The area around Kismarton (Eisenstadt, now Austria) was already inhabited in the early centuries. Archaeologists have found traces of the Hallstatt culture as well as a 5th-century Gothic cemetery. According to some sources, an earthwork fortress stood here in the early Middle Ages; based on the chronicle of Otto of Freising, we know of a mention from 1118 (“castrum quod ferreum vocatur”), when the troops of Margrave Leopold III of Babenberg demolished it.
Its first written record comes from a charter dated 1264, in which Pope Urban IV confirmed the ownership of several chapels to Girold, a priest from Óvár (Old Castle). In this document, it is referred to as Sancti Martini de Minore Mortin Capellas. This early settlement likely consisted of just a chapel and a few houses.
In the 12th century, Kismarton was in the possession of the Óbuda Chapter, and it was later purchased from them by King Béla III. King Imre (Emeric) gave it as a gift in 1202 to Voivode Korláth Benedek, who then gave it to his wife, Tota of Aragonese origin. King András (Andrew) II exiled Korláth and seized his estates, but later Tota regained the settlement. In 1241, it was destroyed by the Mongolians. At the end of the 13th century, the Gutkeled clan owned it. In a charter from 1296, it appears under the name Mortunzzabou.
In 1371, it became a landlord-owned market town and came into the possession of the Kanizsai family. In a charter dated June 10, King Lajos (Louis) I permitted the widow of Kanizsai János to build a castle in the town called Kismarton, which belonged to the castle of Szarvkő: “… villa seu oppidum Zabamortun vocatum in comitatu Supruniensi existens ad castrum Zarwkw…” At this time, the town was surrounded by a stone wall.
The Kanizsai family also built the late Gothic water castle with four corner towers, and it was completed by 1373, when its castellan was first mentioned (other sources place the construction between 1388 and 1392).
In 1388, King Sigismund permitted Archbishop Kanizsai János of Esztergom to settle Jews in the town. On October 4, 1388, he also granted the town the right to hold markets: “…ad liberam suam civitatem Kysmarton vocatam, penes castrum suum Zarkw vocatum habitam, …” In 1392, Sigismund visited Kismarton and attended the wedding of Kanizsai Miklós’s brother. In 1406, the town was briefly occupied by Duke William of Austria.
In 1439, King Albert of Hungary (Albert II of Germany) died unexpectedly, and the civil war that broke out afterward sealed the fate of Western Hungary for centuries. At the end of 1440, Kismarton was still definitely in the hands of the Kanizsai family; Kanizsai Imre and the wife of Kanizsai László swore loyalty to the widowed Queen Elizabeth (Erzsébet), who offered protection to the Kanizsais against Martin Weitraher, who was pillaging the estates of Szarvkő and Kismarton. In 1441, the widowed queen pawned Western Hungary to her late husband’s relative, Frederick III, as the guardian of the infant László (Ladislaus) V (this was illegal due to the relevant passage of the Golden Bull). Kismarton either came into Austrian hands at that time or during Frederick III’s campaign in 1445.
In 1447, according to the terms of the Regede armistice, the following were in the hands of Frederick III: Sopron (Ödenburg), Kőszeg (Güns), Rohonc (Rechnitz), Szalónak (Schlaining), Borostyánkő (Bernstein), Dévény (Devín), Macskakő (Mattersburg / Nagymarton), Sopronkertes (Trausdorf an der Wulka), and Béla/Petőfalva (Beller/Pöttelsdorf), while his brother, Duke Albert VI, at the same time came into the possession or pledge of Fraknó (Forchtenstein), Kismarton (Eisenstadt), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Lánzsér (Landsee), and Szarvkő (possibly Scharfeneck or a castle in the region).
At this time, the Kanizsai family was permanently excluded from the Kismarton estate, which then remained a pledged estate until 1647.
In 1445, Albert VI had already pledged Kismarton to Ulrich von Eyczing. In 1453, Frederick III redeemed it from Konrad Eyczing. In 1462, the town council of Kismarton, which was also in Austrian hands, requested the citizens of Sopron (Ödenburg) to inform them about the movements of Hungarian troops.
In 1463, Emperor Frederick III returned the Holy Crown to Matthias Hunyadi (Matthias Corvinus) on the condition that the Hungarian ruler leave seven estates in western Hungary, including the towns of Kismarton (Eisenstadt) and Kőszeg (Güns), to him as pledges. The treaty stipulated that all Habsburg-pledged estates were located on Hungarian territory. On top of that, Matthias also paid an additional 60,000 gold pieces for the crown and for Sopron (Ödenburg).
In 1482, Matthias recaptured Kismarton and pledged it to the mercenary commander Ulrich von Grafeneck. This transaction was challenged by Miklós Kanizsai before the chapter of Vasvár. In 1488, the town came into the possession of John Corvinus (Corvin János). After Matthias died in 1490, Szapolyai István purchased it for 1,700 gold pieces, but he did not hold it for long, because during his campaign to seize the Hungarian throne, Maximilian of Habsburg occupied it.
The Peace of Pressburg (Pozsony), concluded by Ulászló (Vladislaus) II in 1491, left Kismarton in Austrian hands, together with Fraknó (Forchtenstein), Kabold (Kobersdorf), Szarvkő (Hornstein), Rohonc (Rechnitz), Borostyánkő (Bernstein), and Kőszeg (Güns). On February 1, 1493, Frederick III pledged Kismarton to the Prüschenk brothers.
During the siege of Vienna in 1529 and the siege of Kőszeg (Güns) in 1532, the Ottomans occupied and plundered the town. After this, the reinforcement of the town walls and the construction of bastions began. The town and castle remained in the pledge of various families. Among other things, in 1554, Hans von Weispriach acquired it as a pledge (King Ferdinand I had issued him a permit in 1547 allowing him to redeem it if he agreed with Moritz von Fürst).
Weispriach repeatedly violated the town’s rights. Finally, in 1569, Emperor Maximilian II sent a chamber commission to the Weispriach estates, which regulated the powers of the pledge lord. Hans von Weispriach died on May 5, 1571, after which his daughters transferred the pledge estates of Kismarton (Eisenstadt) and Fraknó (Forchtenstein) the following year to Maximilian’s captain, Hannibal von Zinzendorf. In 1589, a fire devastated the town. In 1619, the troops of Bethlen Gábor exacted tribute from the town.
The Esterházy Estate Center
In 1622, Palatine Esterházy Miklós (1583–1645) acquired Kismarton (Eisenstadt) and Fraknó (Forchtenstein) as a pledge from Emperor Ferdinand II, in exchange for the Munkács (Mukachevo) estate, which had been ceded to Bethlen Gábor under the Peace of Nikolsburg.
Under pressure from the Hungarian Diet, the estates of Western Hungary that had been pledged to Austria were gradually returned to Hungary. Forchtenstein (Fraknó) and Kobersdorf (Kabold) were returned on January 19, 1626; Hornstein (Szarvkő) and Eisenstadt (Kismarton) on September 26, 1647; and Bernstein (Borostyánkő) and Güns (Kőszeg) on September 27, 1647.
“Since His Sacred Imperial and Royal Majesty, our most gracious lord, out of his truly unique paternal love and goodwill toward this kingdom, has graciously ordered a specific commission for the return and repossession of the lordships of Bernstein [Borostyánkő], Güns [Kőszeg], Eisenstadt [Kismarton], and Hornstein [Szarvkő] and for their incorporation into the realm without dispute, in accordance with Article 37 of the year 1625, as well as Article 7 of the year 1608 (post coronation) and Article 38 of the year 1638; and furthermore, on this occasion, has also graciously decided that other disputed borders concerning Austria be likewise adjusted; and for the actual establishment of the commission, has set a deadline for the aforementioned Eisenstadt on the upcoming feast day of Saint Lawrence the Martyr, and has named certain commissioners on his part, and has graciously offered to ensure that decrees will soon be issued to the said commissioners for the realization of this: for all this, they give eternal thanks to His Sacred Majesty.”
When Austria sought to reclaim the pledged territories in 1648, the mayor of Kismarton, Paul Eisforth, succeeded in redeeming the town for 16,000 Rhenish gold florins and 3,000 buckets of wine (valued at 9,000 gold florins). In 1649, Kismarton became a free royal town, while the castle remained the property of the Esterházy family. Nádasdy Ferenc also sought to acquire Kismarton (since it was still a pledged estate at the time), and Esterházy László engaged in litigation with him over the matter. The case of Kismarton was finally resolved only at the end of 1648, when the Chamber accepted Esterházy László’s offer, and Emperor Ferdinand III (1637–1657) confirmed the Esterházy family’s right of ownership with a deed of perpetual grant on September 30 of that year.
Esterházy László died a heroic death at a young age in the Battle of Vezekény. The head of the family became his younger brother, Pál (1635–1713), who was friends with the poet and military leader Zrínyi Miklós. He began the conversion of the medieval castle into a representative palace. An inventory of the castle from 1653, dating from before the reconstruction, has survived. Esterházy Pál hired the most sought-after builders of the era for the reconstruction. The concept was developed by Filiberto Luchese.
The castle’s defensive role was no longer important; instead, pomp and comfort took precedence. The work lasted from 1663 to 1672. The towers and walls of the castle were built around both from the outside and the inside (see floor plan). In engravings made around 1680 after the reconstruction, the castle’s moat is still clearly visible, but the castle’s character is gradually disappearing. The ceiling frescoes in today’s Haydn Hall were painted by Carpoforo Tencalla. The busts depicting Hungarian leaders, visible in the blind windows above the first floor, were made by Hans Matthias Mayr in 1667. In the center are the statues of Esterházy Miklós and Pál.
In 1683, Kismarton was attacked by the Turks advancing on Vienna, and the town suffered enormous damage. In 1703, it was occupied by the Kuruc forces of Ocskay László. The mayor of Szombathely was held prisoner here. In 1704, it was captured by Ráti György, one of Károlyi Sándor’s deputy commanders. The Imperial forces recaptured the town, and the Hajdú troops withdrew via Nezsider (Mosonmagyaróvár area / Neusiedl am See). Esterházy Miklós (Fényes) moved his seat from Kismarton to Fertőd, which he had built.
The next expansion of the castle was carried out during the time of Prince Esterházy I Antal (1738–1794). It was then that the balcony on the southern facade was built, as well as the princely stable and the main guard building for the grenadiers in front of the castle. These consist of two separate, symmetrical wings, and their facades are decorated with a huge Tuscan colonnade. The castle moat was also filled in. The main staircase received its present form during the 1762 remodeling by Johann Ferdinand Mödlhammer.
The northern part of the castle and its garden facade were created during the Classicist remodeling carried out between 1794 and 1805 by the French architect Charles Moreau, commissioned by Prince Esterházy II Miklós. Work began in 1803 but was briefly interrupted in 1809 when Napoleon’s troops occupied the town. Moreau’s grand plans, depicted in a painting by Dies, were never realized due to a lack of funds. The Leopoldine Church was built in the park in memory of the prince’s beloved daughter.
The two northern towers on the garden side were partially demolished and then rebuilt, so that all four towers received uniform low pyramid roofs. Kismarton came into Austrian possession on August 28, 1921, under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. Eisenstadt is the capital of Burgenland, and the Esterházy Palace is Burgenland’s most significant cultural monument.
Source: https://www.varlexikon.hu Szöllősi Gábor