Kittsee Castle (Open-air stage) (Kittsee, Austria)
Kittsee Castle (Open-air stage)
Castle Kittsee, a remarkable building that dates back to the early 18th century, lies hidden behind high walls in the middle of a magnificent park.
On the outskirts of the town centre the castle Kittsee is located. Surrounded by a park, this baroque castle is one of the most important sights of northern Burgenland.
It was built at the beginning of the 17th century as a manor house, before it was enlarged under Johann Listy, who came from Transylvania, and extended to form a castle complex. Another major reconstruction took place in the middle of the 18th century, when Prince Paul Anton Esterházy had it rebuilt in baroque style. At the end of the 19th century Prince Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann who has entered history as the "doctor of the poor" moved into the castle with his family. Batthyány-Strattmann founded the Kittsee Hospital and treated patients there free of charge. In 1969, the castle became the property of the village Kittsee, and in the following years a fundamental reconstruction was carried out.
From 1973 to 2008 the castle housed the Ethnographic Museum, an expositon of the Museum of Folklore in Vienna.
For more than 30 years the concerts of the Pannonian Forum have been regularly held in the castle, which has established the castle as an important cultural site.