Hainburg an der Donau (also referred to simply as Hainburg) is a town located in the Bruck an der Leitha district in the state of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

of eastern

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In 2021 it had a population of about 7,000.

Geography

Hainburg is located on the right bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Slovak capital

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and 43 kilometres east of the Austrian capital

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. It is part of the Industrial Quarter () of the state of Lower Austria. 45.87% of the town municipality's land is forested, while 54.13% is used for agriculture and urban areas.

Population

History

*The first settlers in the area were the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

and the

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic people, who lived on the

Braunsberg Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian: ''Brus''), 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 Braniewo County. Braniewo is the second biggest city of ...

hill. *

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

: The area was under the influence of the nearby town of

Carnuntum Carnuntum ( according to Ptolemy) was a Roman legionary fortress () 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 a large city of app ...

, the capital of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Pannonia Superior Pannonia Superior () was a Roman province created from the division of Pannonia in 103 AD, its capital in Carnuntum. It overlapped in territory with modern-day Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia. History It was as governor of the ...

, where

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

once resided. *1050: Emperor Henry III ordered a castle built here. *13th century: The town had 2 gates, 15 towers, and a 2.5 km wall. *1108: The castle belonged to the

Babenberger The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Descending from the Popponids and originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from ...

s. *Around 1220 to 1225: The ransom received from

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

built the castle and the Viennese gate. *11 February 1252: Ottokar II, later the King of Bohemia, married the last Babenberger Margaret of Austria. *1267 to 1268:

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his death in 1278 ...

built the lower part of the castle. *1278: In the Battle of Dürnkrut, Ottokar II lost the castle to the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. *1482: Siege of Hainburg: after several months siege the castle was occupied by Hungarian King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

and his Black Army. *1629: The castle belonged to the city. *11 July 1683: The Second Ottoman Campaign destroyed the city and the castle. *1709: Count Löwenberg rebuilt the castle. *1738:

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 ...

the composer came to Hainburg as a six-year-old child to learn the rudiments of music from his relative Josef Mathias Franck. He sang as a choirboy. There is a Haydn Fountain on the Hauptplatz in the town. *19th century: Hainburg gained a garrison. *End of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: From now Hainburg was the easternmost town in Austria. *1984: Occupation of the Hainburger Au: Protesters against plans to put a power station in the Hainburger Au of the

forced the government of Austria to withdraw. Hainburg an der Donau - Philippus-und-Jakobus-Kirche

*Today: Hainburg is part of the

Danube-Auen National Park Donau-Auen National Park () covers 93 square kilometres in Vienna and Lower Austria and is one of the largest remaining floodplains of the Danube in Middle Europe. The German word ''Aue'' (variant ''Au'') means "river island, wetland, flood ...

Sites of interest

*Castle hill *

, floodplain forest *

, hill with Celtic fortress * Wienertor (Vienna Gate): built in the 13th century, largest still existing medieval gate in Europe. Today it contains the city museum. *The Philippus-und-Jakobus-Kirche, a catholic church, was built in 1263 and rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1683 *Protestant Church, opened in April 2011, newly built by the Austrian architect group

Coop Himmelb(l)au Coop Himmelb(l)au (a pun meaning '' Coop Sky Building'' and ''Coop Sky Blue'') is an architecture, urban planning, design and art firm founded in 1968 by Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky and Michael Holzer in Vienna, Austria. History Coop Hi ...

Economics and infrastructure

In 2001, there were 242 businesses and 29 agricultural and forestry businesses. There were 2,512 employed persons. The productivity rate was 45.07%. There were 70 unemployed persons.

SIGINT-station Königswarte

On the Königswarte mountain near Hainburg, the

Austrian armed forces The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (20 ...

operate a SIGINT-station together with the NSA. The listening station was built in the 1950s and was financed by the USA. at this place are military facilities since WWI. Of several Army SIGINT stations in Austria, the Königswarte is the best and most modernly equipped. Because of her, small Austria is listed as a privileged Tier B partner of the NSA, even though it is not a NATO partner. Since the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, satellite capabilities have been expanded with the help of the NSA and satellites that provide data services or Internet access are of particular interest (

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it has been the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Its subsidiary E ...

, Thuraya 2 (Abu Dhabi ), Azer-Sat, Yahsat 1B, Türksat and others).

Twin towns – sister cities

Hainburg an der Donau is twinned with the following towns and cities: * Nieder-Roden ( Rodgau), , since 1975 *

Šamorín Šamorín (; , ) is a small town in western Slovakia, southeast of Bratislava. Etymology The name is derived from a patron saint of a local church Sancta Maria, mentioned for the first time as ''villa Sancti Marie'' (1285). Today's name is an a ...

, , since 2008

Notable people

Mathias Haydn Mathias Haydn (31 January 1699 – 12 September 1763) was the father of two famous composers, Joseph and Michael Haydn. He worked as a wheelwright in the Austrian village of Rohrau, where he also served as ''Marktrichter'', an office akin to villa ...

(1699–1763), the father of two notable composers,

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

(1732–1809) and

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

(1737–1806). Mathias was a

wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright" (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker - as also in shipbuilding, shipwright ...

in nearby Rohrau, where he also served as the village mayor.

was sent to boarding school in Hainburg.

References

External links

Official site of the village Hainburg (German)

'Donauauen' (English/German)

'Wienertor' (German)

"20 years of Occupation of Hainburger Au" (German)
{{Authority control Populated places on the Danube Cities and towns in Bruck an der Leitha District