1/4 Klippe Thaler - Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau

Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Archbishop of Salzburg from 1587, was a nephew of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo and used his position to reshape Salzburg along Counter-Reformation and Italian Renaissance lines — demolishing the medieval cathedral and beginning the architectural transformation that defines the city today. His reign ended not in death but in imprisonment; a territorial dispute with Bavaria over the salt trade led to his forced abdication in 1612 and confinement at Hohensalzburg, where he died five years later.

Klippe issues from Salzburg in this period were struck as presentation pieces rather than circulation currency, their square format signaling deliberate departure from ordinary coinage.