Twenty years ago on a single trip I managed to visit Havre, Harlem, Inverness, Kremlin, and Zurich all on the same day. These visits occurred over a four-hour period. I did not even need a passport because I was in Montana. As the story goes, when the American railroad baron James J. Hill was trying to decide the names for towns that would spring up on his Great Northern Railway he came up with a novel idea. Hill would spin a globe and whatever place his finger landed upon would be a town name along the Great Northern. This name game was a sales pitch. Exotic place names would help immigrants to settle one of the remotest regions in the United States. The Great Northern Railway made Hill’s vision a reality. The exotic place names still mark tiny towns on US Highway 2 across the aptly named Hi-Line.
I had Hill’s innovative approach to creating place names in mind as I started scouring the map of Burgenland (Austria’s easternmost province) for places to visit. These would be part of my itinerary for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders. Picking out random spots on the map would help me resist the urge to follow in my own footsteps from an earlier trip to Burgenland. As much as I enjoyed that trip, new discoveries must be made. I want to find places that give me a sense of the region’s multi-ethnic character both past and present.
Hidden away – Road sign for Kittsee (Credit: Izmaelt)
Hungarian Influences – Searching For Signs
My previous visit to Burgenland left me baffled. I found it hard to believe the region had been part of Hungary only a century ago. Burgenland was so thoroughly Austrian that anyone without knowledge of its pre-1920 history would have believed it had always been that way. There were just a few Hungarian reminders to jog the memory. One was the bilingual road signs with the city, town, or village’s name listed in German on top and below that in Hungarian. I later discovered that there are also some signs that have the Croatian names of towns and villages. What a thrill it would be to find a few of those. Speaking of road signs, they also announced Hungary’s presence by pointing the way out of Burgenland to cities such as Sopron and Szombathely across the border. When Austrians see these signs, low prices begin dancing in their head. A drive across the border for bargain shopping in Hungary happens frequently. Austrians have been known to refer to Szombathely as the discount store.
Another reminder of the Hungarian historical legacy is what I call the Esterhazy effect. The family name needs no introduction for Hungarians. The Esterhazy’s were one of the country’s most famous aristocratic families. They managed to stay on good terms with the Habsburgs by siding with them over the centuries. Sometimes this meant going against the broader interests of the Hungarian people. Staying close to the Habsburgs helped the Esterhazy’s acquire massive land holdings. With their wealth they built castles and palaces, many of which can still be visited today. A couple of the Esterhazy’s most famous holdings are in Burgenland. The previously mentioned Forchtenstein Castle, and the delightful crème colored Esterhazy Palace in the center of Eisenstadt (Kismarton). These are among the most obvious signs of Hungarian historical influences. Finding others requires more detective work.
Destination known – Finding Kittsee
Action Packed – An Inspired Choice
Searching a map of Burgenland for a place to start my journey began by looking beyond Deutsch Jahrndorf, which was the last place I listed on my lost lands itinerary. I had traveled several of the nearby roads on previous trips to Bratislava and the Roman ruins at Carnuntum in Lower Austria. I noticed one road in particular – Number 50 – that had eluded me on those earlier journeys. This road went through the town of Kittsee. I have virtually no knowledge of the German language, but Kittsee did not sound very Teutonic to me. Its Hungarian name, Kopcany. did sound intriguing. That was enough to pique my interest. My hopes were not high for Kittsee, but I had to start somewhere. The choice proved to be an inspired one. For a small town, it had much more going on historically than I could ever have imagined.
Kittsee had been the marshalling ground for a crusader army, the site of a royal wedding, a treaty signing, the meeting place for one of Hungary’s greatest military heroes and a visit from a future Holy Roman Emperor. Kittsee had also been in the path of Ottoman Turkish forces on their way to besieging Vienna. It is common historical knowledge that the Ottoman Turks failed twice to conquer Vienna in 1529 and 1683. Along the way they destroyed Kittsee both times. The Esterhazy’s ended up gaining title to the town. Later, the Batthyánys – another of Hungary’s most exalted aristocratic families – took ownership of Kittsee. Hungarian connections extended into the early days of Burgenland. In the province’s first year as part of Austria, a Hungarian physician and member of the Batthyány family founded its first hospital which still serves today as a medical center in the area. For a town of 3,100, Kittsee packs a historical punch far beyond its size.
A rich history – Rendering of Kittsee Castle in 1680 (Credit: M Greischer)
Going Deep – Needle & Vein
Kittsee serves as a reminder that the present often disguises the depth of a place’s past. Just because Kittsee gets bypassed by travelers rushing between Bratislava and Vienna, does not mean it lacks interest. Kittsee is an example of Burgenland’s multi-layered history. Do a little bit of digging in a small town or village and the surprises will start cropping up. All of us would do well to remember that there are hundreds of Kittsees in East-Central Europe, The cumulative weight of all that has happened in them serves as a counterweight to the more popular places which dominate historical narratives. We should never forget that there are more needles than haystacks in history. Kitssee is one needle worth sticking in a vein to see what can be drawn out. I will take the Kittsees of Burgenland any day over all the cities such as Vienna that monopolize the past. A town like Kittsee is only anonymous to those who have yet to discover it.
Click here for: I Could Do This Forever – Burgenland: Canvas For Curiosity (The Lost Lands #42)
Europe Between East And West 