Kittsee (; sk, Kopčany, hu, Köpcsény, hr, Gijeca) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n municipality in the District of

Neusiedl am See Neusiedl am See (; cs, Nezider; hr, Niuzalj; hu, Nezsider; sk, Nezider) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and administrative center of the district of Neusiedl am See. Neusiedl am See is located on the northern shore of the Neusiedler See. ...

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

History

In the Middle Ages, the settlement was situated in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, and was probably settled by

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

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

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

into Hungary, it often played a key role in the defense of Hungary. This was the gathering site of the crusader army of

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

in 1198. The town was the site of

Géza II Géza is a Hungarian given name and may refer to any of the following: * Benjamin Géza Affleck * Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians * Géza I of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza II of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza, son of Géza II of Hungar ...

's battle with the Austrians, and the wedding of Béla, son of

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá, derived from ''bílá'' (''whit ...

and Kunigunda, niece of Ottokar II, King of Bohemia, in 1264. The peace treaty of

Andrew III Andrew III the Venetian ( hu, III. Velencei András, hr, Andrija III. Mlečanin, sk, Ondrej III.; 1265 – 14 January 1301) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of ...

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

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...

and

Ulrich II of Celje Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of A ...

. Ferdinand I received envoys here from Hungary on the way to his coronation in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

. In 1529 and 1683 it was destroyed by Ottoman armies. In 1676, it became the property of the

Esterházy family The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a 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, during the time that it ...

. 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 The Siebengemeinden ( he, שֶבַע קְהִלּוֹת; en, Seven Communities, hu, Hét hitközség) were seven Jewish communities located in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt, Austria) and its surrounding area. The groups are known as ''Sheva Kehillo ...

of Burgenland. Kitsee Border Crossing

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

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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

Politics

Kittsee's mayor is Johannes Hornek of the

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

. And its vize-mayor is Karin Darnai of the

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

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

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...

0, 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

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Prince 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 International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. The town is famous for its 30,000

apricot tree An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

s, 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 Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...

's birth-house.

Notable residents

, Hungarian-Jewish violinist and composer, born here on 28 June 1831 * János Listi, Hungarian noble. Baron of Köpcsény (Kittsee),

bishop of Győr A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(Raab) born in

Nagyszeben Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

. Ennobled 1554, died 1577 in Prague. *

László Listi Count László Listi de Köpcsény et Jánosháza (''List, Listi, Listh, Listhy, Liszti, Liszty, Listius''; 1628 – February 16, 1662) was a Hungarian poet. Listi was executed for counterfeiting coins in 1662. External linksHungarian Biograph ...

(or Listius László), Hungarian noble, poet, owned the "old" Kittsee/Köpcsény castle ca 1635 *

László Batthyány-Strattmann László Batthyány-Strattmann (german: Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann; 28 October 1870 – 22 January 1931) was a Hungarian aristocrat and physician. Until 1914, he was known as László Batthyány. A devout Roman Catholic, he became known ...

, Hungarian noble, medical doctor

Gallery

File:Köpcsény légifotó1.jpg File:Kittsee Schloss 40311.jpg File:Köpcsény légifotó2.jpg File:Köpcsény légifotó4.jpg

Nearby municipalities & sites

* Little mountainous region under the Hundsheimer Berg (480), Königswarte (344), Spitzerberg (302) (NÖ) * *

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states *Berg (state), county and duchy of the Holy ...

, Neuhof, Pottenburg,

Wolfsthal Wolfsthal is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria in Austria. It along with neighboring Berg were part of the municipality of Wolfsthal-Berg until 1996. It is the end of the line for S7 Vienna S-Bahn trains. Geography ...

, '' Rotes Kreuz'', Edelstal (Burgenland), '' Bundessportsschule'' (under the Spitzerberg),

Hundsheim Hundsheim is a town in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria, in northeast Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Easter ...

, and Bad-Deutsch-Altenburg, Hainburg, ''

Braunsberg Braniewo () (german: Braunsberg in Ostpreußen, la, Brunsberga, Old Prussian: ''Brus'', lt, Prūsa), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of ...

& Röthelstein'', also

Carnuntum Carnuntum ( according to Ptolemy) was a Roman legionary fortress ( la, castra legionis) and headquarters of the Roman navy, Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became ...

* Pama, Csardahof, Zeiselhof,

Deutsch Jahrndorf Deutsch Jahrndorf (; hu, Németjárfalu, Német-Járfalu, sk, Nemecké Jarovce) is a municipality in the district of Neusiedl am See, in the Austrian state of Burgenland. It is within a few kilometres of the borders of both Hungary and Slovakia. ...

in the '' Heideboden'' *

Petržalka Petržalka (; german: Engerau / Audorf; hu, Pozsonyligetfalu) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 ...

Jarovce Jarovce ( hu, Horvátjárfalu, Horvát-Járfalu, hr, Hrvatski Jandrof, german: Kroatisch Jahrndorf) is a small borough of Bratislava, Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1208 under the name ''Ban''. During the Ottoman wars, ...

Rusovce Rusovce ( hu, Oroszvár, hr, Rosvar german: Karlburg, Rossenburg, Kerchenburg) is a borough in southern Bratislava on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the Austrian border. History In the 1st century, there was a Roman settlement n ...

* Bratislava - Slovak Capital City

References

* The information in this article is based on a translation of its German and Hungarian equivalents in the Wikipedia.

External links

* http://www.kittsee.at Kittsee Official Website *
Kittsee Apricot Club
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Neusiedl am See District Siebengemeinden Austria–Slovakia border crossings