Eszterháza is a

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Fertőd Fertőd () is a town in the Győr-Moson-Sopron county of Hungary, not far from Austria. Fertőd was formed when the towns of Eszterháza and Süttör were unified, in 1950. It is the location of one of Hungary's best known palaces, Eszterháza, w ...

, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

", it is Hungary's grandest

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

edifice. It was the home of

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and his orchestra from 1766 to 1790.

History

Esterháza was not the primary or ancestral home of the

Esterházy family The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian nobility, Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, durin ...

; that was

Schloss Esterházy Schloss Esterházy () is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622. Under Paul I, 1st Prince Esterhá ...

, a palace nearby ( away), in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt, Austria).

Nikolaus Esterhazy Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

began his plans for a new palace not long after he became reigning prince in 1762 on the death of his brother Paul Anton.Robbins Landon, H. C. and David Wyn Jones (1988). ''Haydn: His Life and Music''. Thames and Hudson. p. 95. Before this time, Miklós (Nikolaus) was accustomed to spending much of his time at a hunting lodge called Süttör, built in the same location around 1720 with a design by Anton Erhard Martinelli. The hunting lodge was the nucleus around which Esterháza was built. The first architect to work on the project was Johann Ferdinand Mödlhammer, succeeded in 1765 by Melchior Hefele. While the palace is often compared to Versailles, which the Prince had visited in 1764 when he visited Paris, H. C. Robbins Landon claims that a more direct influence can be found in "Austrian prototypes, particularly

Schönbrunn palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

in Vienna." Three of the windows above the main entrance are designed as homage to stringed instruments, namely violin, viola, cello. The palace cost the Prince the sum of 13 million Austrian gulden, a figure that Robbins Landon terms "astronomical". Eszterháza was first inhabited in 1766, but construction continued for many years. The opera house was completed in 1768 (the first performance was of

's opera ''

Lo speziale ''Lo speziale'' (''The Apothecary''), Hob. 28/3, is a three-act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni. A love triangle between the poor apprentice Mengone, the rich and assured dandy Volpino, and the local apothecary's w ...

''), the marionette theater in 1773. Joseph Haydn's concerts typically took place in the Sala Terrena on the ground floor, in the picture gallery, where on May 30, 1781, a concert was performed in the presence of Prince Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen and his spouse,

Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (Maria Christina Johanna Josepha Antonia; 13 May 1742 – 24 June 1798), was the fifth child of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Married in 1766 to Prince Prince Albert of Saxony ...

, daughter of the Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

. Musical entertainment for the higher ranks was provided in the main building, typically located in the picture gallery ground floor. Regular free-to-attend academies were typically held in the marionette theater, which were open to the public and hosting a whole range of cultural and environmental programmes. The fountain in front of the palace was not completed until 1784, at which point the Prince considered his project complete. The music room was decorated with white and gold walls with delicately rounded corners, the frescoed ceiling, glass chandeliers, roses, and audience's period chairs. Nikolaus Esterházy died in 1790. Neither his son Anton, who inherited the Esterházy lands, nor any of his later successors had any interest in living in the isolated palace.

Location

The palace was built near the south shore of the Neusiedler See, on swampy land, a health hazard at the time. Robbins Landon notes that "it was a particularly eccentric idea on the part of Prince Nicolaus to choose it as the site for a large castle. Possibly the castle's existence was to prove 'mind over matter'".

Rooms

The palace has 126 rooms. The Banquet Room has on its ceiling a painting of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

in his

Chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

. The large library holds almost 22,000 volumes and is graced with the letter 'E', standing for the family surname. The largest room is the grotto-like Sala Terrana which was inspired by the then fashionable

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style. On the ceiling are dancing Angels who hold wreaths of flowers in the shape of an 'E'.

Haydn at Eszterháza

From 1766 to 1790, the estate was the home of the celebrated composer

, where he lived in a four-room flat in a large two-storey building housing servants' quarters, separate from the palace. Haydn wrote the majority of his symphonies for the Prince's orchestra. Eszterháza also had two opera houses, the main theatre seating 400 (destroyed by fire in 1779) and a

marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...

theatre; Haydn conducted his own and others' operas, often with more than a hundred performances per year.Webster, James (2001). "Joseph Haydn", article in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

''. The palace was geographically isolated, a factor which led to loneliness and tedium among the musicians. This is seen in Haydn's unhappy letters to his friend Marianne von Genzinger, as well as in the origin story of Haydn's Farewell Symphony, written as a polite (and effective) protest against a too long extended stay by the musicians at Esterháza.

Picture gallery

File:Fertod-Kastélykapu1-2013.10.30-17.00.29x.jpg File:Fertod, Palais Esterhazy de nuit.jpg File:Schloss Esterházy (Fertőd).jpg File:Fertöd 7933.jpg File:Fertőd- (29).JPG File:Esterháza 10177.jpg, The fountain with a wedding in 2008 File:Esterházy-kastély (4051. számú műemlék) 8.jpg File:Fertőd a kastély oldalról.jpg File:Fertod-Diszterem2-2013.11.02-10.58.14x.jpg File:Fertod-SalaTerrena2-2013.11.02-11.30.03x.jpg File:Fertod-SalaTerrena4-2013.11.02-11.32.09x.jpg File:Fertöd 7978.jpg File:Fertöd 7995.jpg File:Fertöd 7996.jpg File:Fertod-Interior01-2013.11.02-11.03.55x.jpg File:Fertod-SalaTerrena7-2013.11.02-11.30.53x.jpg File:Fertöd- château Esterhaza, the red salon.JPG File:Fertod-Interior08-2013.11.02-11.24.39x.jpg

Eszterházy Treasure

File:Eszterhazy1.jpg File:Eszterhazy2.jpg File:Eszterhazy3.jpg File:Eszterhazy5.jpg File:Eszterhazy7.jpg File:Eszterhazy8.jpg File:Eszterhazy15.jpg File:Eszterhazy18.JPG File:Eszterhazy19.JPG File:Eszterhazy20.JPG

References

External links

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On Haydn's Trail: Eszterháza Palace, by the Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art & Architecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eszterhaza Buildings and structures in Győr-Moson-Sopron County Buildings and structures of the Esterházy family Historic house museums in Hungary Hunting lodges in Hungary Joseph Haydn Mansions in Hungary Museums in Győr-Moson-Sopron County Palaces in Hungary Tourist attractions in Győr-Moson-Sopron County