Mozart Balls - Probably the sweetest temptation of Salzburg…

Toward the end of the 19th century confectioner Paul Fürst set up shop in Salzburg’s Brodgasse and began to experiment with sweet treats in his confectionery shop. In 1890 he presented his “Mozart bonbon” to the public. Customers loved the dark chocolate ball filled with nougat and pistachio marzipan.

The round delicacy, which was quickly promoted to “Mozart ball,” also scored points at the 1905 industrial show in Paris. The fascination of the sweet ball seems unbroken. A new gold medal was issued to the Mozart ball in 2005 at the confectionary business showcase in upper-Austria’s Wals.

Since Paul Fürst initially failed to register his creation as a patent, quickly numerous imitators sprang up, all of whom manufactured Mozart balls industrially in large quantities. Austria’s largest producer is the Mirabell Company in Grödig, which annually brings 90 million Mozart balls to market.

The original Salzburg Mozart balls however are still only fashioned at the Fürst confectionery. Following the passed down recipe, annually more than one million marzipan nougat balls are placed on wooden sticks and dipped into the chocolate coating. Their trademark is the blue-silver tinfoil. The genuine Mozart ball must come from the Fürst confectionery shop in the Brodgasse and its branches in the Getreidegasse, at the Ritzerbogen and opposite the castle Mirabell. Via Internet these sweets are sent away into the entire world.

The artist Stephan Balkenhols appears to be a friend of the Mozart ball. His “Sphaera” at the Kapitelplatz could be understood as the largest Mozart ball in the world – and this not just by those with a sweet tooth.