Potzneusiedl ( hu, Lajtafalu, hr, Lajtica) is the smallest village in the district of Neusiedl am See in

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Potzneusiedl is the smallest village of the Neusiedl district located on the northern edge of

Parndorf Plain Parndorf Plain (german: Parndorfer Platte, hu, Parndorfi-fennsík, Pándorfalvi-fennsík, sk, Parndorfská plošina) also called Parndorf Heath (german: Parndorfer Heide) in the northern part of Burgenland, Austria, at an altitude of 160– ...

, on the southern embankment of the river

Leitha The Leitha (; or , formerly ; Czech and sk, Litava) is a river in Austria and Hungary, a right tributary of the Danube. It is long ( including its source river Schwarza). Its basin area is . Etymology The ''Lithaha'' River in the Carolingia ...

History

The territory of this village has been settled since the remote past. Numerous archaeological finds from the

Younger Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

and Roman period testify to it. Graves and remains of Roman settlement above all abundantly represent the latter. The East Frankish King Louis II. the German Donated the territory of the village then called ''Lithana'' to the Bishopric of Passau back in 833.
The name ''Pozkneuselde'' similar to the one used now appeared only in the second half of the 13th century - the villages of Potzneusiedl and Podersdorf were founded by the Counts of Poth. The syllable "Potz-" and "Pod-" in those villages’ names are reminding us upon their founders.
The 1529 Turkish raid caused a lot of damage and it had to be re-colonized in the second half of the 16th century by Croatians. The village was in the ownership of the

Harrach The House of Harrach is an old and influential Bohemian and Austro-German noble family. The '' Grafen'' (Counts) of Harrach were among the most prominent families in the Habsburg Empire. As one of few mediatized families, it belongs to high nobili ...

estate seated in

Bruck an der Leitha Bruck an der Leitha ( bar, label=Central Bavarian, Bruck aun da Leitha; "Bridge on the Leitha") is a town in the state of Lower Austria of Austria on the border of Burgenland, marked by the Leitha river. In 2018 it had a population of around 8,00 ...

. Its later owners were the family Bender and

Batthyány The House of Batthyány () is the name of an ancient and distinguished Hungarian Magnate family. Members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf/Gräfin) Batthyány von Német-Ujvar respectively, while the title of Prince (Fürst) vo ...

, who included the village in their Kittsee estate in the 19th century. It was also the time, when the Baroque castle and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

factory were built in Potzneusiedl. Although the local infrastructure improved in the course of the 20th century, its industrial traditions did not develop further. Potzneusiedl, 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

. Potzneusiedl joined

Gattendorf Gattendorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

for some time, but now it is an independent village again.

Castle

The construction of the present castle had been started on the year 1798 and was finalised in 1808. Partly the walls of the castle are grounded on gothic foundation walls. It is a three-wing building with a charming park surrounding it.
Until 1956 the castle had been the residence of the

Family (Luise Bathany is buried in the eastern party of the graveyard of the castle). During that time the castle was known as centre of magnificent parties and social events. From 1966 it has been revitalised as a centre for art and antiques. In 1970 Austria's first Museum of Icons was founded in the castle. It has been renovated continuously. Since 1993 the Potzneusiedl Theater Summer performs in the castle. Since 2001 it is the headquarters of the Romanian-Austrian Cultural Institute.Romanian-Austrian Cultural Institute
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Church of St.Marco

The most important sacred monument of the village is the Roman Catholic ''church of St. Marco'' built on medieval foundations and mentioned for the first time in the 13th century. In its interior can one admire the main altars with the painting of St. Marco, statues of Sts. Peter and Paul and the Rococo side altar of St.Sebastian.

Gallery

Image:Schloss Potzneusiedl-02.JPG Image:Schloss Potzneusiedl-03.JPG

References

External links

{{authority control Cities and towns in Neusiedl am See District Populated places on the Leitha Croatian communities in Burgenland Harrach family