In English Burgenland means "land of the castles". After World War I, when Hungary had to give the territory to Austria and a German word for it was missing, this name was actually invented because of the many ancient castles that are to be found in the region. Burgenland is situated in Austria's Eastern-most part. It has a very elongated shape and shares a long border with Hungary and shorter ones with Slovakia and Slovenia. It has a population of 280 thousand people.
Within Austria it is impossible to find a place with a milder climate than Burgenland, whose conditions can almost be called Mediterranean. This is certainly good for its wine industry, which is famous around the world. The major wine area is located around the Neusiedler See (English: Lake Neusiedl), which, being Austria's biggest lake, is also an important tourist attraction.
Eisenstadt (English: Iron town), which has a population of a mere twelve thousand, serves as Burgenland's capital. Despite its modest size, it is actually quite an attraction due to its wealth in historic monuments. Schloss Esterházy, for example, is one of the most important Baroque castles in Central Europe. Experts appreciate it because it is in fact quite an unusual combination of different styles, ranging form medieval to classicist.
The Northern part of Burgenland is very close to Vienna, the Austrian capital. Many Viennese have their weekend houses in the region. So it is not surprising that Burgenland, which with its beautiful green rolling hills reminds many visitors of Tuscany, has a well-developed and vibrant real-estate market.
