Salander was born in Vienna, where he studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music Vienna. He joined the Philharmonic of Vienna at the age of 26 and performed with them for 25 years (1913-1938). After nineteen years he became leader of the second violin section. During his last six years with the Philharmornic (1932-1938) he also served as President of the Orchestra.
After the Anschluss (1938), Salander was fired from the Philharmonic and fled to the USA (1941). There, he obtained a position with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. Later, he and his family moved to New York where he played with the New Friends of Music and with the Salzburg Chamber Players. He was honoured with the Nikolai Medal. Salander was also honoured with the Philharmoniker Ring (the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Ring of Honour).
His son, William, was a clarinetist, who had studied at the Vienna Academy of Music before the war and managed to escape to the USA before his father. Berthold Salander’s grandson Roger is a clarinet soloist and teacher at the Wiener Konservatorium.