In 1773, after the house in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had been born became too small, the entire Mozart family moved across the river to the ‘Tanzmeisterhaus’ on the square then known as Hannibalplatz. The building now accommodates a museum showing the various stations of the lives of the Mozart family. The building is now commonly known as ‘Mozarts Wohnhaus’ and no-one knows where Hannibalplatz is as its latter-day name is Markartplatz.
The new, more spacious home provided enough room to entertain friends and musicians. From 1773 until 1787 a total of 232 letters are known to have been written by the Mozart family from this address, and a total of 215 letters exist that were delivered to this address. In the course of history many letters have been lost or destroyed. Mozart’s mother died in Paris in 1778, and in 1784 his sister, Nannerl, married and moved to St. Gilgen. Leopold now occupied the spacious home on his own. On the 25th July 1785 his grandson Leopold Alois Pantaleon was born here and placed in his care. Following Leopold Mozart’s death on the 28th May 1787 ownership of the house changed hands several times.
