This article is about the Austrian state Burgenland. For the German district, seeBurgenlandkreis. For the region in Romania known as Burzenland in German, seeȚara Bârsei.
Federal State of Burgenland Bundesland Burgenland(German) Bundesland Burgnland(Bavarian) Savezna zemlja Gradišće(Chakavian) Őrvidék Szövetségi Tartomány(Hungarian)
Burgenland (Austrian German pronunciation:[ˈbʊrɡn̩land]ⓘ;Hungarian:Őrvidék;Croatian:Gradišće;Austro-Bavarian:Burgnland;Slovene:Gradiščanska;Slovak:Hradsko) is the easternmost and least populousstate ofAustria. It consists of twostatutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of 171 municipalities. It is 166 km (103 mi) long from north to south but much narrower from west to east (5 km or 3 mi wide atSieggraben). The region is part of theCentrope Project. The name of Burgenland was invented/coined in 1922, after its territories became part of Austria. The population of Burgenland as of 1 January 2024 is 301,951. Burgenland's capital isEisenstadt.[3]
The firstGermanic people to settle in this region were theOstrogoths, who came to Pannonia in AD 380. The Ostrogoths became allies ofRome and were allowed to settle in Pannonia, being tasked to defend theRoman borders. In the 5th century, the area was conquered by theHuns, but after their defeat, an independent Kingdom of the Ostrogoths in Pannonia was formed. The territory of present-day Burgenland became part of the ItalianKingdom of Odoacer, but at the end of the 5th century the Ostrogothic kingTheodoric conquered this kingdom and restored Ostrogothic administration in western Pannonia.
In the 6th century, the territory was included in another Germanic state, theKingdom of the Lombards. However, the Lombards subsequently left towardsItaly and the area came under the control of theAvars. For a brief period in the 7th century, the area became part of theSlavic State ofSamo, however it subsequently came back under Avar control. After the Avar defeat at the end of the 8th century, the area became part of theFrankish Empire. After theBattle of Lechfeld (orAugsburg) in 955, newGermanic settlers came to the area.[4]
In 1043,Henry III and KingSamuel Aba of Hungary signed a peace treaty. On 20 September 1058,Agnes of Poitou andAndrew I of Hungary met to negotiate the border.[5] The area of Burgenland remained the western frontier of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary until the 16th century.
The majority of the population was Germanic, except for the Hungarian border guards of the frontier March (Gyepű). Germanic immigration from neighbouring Austria was also continuous in the Middle Ages.
Habsburg mortgages in Burgenland between the 15th and 17th centuries
In 1440 the territory of present-day Burgenland was controlled by the Habsburgs of Austria, and in 1463 the northern part of it (with the town ofKőszeg) became a mortgage-territory according to the peace treaty ofWiener Neustadt. In 1477 KingMatthias Corvinus of Hungary had retaken the area, but in 1491 it was mortgaged again by KingVladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary to EmperorMaximilian I. In 1647 EmperorFerdinand II returned it to the Kingdom of Hungary (which itself was a Habsburg possession in this time).
In the 16th century, the medievalKingdom of Hungary lost its independence and its northwestern part that was not conquered by the Ottoman Empire was included in the Habsburg Empire. This Habsburg possession was known asRoyal Hungary and it included territory of present-day Burgenland and western Hungary. Royal Hungary still had counties. What is today Burgenland was in those times the Moson, Sopron and Vas counties of Hungary.
The Kingdom of Hungary as divided into 3 parts
In the 16th and 17th centuries GermanProtestant refugees arrived in Western Royal Hungary to shelter fromthe religious wars of theHoly Roman Empire, particularly from the suppression of the Reformation in Austrian territories, then ruled by the staunchly Roman Catholic Habsburgs. After the Habsburg military victory against the Ottomans at the end of the 17th century, the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary was enlarged to include much of the territory of the former medieval Kingdom of Hungary. In the 17th and 18th centuries the region of Western Hungary was dominated by the wealthy Catholic landowning families, for example theEsterházys andBatthyánys. In 1867, the Habsburg Empire was transformed into the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
According to the 1910 census 291,800 people lived on the territory of present-day Burgenland. Among them 217,072 were German-speaking (74%), 43,633 Croatian-speaking (15%) and 26,225 (9%) Hungarian-speaking.Roma people were counted according to their native language.
In December 1918, theRepublic of Heinzenland was declared by Austrian politicianHans Suchard [de] with the goal of the territory being annexed by Austria. However, it was taken over within two days by Hungary.
The area had also been discussed as the site of aCzech Corridor to Yugoslavia. The decision on "German West Hungary" (Deutsch-Westungarn) was fixed in the treaties ofSaint Germain andTrianon. Despite diplomatic efforts byHungary, the victorious parties of World War I set the date of Burgenland's official unification with Austria for 28 August 1921. However, on that day sharpshooters with the support of Hungary prevented the establishment of Austrian police control and customs.Lieutenant ColonelPál Prónay and his men, theRongyos Gárda, defended western Hungary from occupation by Austrian officials and forces of the AustrianGendarmerie. Prónay had help from Hungarians and Croatians who did not want to live under Austrian rule, leading to theUprising in West Hungary in 1921. Prónay occupied the whole area and created the state ofLajtabánság.
With the help of Italian diplomatic mediation in theVenice Protocol, the crisis was resolved in the autumn of 1921, when Hungary committed to disarm the sharpshooters by 6 November 1921. This was in exchange for a plebiscite on the unification of certain territories, including Ödenburg (Sopron), the designated capital of Burgenland, and eight surrounding villages.The vote took place from 14 to 16 December, and resulted in a clear (but doubted by Austria)[citation needed] vote of the people who inhabited the Sopron district to be part of Hungary. Consequently, the territory was incorporated into Austria, except for the Sopron district which was united with Hungary.[6][7][8]
Further border adjustments were made in 1922 by the League of Nations border committee. After their decision was approved on 17 September, 10 Settlements were returned to Hungary. That included 8 settlements in the Pinka valley: Kisnarda, Nagynarda, Felsőcsatár, Alsócsatár, Németkeresztes, Magyarkeresztes, Horvátlövő and Pornóapáti, as well as Rendek (Liebing) and Rőtfalva (Rattersdorf) north of Kőszeg. The last two were handed back to Austria in a swap agreement on 22 November in exchange for Szentpéterfa and Ólmod.[9]
A memorial inKrensdorf to soldiers who died in the two World Wars
In contrast to all the other present Austrian states, which had been part ofCisleithania, Burgenland did not constitute a specificKronland, and when it was formed it did not have its own regional political and administrative institutions such as aLandtag (representative assembly) andStatthalter (Imperial governor).
On 18 July 1922, the first elections for the parliament of Burgenland took place. Various interim arrangements were required due to the changeover from Hungarian to Austrian jurisdiction. The parliament decided in 1925 onEisenstadt as the capital of Burgenland, and moved from the various provisional estates throughout the country to the newly builtLandhaus in 1929.
The first Austrian census in 1923 registered 285,600 people in Burgenland. The ethnic composition of the province had changed slightly: the percentage of German speakers increased compared to 1910 (227,869 people, 80%) while the percentage of Hungarian speakers rapidly declined (14,931 people, 5%). This was due mainly to the emigration of the Hungarian civil servants and intellectuals after the territory was ceded to Austria.
In 1923, emigration to theUnited States of America, which started in the late 19th century, reached its climax; in some places up to a quarter of the population went overseas.
After theNazi GermanAnschluss of Austria, the administrative unit of Burgenland was dissolved. Northern and central Burgenland joined the district ofNiederdonau (Lower Danube) while southern Burgenland joinedStyria.[citation needed] The Jews of Burgenland were forced to emigrate in the immediate aftermath of theAnschluss.[10]
The policy ofGermanization also affected other minorities, especiallyBurgenland Croats and Hungarians. Minority schools were closed and the use of their native language discouraged.
In 1944, the Nazis began to build theSüdostwall (South-east wall) with the help of mostly Jewish forced labor and collaborating inhabitants. Soviet troops crossed the Hungarian–Austrian border during theVienna offensive and were only somewhat delayed by the unfinished fortifications. In the last days of the Nazi regime many executions and death marches of Jewish forced laborers took place.
As of 1 October 1945 Burgenland was reestablished with Soviet support and given to the Soviet forces in exchange forStyria, which was in turn occupied by theUnited Kingdom.
UnderSoviet occupation, people in Burgenland had to endure a period of serious mistreatment and an extremely slow economic progress, the latter induced by the presence of Soviet troops which discouraged investment.[citation needed] The Soviet occupation ended with the signing of theAustrian Independence Treaty ofVienna in 1955 by the Occupying Forces.
The brutally crushedHungarian Revolution on 23 October 1956 resulted in a wave of Hungarian refugees on the Hungarian–Austrian border, especially at the Andau Bridge (Brücke von Andau). They were received by the inhabitants of Burgenland with overwhelming hospitality.
In 1957, the construction of the "anti-Fascist Protective Barrier" resulted in a complete sealing off of the area under Soviet influence from the rest of the world, turning the Hungarian-Austrian border next to Burgenland into a deadly zone of minefields and barbed wire (on the Hungarian side of the border): part of theIron Curtain. Even during the era of the Iron Curtain, local trains between the north and south of Burgenland operated as "corridor trains" (Korridorzüge) – they had their doors locked as they crossed through Hungarian territory.
Between 1965 and 1971, the minefields were cleared because people were often harmed by them,[citation needed] even on the Austrian side of the border.
Despite Burgenland (especially the area around theNeusiedler See) always producing excellent wine, some vintners in Burgenlandadded illegal substances to their wine in the mid-1980s. When this was revealed, Austria's wine exports dwindled dramatically. After recovering from the scandal, vintners in Austria, and not only in Burgenland, started focusing on quality and mostly stopped producing low-quality wine.[citation needed]
On 27 July 1989, theforeign ministers of Austria and Hungary,Alois Mock andGyula Horn, cut theIron Curtain in the village ofKlingenbach in a symbolic act with far-reaching consequences.[11] At the same time, the border crossing at Nickelsdorf (Austria) / Hegyeshalom (Hungary) was opened by the Hungarian border patrol and this enabled the escape of East Germans. Directly behind the wires special medic troops of the Austrian Red Cross awaited them and provided first assistance. Thousands ofEast Germans fled to the West in this way. Again, the inhabitants of Burgenland received them with great hospitality. Later, this was often referred to as the beginning ofGerman reunification.[citation needed]
After 1990 Burgenland regained its traditional role as a bridge between the western and eastern parts ofCentral Europe. In 2003 it joined anInterreg projectCentrope. Cross-border links were further strengthened whenHungary,Slovakia and theCzech Republic joined theEuropean Union in 2004. All three countries became part of theSchengen zone in late 2007, and border controls ceased to exist in the region.
In 2021, Burgenland grew by about 6,000 m2. This was due to the change of flood protection measures along theriver Lafnitz, which forms part of the border between Burgenland and Styria, in the late 1970s. As the course of the river changed somewhat along with the change of the flood protection measures, some areas belonging to Styria ended up to the east of the river and some areas belonging to Burgenland ended up to the west of the river. In 2010, it was decided by legislators together with the local councils that the areas to the west of the river would be part of Styria and the areas to the east of the river would be part of Burgenland, reflecting the perceptions and attitudes of the population. This decision was put into law in 2021.[12]
Burgenland is the third-smallest of Austria's ninestates at 3,962 km2 (1,530 sq mi). The province's highest point is exactly on the border withHungary, on theGeschriebenstein, 884 metres (2,900 ft) above sea level. The highest point entirely within Burgenland is 879 metres above sea level; the lowest point (which is also the lowest point ofAustria) at 114 metres (374 ft), is in the municipal area ofApetlon.
Burgenland and Hungary share theNeusiedler See (Hungarian:Fertő-tó), a lake known for its reeds and shallowness, as well as its mild climate throughout the year. The Neusiedler See is Austria's largest lake. It is a tourist attraction, bringing ornithologists, sailors, and wind and kite surfers into the region north of the lake.[13]
The province'sgross domestic product (GDP) was €9 billion in 2018, accounting for 2.3% of Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €27,300 or 90% of the EU27 average in the same year. Burgenland is the province with the lowest GDP per capita in Austria.[15]
The Croats arrived after the devastatingOttoman war in 1532, when the Ottoman army destroyed some settlements in their ethnic territory. The emigration in great haste of the remaining Catholic population of westernSlavonia into Burgenland was – as far as possible – organized by estate owners. The archives of theSabor (the Croatian parliament) from this period contain numerous references to such resettlements. As reported in the spring of 1538 by theBan of Croatia, PetarKeglević, who himself owned large estates in western Slavonia, that the country's population at the Ottoman border was preparing to emigrate.[18] Their resettlement by estate owners was finished only in 1584. They have preserved their strong Catholic faith and their language until today, and in the 19th century their national identity grew stronger because of the influence of the National Revival in Croatia. Between 1918 and 1921 Croats opposed the planned annexation of West-Hungary to Austria, and in 1923 seven Croatian villages voted for a return to Hungary. The Croatian Cultural Association of Burgenland was established in 1934. In the Nazi era (1938–45) the Croatian language was officially prohibited, and the state pursued an aggressive policy of Germanization. TheAustrian State Treaty of 1955 guaranteed minority rights for every native ethnic minority in Austria but Croats had to fight for the use of their language in schools and offices even in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2000 51 new bilingual village name signs were erected in Burgenland (47 Croatian and 4 Hungarian).
TheBurgenland Croatian language is a 16th-century dialect which is different from standard Croatian. In minority schools and media the local dialect is used, and it has had a written form since the 17th century (the Gospel was first translated to this dialect in 1711). Today the language is endangered by assimilation, according to the UNESCO'sRed Book of Endangered Languages. The Croats of Burgenland belong to the same group as their relatives on the other side of the modern-day border with Hungary.
Hungarians live in the villages ofOberwart/Felsőőr,Unterwart/Alsóőr andSiget in der Wart/Őrisziget. The three villages together are calledUpper Őrség (Hun:Felső-Őrség, German:Wart), and they have formed a language island since the 11th century. The other old Hungarian language island inOberpullendorf/Felsőpulya has almost disappeared today. The Hungarians of Burgenland were "őrök", i.e. guards of the western frontier, and their special dialect is similar to theSzékelys in Transylvania. Their cultural centre is Oberwart/Felsőőr. Another distinct Hungarian group was the indentured agricultural workers living on the huge estates north of Neusiedler See. They arrived mainly from theRábaköz region. After the dissolution of the manors in the mid-20th century this group ceased to exist.
In addition to Germans, Croats and Hungarians, Burgenland used to have substantial Roma and Jewish populations, but these were wiped out by the Nazi regime. Before their deportation during 1938, the traditionally very religious Burgenland Jews were concentrated in the famous "Seven Communities" (Siebengemeinden/Sheva kehillot) inEisenstadt,Mattersburg,Kittsee,Frauenkirchen,Kobersdorf,Lackenbach andDeutschkreutz, where they formed a substantial part of the population: e.g. in Lackenbach, 62% of the population was Jewish as of 1869.[19] After the war, Jews from Burgenland founded the Jerusalemharedi neighbourhood ofKiryat Mattersdorf, reminding of the original name of Mattersburg, once a centre of a famous yeshiva.
According to 2021 figures ofStatistics Austria, Burgenland's population is mostly Christian (80.3%), with the highest proportion ofProtestants in Austria (11.4%). 65.5% of the population areRoman Catholic, and further 3.4% are adherents of other Christian denominations (mostlyOrthodox Christians).Islam is practiced by 2.2%, while 0.7% profess another religion. 16.8% of Burgenland's inhabitants profess no affiliation with any religion or denomination.[20]
InSlovak, Burgendland is known asHradsko; inCroatian asGradišće; inHungarian asŐrvidék,Felsőőrvidék orVárvidék; inSlovene asGradiščanska.
As the region was not a territorial entity before 1921, it never had an official name. Until the end ofWorld War I the German-speaking western borderland of the Kingdom of Hungary was sometimes unofficially calledDeutsch-Westungarn (German West Hungary). The historical region included the border city ofSopron in Hungary (known as Ödenburg in German).
The nameVierburgenland (Land of Four Castles) was created in 1919 by Odo Rötig, a Viennese resident of Sopron. It was derived from the fourvármegye of the Kingdom of Hungary (in GermanKomitaten, 'counties') known in Hungarian asPozsony,Moson,Sopron andVas, or in German as Pressburg, Wieselburg, Ödenburg and Eisenburg. After the town of Pozsony/Pressburg (Bratislava) was assigned toCzechoslovakia, the numbervier was to be changed todrei (=three), but after it became clear that none of theBurgen would be part of the Burgenland, the number was dropped completely but the name Burgenland was kept because it was deemed to be appropriate for a region with so many old frontier castles.[21] The "Burgenland" name was adopted by the first provincial Landtag in 1922.
In Hungarian the name Őrvidék is commonly used, but the German name is also generally accepted. There are, however, modern alternatives used by minor groups. The Hungarian translation of the German name, "Várvidék", was invented byLászló Juhász, an expert of the region in the 1970s, and it is becoming increasingly popular especially in tourist publications.
The Croatian and Slovenian names "Gradišće" and "Gradiščansko" arecalques of the German name. The village ofJennersdorf is no more than 5 kilometers from the Slovenian and Hungarian borders (see theUnited Slovenia movement).
Alternatively, the Serbs, Czechs and Slovaks call the western shores of theNeusiedler See, the lake adjoining the town of Rust, Luzic or Lusic. However, the descendants ofLuzic Serbs,Bosniaks,Croats,Czechs andSlovaks were eventually assimilated into theethnic German orHungarian cultures over four centuries.
The province has a long history of Slavic, as well Austrian-German and Hungarian-Magyar settlement. The province's easternmost portion (the shores of the Neusiedler See) carried its own topographical termSeewinkel in Austrian-German. This is the area least influenced by Austrian-German since the Hungarian and Slovak borders are less than 10 kilometers away.
Heraldic description of the coat-of-arms of Burgenland:
Or, standing upon a rock sable, an eagle regardant, wings displayed gules, langued of the same, crowned and armed of the first, on his breast an escutcheon paly of four, of the third and white fur, fimbriated of the field, and in dexter and sinister cantons two crosslets paty sable.
The arms were introduced in 1922 after the new province was created. They were composed from the arms of the two most important medieval noble families of the region, the counts ofNagymarton andFraknó (Mattersdorf-Forchtenstein, eagle on the rock) and the counts ofNémetújvár (Güssing, three bars of red and white fur).[22]
The flag of the province shows two stripes of red and gold, the colours of the coat-of-arms. It was officially confirmed in 1971.
The cultural offerings are diverse and especially in the summer famous for theSeefestspiele Mörbisch and theNova Rock Festival with numerous international rockbands.
The permanent exhibition atForchtenstein Castle shows an impressive collection of the dukes ofEsterházy, at whose court atEsterházy Palace worked the world-famous musicianJoseph Haydn, who composed from theBurgenland Croatian folk-song"V jutro rano se ja stanem" ("In the morning I rise up early") the melody of"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" ("God save Franz the Emperor"), which became the melody of today'snational anthem of Germany.[23] There are also cultural events organized by the minorities such as Croatian or Hungarian folk evenings.
The dialect spoken in Burgenland is called Hianzisch.
People from Burgenland tend to be the butt of ajoke cycle by people from other regions of Austria, similar to theGermanEast Frisian jokes. These jokes portray people from Burgenland as dumb or slow on the uptake.[24][25][26]
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. RetrievedJuly 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Slavonic and East European review, Volume 34, page 2, University of London. School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Committee of American Scholars, Sir Bernard Pares, Robert William Seton-Watson, Harold Williams, Norman Brooke Jopson, Published by the Modern Humanities Research Association for the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, 1955.
Imre, Joseph. "Burgenland and the Austria-Hungary Border Dispute in International Perspective, 1918–22."Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia 4.2 (2015): 219–246.
Swanson, John C. "The Sopron plebiscite of 1921: A success story."East European Quarterly 34.1 (2000): 81+link.
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