Places:
Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Österreich
| City | Eisenstadt |
| State/Province | Burgenland |
| Country | Österreich |
| Latitude | 47°50′44″N |
| Longitude | 16°31′08″E |
Gallery
Eisenstadt coat of arms
Eisenstadt map
Burgenland map
Esterhazy Castle in Eisenstadt
Eisenstadt Jewish cemetery
Eisenstadt ghetto street
Narrative
Eisenstadt, "Iron City", was first recorded in 1118, as "castrum ferrum", refersing to the history of iron mining and iron trade in the area.
The first written mention of the town was in 1264, as "minor Mortin", refering to the Hungarian name, Kismarton, which alludes to Saint Martin, the patron saint of the main church.
In 1529, and again in 1532, Eisenstadt was conquered by the Ottoman Empire , as part of their advance on Vienna.
In 1683, Eisenstadt was captured by the army of Thököly.
In 1704, The Habsburgs took Eisenstadt when they defeated the kuruc army of Sándor Károlyi.
In 1622, large estates in upper Hungary came under the control of Count Nicholas Esterhazy (1582–1645).
In 1648, Eisenstadt was declared a royal town.The town given to the Esterházy family,
Hungarian princes who permanently changed the face of the city. They began extensive construction in the city, especially on their castle, Schloss Esterházy.
They appointed Franz Josef Haydn as the prince's Hofkapellmeister (high chapel master, composing and performing music), which began a great artistic period.
In 1809, Eisenstadt was occupied by French troops during the Napoleonic Wars,
In 1897, Eisenstadt was joined to Vienna and other major cities by the railway network.
Until the end of World War I, it was the seat of Kismarton county in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Treaties of Trianon and Saint-Germain , in 1921, made Burgenland part of Austria.
Eisenstadt was occupied by the Red Army in 1945, and remained under Soviet occupation until 1955.
Narrative
In 1378, Jewish settlement started in Eisenstadt, when the bishop of Eisenstadt allowed some Jews to settle and trade in the town. In 1626, Count Esterhazy enabled Jews to settle in Eisenstadt, as protected Schutzjuden, living in ghettos within the palace boundaries. One of the most distinguished Jews in Eisenstadt’s history is Samson Wertheimer. Samson was Hofoberfaktor at the Viennese court, chief administrator, of the financial affairs of emperors Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI from 1694 to 1709. From 1982, Wertheimer House has functioned as the Jewish museum (Österreichische Jüdische Museum) and a center for the study of Jewish history in Austria. The jewel of the museum is a private synagogue. Since Eisenstadt is situated in fertile wine country, Chaim Joachim Wolf ben Meir Kittsee, A grandson of kehillah-founder Benjamin Wolf Austerlitz, started distribution of Eisenstadt’s kosher wine to non-wine-producing areas in 1784. The Wolf wine business became the most important of its kind in the Austrian empire. Wolf’s son, Leopold, and grandsons, Adolf and Ignaz, expanded the business, Weingrosshandlung Leopold Wolfs Sohne. In 1875, they bought the Wertheimer mansion, converted the lower floors to house the central offices of the wholesale wine business. Sandor Wolf, who succeeded his father Ignaz, was an ardent collector of art and Judaica, and amassed a 26,000-item collection, displayed in the family home, known as the Wolf Museum. By October 1938, there were no Jews left in Eisenstadt. On November 9, a mob devastated the community synagogue, but they overlooked the little Wertheimer Schul, which was hidden above the offices of the Wolf wine company. The Wertheimer Schul is one of the few synagogues in Austria and Germany that totally escaped damage at that time. Of the 441 Eisenstadt Jews, 245 survived the war. Remains of the Jewish Quarter can be seen today, including the adornments on lintels of several houses, the Sabbath chain, first installed in 1875 to ensure that the pathway and thus the quarter could be closed on Shabbat, and the two Jewish cemeteries, the older one was in use between 1679 and 1875, while the new cemetery has been in use since 1875.