Mörbisch am See (, ) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

town on the shore of

Lake Neusiedl Lake Neusiedl (, ; or ; ; ; ), or Fertő (), is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, straddling the Austrian– Hungarian border. The lake covers , of which is on the Austrian side and on the Hungarian side. The lake's drainage basi ...

in the state of

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

Geography

Mörbisch am See is located in northern Burgenland on the south-western shore of Lake Neusiedl, just north of the national border with Hungary and the town of Fertőrákos. The town is connected via the B52, which leads through Rust and Sankt Margarethen to Eisenstadt. It is 70km south-east of Vienna and 10km north-east of Sopron, Hungary.

History

Mörbisch has been inhabited since around 5000 BC. The name ''Mörbisch'' was first recorded in 1254 as ''possessio Megyes'' (literally "the cherry-rich place," from Hungarian ''meggy'', meaning "cherry"). The original Hungarian-speaking settlers likely named the village after a prominent cherry tree or an abundance of cherry trees in the area. The name later evolved into the German ''Mörbisch'' and the Croatian ''Merbiš'', the latter borrowed from German. The area was part of the Celtic Kingdom of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

. To the west of the town, in the area known as ''Salzäcker'', a La Tène-period burial ground was discovered in 1935. Excavations revealed several graves containing early La Tène artifacts, including bronze

fibulae The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

(some shaped like bird heads), neck rings with hook-and-eye closures, iron swords and knives, and a hollow-bossed ring indicating use into the Middle La Tène period. Under

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rule, the area became part of the province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

. South of the Hungarian border, a Mithras relief from the Roman era can still be seen. Until 1921, the town belonged to Hungary, specifically to

Sopron County Sopron (German language, German: ''Ödenburg'', Slovak language, Slovak: ''Šopron'') was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now divided between Austria and Hungary. Th ...

. Following

World War I 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 ...

and the treaties of St. Germain (1919) and Trianon (1920), the area was awarded to Austria. Mörbisch became part of the newly founded state of

in 1921, though during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

it was incorporated into

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 ...

. Despite the political shift, economic and cultural ties to

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

remained strong until 1945. From 1945 to 1989, the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

divided Mörbisch and Sopron. Since then, the border has reopened, and in late 2007, border controls were abolished following Hungary’s entry into the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

Features

The town hosts the annual

Seefestspiele Mörbisch The Seefestspiele Mörbisch, originally: Seespiele Mörbisch, is an annual operetta festival in Mörbisch am See (Austria). With around 150,000 visitors, the Mörbisch Lake Festival is the world's largest festival of the operetta genre. In additi ...

, an open-air festival held on a floating stage on Lake Neusiedl. While traditionally focused on

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

, the program has expanded to include

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

such as ''The King and I'', ''Mamma Mia!'', and ''West Side Story'', often translated into German.

Politics

The mayor of Mörbisch am See is Bettina Zentgraf of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPÖ). The municipal council consists of 23 seats. In the 2022 Burgenland local elections, the SPÖ won 12 seats with 49.57% of the vote, securing a narrow majority. The

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP) obtained 9 seats, while the Greens and the

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ) won one seat each.

Gallery

File:Mörbisch - Heimathaus, Hauptstraße 53.JPG, A house in Mörbisch File:Mörbisch - Wohnhaus, Hauptstraße 63b.JPG, Typical courtyard alley with barns at the end File:Mörbisch - evangelische Kirche.JPG, Catholic church File:Mörbisch am See - Neusiedlersee Panorama (01).jpg, Panorama of the Neusiedl See File:Seebühne Mörbisch (12536068623).jpg, Seefestspiele File:Mörbisch am See - Gemeindeamt (01).jpg, Municipal office of Mörbisch

Population

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morbisch Am See Cities and towns in Eisenstadt-Umgebung District