Haus der Salome Alt Renaissance Building

The Hoffmannsche Freihaus, better known as "Haus der Salome Alt" (House of Salome Alt), is one of the most remarkable buildings on the town square of Wels.

The house was originally a burgher house, which was built in the first half of the 16th century by Emperor Ferdinand I. The building served the Emperor as an accommodation during his visits to the Welser Castle.
 
In 1552 the “Freiherren von Hoffmann” took possession of the building and it became a “Freihaus” ("Hoffman's Freihaus"). A "Freihaus" is an aristocratic residence within the city walls, which was exempted from all urban obligations.
 
Salome Alt of Alenau, the longtime mistress of Salzburg’s Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, bought the house in 1622 and left it to her son Viktor, who sold it to Mathias Eisl von Eiselsberg in 1668. Today the house is privately owned.
 
The house has an interesting late gothic oriel from the middle of the 16th century with richly decorated architectural elements. Remarkable are the beautiful Renaissance frescoes from the second half of the 16th century, which were exposed in 1956 during renovations. The painting on the coat of arms on the three sides of the corner of the oriel, where the three emblems of the Hoffmann family are depicted (Salm, Hoffmann von Grünbühel and Polheim), are particularly impressive.