Orchestra rehearsal space at the Schüttkasten

In 1693 Archbishop Johann Ernst Thun had galleries carved out of the rock of the Mönchsberg for his summer riding school, now the Felsenreitschule. A little later, in 1696, and on the other side of the Court Stables, today's Großes Festspielhaus, he had grain and hay lofts built, called the Schüttkasten, which has served as a modern communications centre for the Salzburg Festival since 1996. The building houses the Ticket Office, the Archives, and in the basement, a large gallery space. For the staircase the Austrian painter Hubert Schmalix, who lives in Los Angeles, created a fresco called Orpheus and Eurydice. On the north side is the entrance to the rehearsal hall, highly praised by musicians for its acoustics.