Kittsee

Kittsee
Kittsee
	New Palace in Kittsee
Postal code	2421
Vehicle registration	ND
Website	www.kittsee.at

Kittsee (German pronunciation:

Neusiedl am See, Burgenland

.

History

In the Middle Ages, the settlement was situated in the

Pecheneg

border guards in the 11th century. There was a Hungarian royal castle on the site of the settlement as early as the 12th century. The first documented mention of the settlement was in 1291; the name Koeche was in use in 1390. It is thought that the name is of Hungarian origin and the older form was Küccse.

Since the settlement guards the entrance of the

Andrew III and Albert I

was signed here in 1291. After 1363, the town was owned by the Scharfenecki, Szentgyörgyi, Esterházy and Batthyányi families.

In 1455, this was the scene of a meeting between

Esterházy family

. The town's ancient moated castle, built in the 12th century was first mentioned in 1344, and was destroyed by the Ottomans in 1529. It was replaced by the Grange, built in 1552.

From 1880, the

Batthyány-Strattman family were the main landlords in the town. Kittsee was one of the Siebengemeinden

of Burgenland.

Kittsee, like the rest of Burgenland, belonged to Hungary until 1920/21. After the end of the

First World War, the territory of West-Hungary was given to Austria by the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon. Since 1921, the town has belonged to the newly founded State of Burgenland

.

Politics

Kittsee's mayor is Johannes Hornek of the

SPÖ

. The political composition of the Municipal Council (23 seats) is ÖVP 9, SPÖ 8,

Grüne

0, and other lists 6.

Business and infrastructure

The municipality plays an important role as a medical center, because the district's only hospital is located there. It was founded by the

Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann

, who ran the hospital until 1921. It was named after him in 2004.

Kittsee is also home to a rescue station of the

Red Cross

.

The town is famous for its 30,000

apricot trees

, which are cared for by the Kittsee Apricot Club.

Historical sites

Remains of a medieval church named after
St. Pancratius
, only the tower survived after 1529. The original building was erected before 1250. The present-day Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross was built in 1736 (named Church of Our Lady until 1808).
The new Castle (Schloss Kittsee) was built in 1668 by expanding the Grange. Since 1974 it houses an ethnographic museum.
Joseph Joachim's birth-house.

Notable residents

Joseph Joachim, Hungarian-Jewish violinist and composer, born here on 28 June 1831
Nagyszeben
. Ennobled 1554, died 1577 in Prague.
László Listi (or Listius László), Hungarian noble, poet, owned the "old" Kittsee/Köpcsény castle ca 1635
László Batthyány-Strattmann, Hungarian noble, medical doctor