Halbturn ( hu, Féltorony) is a town in the district of

Neusiedl am See Neusiedl am See (; cs, Nezider; hr, Niuzalj; hu, Nezsider; sk, Nezider) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and administrative center of the district of Neusiedl am See. Neusiedl am See is located on the northern shore of the Neusiedler See ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

. It borders Hungary to the east and is near Andau, Gols, and Mönchof.

History

In 2008 a team of archeologists discovered a third-century AD amulet in the form of a gold scroll with the words of the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

prayer '' Shema' Yisrael'' (Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one) inscribed on it. It is considered to be the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now Austria.Archaeological sensation in Austria. Scientists from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich h ...

unearth the earliest evidence of Jewish inhabitants in Austria, 13.03.08, Halbturn Palace was built between 1701 and 1711 by

Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (14 November 1668 – 16 November 1745) was an Austrian baroque architect and military engineer who designed stately buildings and churches and whose work had a profound influence on the architecture of the Habsburg ...

as a hunting lodge for

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor , house = Habsburg , spouse = , issue = , issue-link = #Children , issue-pipe = , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date ...

. His daughter, Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

, had it enlarged and gave it to her daughter

Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (Maria Christina Johanna Josepha Antonia; 13 May 1742 – 24 June 1798), was the fifth child of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Married in 1766 to Prince Albert of Saxony, the cou ...

. In 1955 it was inherited by Baron Paul Waldbott von Bassenheim, a Habsburg matrilineal descendant. In 2008 it passed to his nephew, Count Markus von Königsegg-Aulendorf.

Population

References

Cities and towns in Neusiedl am See District Baroque architecture in Austria Historic Jewish communities {{Jewish-hist-stub