Eisenstadt

Wednesday, August 11

Today we set off for the Alps.  On our way, we stopped off in Eisenstadt, which is located in the Burgenland of Austria.  Previously, the Burgenland had been part of Hungary.  Today it is a small town of 14,000 people.  During the time of the Austrian Empire, the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt was one of the main seats of the family.  The Esterhazys were Hungarian aristocrats who were a great asset to the Habsburgs.  They were the greatest Hungarian allies of the Habsburgs from their rise to power until the end of the empire.  After the fall of the empire, they retained the Austrian lands but lost their aristocratic titles.  They remained royalty in Hungary and retained their 500,000 acres until 1945, when they lost everything to the Communist state.  To this day, the Esterhazys privately own their hereditary homes and land in Austria.  Because they are still privately held, we were unable to tour the inside of the palace.  

The palace began as a Medieval fortress.  It has 250 rooms surrounding an inner courtyard.  The large palace with extensive landholdings demonstrates the phenomena of the larger landholdings in the eastern realm of the empire.  The Esterhazys were originally from an isle in the Danube called Galanta.  Nicholas Esterhazy, a magnate from Hungary, began to establish the influence of the family.  He was a baron and later elevated to an earl.  The family achieved greater prominence when Nicholas’ son Paul became a prince.  Leopold I gave him this privilege and Paul became Paul I.   The Esterhazys continued to grow their power and influence through diplomatic marriages, not unlike the Habsburgs themselves.  

The Esterhazys were great patrons of the arts and their family employed Haydn at their court in Eisenstadt.  Paul II was the first patron of Haydn.  His son Nicholas II continued this patronage after the death of his father.  With this generous patronage, Haydn became the most successful musician of his day.  Not only were the Esterhazys great patrons of the art, they were also patrons of the Catholic church.  This patronage took us to our next tour.  We visited the church that Paul II commissioned in 1710.  This church is incredibly unique as it has a circular form that is a walking tour of the Passion of the Christ.  Life size statues were built so explain the life of Christ to the religious pilgrims that journeyed here.  Also in the church is the tomb of Haydn.  Although he died in Vienna in 1809, the Esterhazys had him returned to Eisenstadt to buried.