Nannerl, aged 11, and Wolfgang embarked on a multi-year European tour, performing before royalty and nobility as celebrated child prodigies.
Beginning in 1763, Leopold Mozart took his two musically gifted children, Nannerl (age 11) and Wolfgang (age 7), on an extensive tour of European courts that would last more than three years, taking the family through Munich, Paris, London, The Hague, and numerous German cities. Nannerl performed as a harpsichordist of remarkable skill, often billed alongside her brother, and contemporary accounts and reviews praised her virtuosity as equal to Wolfgang's during these early years.
This tour was historically significant because it represented one of the earliest and most extensive examples of child prodigies being showcased across the courts of Europe, and Nannerl was, for a period, considered just as remarkable a performer as her now more famous brother. Newspapers and court chroniclers of the era frequently commented on the 'wonder children' of Salzburg, with Nannerl often named first due to her age and skill.
The tour's legacy is complex: while it cemented Wolfgang's path toward becoming one of history's greatest composers, it marked the beginning of Nannerl's professional career being curtailed. As she approached marriageable age (around 18), social convention dictated that she cease public performances, illustrating starkly the different trajectories afforded to male and female musical prodigies in the 18th century, despite comparable early talent.