Fertő / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape, Hungary

Whilst the lake has an area of 315km², the whole site covers around 700km². The southern end of the property, on the Hungarian side of the border, includes 75km² of the lake and has been a protected landscape since 1977, becoming the Fertő-Hanság National Park in 1991.

Lake Fertő is a salt-water lake and is the westernmost steppe lake in Eurasia. The landscape is characterised by sub-Alpine mountains, sub-Mediterranean hills, alkaline lakes that dry out from time to time, saline soils, reeds, and shoreline plains.

The area has been the meeting place of different cultures for eight millennia, going back to around 6000 BC, when the shores of the lake were densely populated, initially by the people of the early Iron Age. 

The basis of the current network of towns and villages was formed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The lake is surrounded by an inner ring of sixteen settlements and an outer ring of twenty other settlements.

The present character of the landscape is the result of millennia-old land-use forms based on stock raising and viticulture to an extent not found in other European lake areas. The layout and architecture of the towns and villages bear witness to this agricultural way of life.

The remarkable rural architecture of the villages surrounding the lake add to the area's considerable cultural interest, as do several 18th- and 19th-century palaces, which include the Széchenyi Palace at Nagycenk and the Fertőd Esterházy Palace.

The palace at Nagycenk was the family home of the famous Hungarian politician and writer, Earl István Széchenyi. This detached ensemble of buildings, built initially in the mid-18^th century in the centre of a park, now houses the museum which is dedicated to his name.

The design of the Fertőd Esterházy Palace was based on the Palace of Versailles in France and was the location for the first performance of many of composer Josef Haydn’s pieces over a 20-year period. It was Hungary’s most important 18^th-century palace.

The region of Lake Fertő lies not only on the geographical border of Hungary and Austria, but also on the border of different climatic, plant and animal zones.

As the largest bird reserve in Central Europe, it is home to herons, great crested grebes, white-tailed eagles and the great egret, amongst many others. Not only an important breeding ground for the local birds, it also provides an essential stopover for many migratory birds.