Burgenland

size: 4,000 km²

population: 286,000

capital: Eisenstadt

Burgenland is the most eastern state of Austria and lies next to Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia as well as the Austrian states Styria and Lower Austria. It covers a rather narrow area with a long extension north to south. Before the 1920s Burgenland was part of Hungary, later was lying at the iron curtain and its historic position at the border still influences the area today. Next to German important languages spoken in Burgenland are Croation, Hungarian and Romani.

Soft hills and low mountains at the border to the other Austrian states make up most of the landscape of Burgenland. The highest mountain is only 884 meters high. Burgenland lies at the rim of the plains of Hungary and also at the outer regions of the continental climate with very warm summers, cold winters and little rain. The climate and landscape make Burgenland a good pleace to grow wine.

Food from Burgenland is still influenced by its Hungarian roots, with lots of tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers and paprika. The poor farmers in Burgenland always ate lots of soup and stews and fish from the lake. An important product of Burganland are geese which are eaten at Christmas.

Near to the border to Lower Austria, at the motorway from Vienna, lies Burgenland's capital Eisenstadt, the smallest capital of an Austrian state. In the era of the Austrian Empire the most powerful family in northern Burgenland and parts of Hungary has been the hungarian Esterházy family, who built a palace in Eisenstadt. The building got its classicistic facade in the 19th Century and is still owned by the Esterházy family. Eisenstadt was also the home of the composer Haydn, who worked for the Esterházys for a long time and a museum has been installed in his former home. His grave can be visited in the Bergkirche. The museum of the state Burgenland shows the history and arts of this area.

East of Eisenstadt lies the Neusiedlersee, which reaches from northern Burgenlad to Hungary is the biggest steppe lake of Europe, meaning that almost all of the water is brought not through creeks but solely rainfall and leaves by evaporation. The lake covers an area of about 320 km² but is only up to 2 meters deep. The area is influenced by many different climates, from alpine to mediterranean and continental. Large areas of reed, water, steppes and salty meadows are the home of an incredible number of birds. Both, the Austrian and the Hungarian part of the lake, are a Nationalpark and also UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site.

North of the lake, in Mönchhof, is an open-air museum of 35 buildings which show the life in a village in Burganland between the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Many picturesque villages and small towns with typical farm buildings and underground wine cellars can be found around the lake. One of them is Mörbisch, where popular 19th Century oparettas are shown every summer on a stage in the lake. A very common sight in this area are also the large nests of storks on chimneys. Originally many of the houses around the lake had thatched roofs, but at some point most of them were replaced with tiles.

Further to the soth east, close to the border to Lower Austria lies the village Forchtenstein, and the medieval castle Forchtenstein on the mountain above it. The castle is owned by the Esterházy family since the 17th Century and since then has been home of their weapons collection, archives and cabinet of wonders.

In southern and central Burgenland there are many castles like the medieval castle in Güssing, the castle Lockenhaus or the Renaissance castle Lackenbach. Another thing that can be found all over Burgenland are thermal springs which are used for swimming, so there are many large spas.

Burgenland is the last of the nine states of Austria. From here the way can either go back to the west through Styria or Lower Austria or you turn eastwards. Budapest is only about three hours away, or you can reach the coast of Croatia in the same time, a way that many Austrians take each summer.