the northern foot of the mountain.[1] GeologyThe Mönchsberg shapes Salzburg's historic townscape with its long drawn back consisting of conglomerate (Nagelfluh). The massif is a solidified river crushed stone, deposed as a delta into the interglacial see (Mindel-Riss Interglacial), which was not cleared away thereafter by the glaciers protected from the hard limestone of the adjacent Festungsberg and so remained.[citation needed] Water ingressing into numerous bursts and cleavages can lead to falling stones and demolition of whole rock sections: in the early morning of 16 July 1669 tons of rock fell off the mountain onto the Gstättengasse street below, killing about 230 citizens in their sleep and destroying two churches, a seminary and 13 houses. Since then the office of a Bergputzer (mountain inspector) has existed, filled by mountaineers who since 1778 annually dispose of loose rocks on a regular basis, and examine the condition of the mountain surface. Thus new disasters are prevented.[citation needed]  HistoryDriven into the walls of rock above of the St Peter's Cemetery, established about 700, are Early Christian hermitages, called Katakomben (catacombs), which however never were funeral places.[citation needed] Between 1137 and 1143, the Archbishop of Salzburg had the Stiftsarm branch of the Almkanal tunnelled through the mountain, in order to lead the waters into the city. This early adit system can be visited during the annual Almabkehr in September.[3] The Sigmundstor (colloquially Neutor) city gate, a 131 m (430 ft) long tunnel with elaborate Baroque portals, was built from 1764 to 1766 through the mountain at the behest of Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach; it is today one of the oldest street tunnels in Central Europe.[4][5][6] Large air-raid shelters in the mountain were built during World War II. After 1970 some of these were enlarged to an underground car park for more than 1400 vehicles.[citation needed] Mönchsberg todayThe Mönchsberg plateau offers a small-scale change of forests and meadows and therefore is a popular local recreation area for the Salzburg citizens and tourists.[1] Castles on the Mönchsberg include:
 Furthermore several historic fortifications offer panoramic views over the city, to the Untersberg, the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Salzkammergut mountains:
Not only due to Peter Handke's stay, the Mönchsberg is frequently called the “mountain of writers”: It plays a significant role in the autobiographic work of Thomas Bernhard, but often not in the positive sense: he referred to it as "the suicide mountain". The Austrian author Gerhard Amanshauser also was among the inhabitants of the Mönchsberg. In his autobiography “as a barbarian in the Prater” the mountain and the near Festungsberg are important.[citation needed] Mountains of SalzburgThe other mountains in Salzburg are:  Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mönchsberg, Salzburg. 47°48′N 13°03′E / 47.800°N 13.050°E Literature in German
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