Text: Ulrike Kienzle

The first journey was that of the wunderkind. Mozart’s father Leopold had set out from Salzburg with his family in June 1763 in his own coach to present to the world the absolutely incredible ability of his two children Wolfgang and Nannerl.The journey took them to Paris and London and on their way there to Frankfurt. Not until November 1766 did the family return to Salzburg.

When one considers that the Mozart family travelled continuously for over three years, one has to ask oneself:What did the children learn? How did they spend their days? How did a seven-year old cope with being separated from friends and toys and his home surroundings for so long? The family lived in the coach and in hotel rooms. There, the children were taught by their father. Both learned effortlessly -languages, mathematics, social graces – and of course,music.At Augsburg, Leopold bought a «clavierl» a clavichord for travelling, on which they children could practice on their journey. One does not have the impression that the children were unhappy. On the contrary - «Wolfgang is quite extraordinarily funny, but also bold» wrote Leopold from Frankfurt to a friend in Salzburg. By «bold», he meant high-spirited, naughty, wild – just like all children of their age.

In his concert announcements, Leopold was not short on grandiose promises: He wanted to: «proclaim a wonder, which God has allowed to be born in Salzburg». His children were always able to fulfil these expectations effortlessly, if not even exceed them. The cute seven-year old especially, with his chubby young face in the old-fashioned gala uniform with wig and sword, was always enthusiastically applauded, cheered, showered with presents and kissed.

Mozart’s second journey to Frankfurt in the autumn of 1790 occurred under less fortunate circumstances. A year prior to his death, the composer, threatened by financial debt and decline in society, travelled to Frankfurt for the imperial coronation of Leopold II. His hope to be invited to be part of the court orchestra was not fulfilled. The emperor preferred the works of Salieri and so Mozart had to travel at his own expense and pawn his silver to pay for the journey. Nevertheless, he travelled in his own coach and in the company of his brother-in-law Franz Hofer, in a manner in keeping with his social status.The increasingly desperate petitions to the lodge brother Michael Puchberg come from the same year, 1790. In a debenture bond, dated 1st of October 1790 (Mozart was already in Frankfurt at this time), he pawned all his furnishings in exchange for a loan of 1000 florins. He was obviously hoping to bring a respectable amount of money back from Frankfurt to make repayments at home. Mozart, like his father 27 years before, was banking on the wealth of the city. But his own concert was completely drowned in the chaotic hype of the coronation and in the abundance of musical, military and social events. Although he was received with admiration and recognition by the small audience, financially, it seemed the venture had not been worthwhile.

And finally, Mozart’s youngest son Franz Xaver spent some time in Frankfurt – he stayed for a month. He, like his father, was a composer and travelling virtuoso and lived his life in his father’s shadow. From early on, his mother, Konstanze, raised him to be a wunderkind.As a five-year old, he sang Papageno’s bird-catcher song from the «Magic Flute» before invited guests and he soon played the piano sonatas of his father in public. He called himself «Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Junior» and wrote elegant compositions in the style of early Romanticism. He was by no means ungifted but was not a genius. After a post as a music teacher with a wealthy family, he settled in Lemberg and from there in May 1819, he set out on a great concert tour through Europe. We know a lot about this journey, because Franz Xaver wrote a letter diary for his sweetheart who he had left behind at home. On 5th of December 1820 in the «Rothe Haus» on the Zeil, he witnessed a memorable performance of Mozart’s Requiem organised by the newly founded «Cäcilien-Verein» and conducted by Johann Nepomuk Schelble. Franz Xaver made many contacts within the Frankfurt music scene, gave a very well received concert and at home in Lemberg – inspired by Frankfurt’s model - founded his own Cäcilien-Verein.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart travelled a lot within Europe. He never endured the constraints of his hometown Salzburg for long. He also left Vienna quite often and as a result, quite a few cities can claim to be real «Mozart cities»: Salzburg and Vienna, Mannheim, Munich and Augsburg, London, Paris and Prague. What about Frankfurt? Mozart visited Frankfurt twice, at the beginning and at the end of his life.

Another important chapter (but one which we cannot address in more detail here) is the history of the performance of Mozart’s music in Frankfurt. His operas were performed here from early on, usually only a few months after their debut performance and they became a central part of the repertoire. In 1838, Frankfurt citizens, with their great appreciation of art, founded the Mozart Foundation – one of the first institutions to sponsor young composers. So is Frankfurt a «proper» Mozart city? Yes and no. Of course Frankfurt cannot compete with Augsburg or Mannheim, let alone with Salzburg or Vienna.

But yet, Frankfurt was an important city in the history of the Mozart family. Leopold wrote some of his first letters here and by his own admittance, experienced so much, that he could have written about it for days. The two stays of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Frankfurt coincide with turning points in his biography - the celebrated wunderkind and the man marked by troubles, forced to curry the favour of the rich – these are stark contrasts. His son, for his part, brought back from Frankfurt a lot of inspiration. Thus, Frankfurt’s place among the Mozart cities is not a central one, but it is nevertheless a worthy one. With this small city guide, using old and new Illustrations, documents and texts, we would like to guide you to the most important Mozart sites, or rather to what these places have now become, because the catastrophe of the Second World War made sure that not one of the houses in which the three Mozart stayed, has survived. Old Frankfurt has vanished, but its memory can be brought back to life.Therefore we have deliberately contrasted the Illustrations of the original buildings with photos of modern Frankfurt. And we have added the historical city map by Matthäus Merian dated 1761, as well as a section from a map dated 1822 to our special edition. If we inspire you to take a walk through the Mozart’s Frankfurt we describe, then perhaps you will be able to recreate the vanished houses in your imagination.

The two stays of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Frankfurt coincide with turning points in his biography - the celebrated wunderkind and the man marked by troubles, forced to curry the favour of the rich – these are stark contrasts.