Joseph- Haydn- Gasse
The Franciscan Church and Monastery of St. Michael is a listed building of the Franciscans (OFM) in Eisenstadt in Burgenland. The church and monastery were built from 1625, and one of the main tasks of the monks, in addition to pastoral work, was looking after the Esterházy burial place donated by Prince Paul I Esterházy de Galantha in 1705. Since 1980, part of the monastery building has been used as a museum for the Diocese of Eisenstadt.
Early Origins (14th–16th Centuries): Minorite Foundations and Ottoman
Destruction
The site’s religious history dates back to around 1386,
when Archbishop Johann Kanizsai (also known as János Kanizsai, Bishop of
Eger) founded a Minorite monastery (a branch of the Franciscans) with
the Church of St. John the Evangelist at this location. This early
complex represented one of the first organized monastic presences in the
area during the late medieval period in what was then part of the
Kingdom of Hungary.
The original structures stood until 1529, when
they were completely destroyed during the First Ottoman Siege of Vienna.
Ottoman forces ravaged much of Burgenland and eastern Austria in this
campaign, leaving the monastery in ruins and the site desolate for
nearly a century. This destruction was part of the broader
Ottoman–Habsburg conflicts that shaped the region’s religious and
architectural landscape.
Re-Founding and Baroque Rebuilding (17th
Century): Esterházy Patronage
The site lay in ruins until 1625, when
Count Nikolaus Esterházy (later elevated to prince) — a key figure in
the Counter-Reformation and a rising noble in Habsburg service — founded
a new Franciscan monastery here. Construction of the monastery and
church ran from 1625 to 1629, incorporating some surviving Gothic
elements from the earlier Minorite building while adopting an early
Baroque style overall.
The church was consecrated on 29 September
1630 and dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was formally handed over
to the Franciscan convent, which had been established five years
earlier. The rebuilding followed the Esterházy family’s victory at the
Battle of Lackenbach (1620s context), symbolizing a resurgence of
Catholic institutions under noble patronage after the Ottoman
devastation.
The interior features beautiful Renaissance altars
crafted by Italian masters, along with ornate stucco decorations that
trace back to this original construction phase. A southern side chapel
bears the Esterházy coat of arms and houses a copy of the Black Madonna
of Częstochowa (Gnadenbild von Tschenstochau). The west gallery, with
Tuscan columns, dates to 1630 and once held an organ linked to Joseph
Haydn’s era (an 18th-century instrument associated with Haydn). A
notable Rococo pulpit from around 1752 depicts St. Francis preaching to
the birds and fish.
18th–19th Centuries: Fires, Renovations, and
the Esterházy Crypt
The complex faced further challenges in the 18th
century. It suffered damage during the Second Ottoman Siege of Vienna
(1683) and again from major city fires in Eisenstadt in 1768 and 1776.
Prince Nikolaus I. Joseph Esterházy (the famous patron of Haydn) acted
as the church’s protector and funded repairs.
In 1770, artist
Stephan Dorfmeister decorated the refectory with frescoes and oil
paintings, including scenes of the Last Supper, St. Anthony of Padua,
and St. Francis.
A high-Baroque west tower (Westturm) replaced an
earlier roof rider (Dachreiter) between 1777 and 1778.
The
Esterházy family crypt (Fürstliche Gruft) became the defining feature of
the site. Originally part of the 1625–1629 construction, it was
redesigned in 1687–1690. In 1705, Prince Paul I. Esterházy de Galantha
(†1713) formally designated the space beneath the former altar of the
Sorrowful Mother of God (dedicated to Mary as “Queen of Angels”) as the
family’s burial vault. The crypt is a neo-Gothic three-aisled pillar
hall in the monastery’s east wing, with an apse protruding from the
building. It features a dramatic two-armed staircase, marble sculptures,
sarcophagi (including a notable one for Prince Nikolaus II. Esterházy
possibly designed after Charles de Moreau), and inscriptions. Expansions
in 1856–1857 by Ferenc (Franz) Storno sen. transformed it into its
current neo-Gothic form, incorporating former monastery rooms like the
refectory and sacristy. Further work in 1898 (interior renovation by
Franz Storno jun.), 1989–1991, and earlier periods modernized it.
The
crypt holds most titled members of the Esterházy family (except a few
buried elsewhere, like at Fertőd), including princes Paul I., Joseph I.,
Michael I., Paul II., Nikolaus I., Anton I., Paul III., Nikolaus III.,
Paul IV., Paul V. (†1989), and his widow Melinda (†2014). It remains
private and inaccessible to the public, with no markers visible in the
church itself.
20th–21st Centuries: Wars, Museum, and Modern
Transitions
Interior and exterior renovations continued through the
20th century:
1958–1959 (interior)
1971 (exterior and monastery
adaptation)
1990s (further interior work)
2002–2004 (west tower
and exterior restoration)
During World War II, Guardian Pater
Kapistran Pieller (serving from 1940) joined the Austrian anti-fascist
resistance, producing critical flyers. He was arrested in 1943,
sentenced to death in 1944, and executed in the Stein prison massacre on
15 April 1945.
In 1980–1981, the upper floor of the monastery opened
as the Diözesanmuseum (Diocesan Museum of the Diocese of Eisenstadt),
housing collections on Burgenland church history, pilgrimages, saints’
veneration, church music, stained glass, and folk piety, with rotating
exhibitions.
In 2018, after the last two Franciscan friars departed,
the Order transferred the monastery to the Diocese of Eisenstadt. The
church is now managed by the Kalasantinerorden (Piarists), while the
complex retains protected monument status.
The monastery church presents itself as a hall with a retracted
three-bay choir, from which a yoke and the apse are separated by the
high altar and are used as a confessional chapel. Today's sacristy is
connected northeast of this confessional chapel. Inside the church there
is valuable equipment from the time of its consecration around 1630: the
early baroque high altar depicting St. Michael is flanked on the
triumphal arch pillars by two early baroque side altars, which are
worked in stucco technique. All three altars were created by Italian
artists who worked exclusively at court. Around the year 1705, three
further crypts were built under the church in addition to the already
existing crypts of the Esterházy and the St. Joseph brotherhood: the St.
Antoni crypt for the higher officials of the Esterházy court, the St.
Franzisci crypt for the Franciscan monks living in the monastery and the
St. Michael crypt.
The church room only has window openings in
the south, since the monastery buildings are attached in the north. Also
in the south, a side chapel with stucco decorations adjoins the nave. It
was built in the second half of the 17th century and bears the princely
Esterházy coat of arms above its entrance; the altarpiece of this chapel
is a replica of the miraculous image of Czestochowa. The oratory of the
Esterházy family is located in the choir on the north inner wall of the
church, directly below is a door that used to lead to the sacristy; in
the nave there are two other oratories with wooden rococo grilles, the
rococo pulpit and a door leading to the cloister. The three-axis western
gallery with a straight parapet rests on Tuscan columns; the organ
placed in the middle there dates from 1760. Another noteworthy element
of the church are the pews on the west gallery from 1630.
The crypt of the princely Esterházy family consists of a neo-Gothic
style above-ground three-aisled pillared hall with a crypt below and is
located north of the church in the east wing of the monastery, with the
apse of the pillared hall protruding from the east wall of the building.
The Esterházy crypt can only be entered from the cloister of the
monastery and is usually closed by a two-winged wooden portal, through
which one enters the aforementioned pillared hall and its two-armed
staircase; if necessary, a modern glass door attached to this portal
allows a view of the pillared hall. In the monastery church itself there
are no tombstones of the princely house or other indications of the
existence of this burial place.
The first crypt of the Esterházy,
which was probably already built between 1625 and 1629 together with the
monastery, was redesigned in the years 1687 to 1690. In 1705, Prince
Paul I († 1713) chose the area under the former altar of the Sorrowful
Mother of God, Mary "Queen of the Angel" was consecrated as a burial
place. From 1856 to 1857, the Esterházy crypt was expanded by Franz
Storno as a neo-Gothic three-nave pillared hall with two bays and six
high tracery windows. As can be seen from the floor plan of the
monastery from the period immediately before 1856, three rooms on the
ground floor of the monastery and previously used by the Franciscan
monks were included in the crypt for the construction of this pillared
hall, namely the previous refectory, the previous mortuary chapel and
the previous one Sacristy. In 1989 there was a renovation and from 1990
to 1991 the crypt was expanded again, whereby the older coffins of the
Esterházy, which had previously been placed in the two side aisles of
the pillared hall, were reburied and in their place two double platforms
made of white marble were erected for future burials.
The
pillared hall has a three-eighth closure to the east and can be entered
from the cloister via a two-armed staircase, which leads from the portal
to ground level in 14 steps. This staircase is flanked by two marble
sculptures, of which the southern one probably represents Prince Paul II
(† 1762) and the northern one his wife Maria Anna Louisa (from the
Lunatti-Visconti family). In the central nave of the pillared hall, the
sarcophagus of Prince Nicholas II († 1833), probably based on a design
by Charles de Moreau, is attached to the east wall like an altar table.
It has a semicircular inscribed tablet made of red marble; the grave
inscription is carved, gilded and surmounted by the prince's coat of
arms. On the wall above the sarcophagus, flanked by tall tracery
windows, hangs a life-size crucifix. A memorial stone in the crypt in
the form of a large rectangular red marble slab with a carved, gilded
inscription and a round bronze relief, which was made shortly after the
death of the princess, also commemorates Prince Nicholas II and his wife
Maria Hermengilde von Liechtenstein († 1845). This memorial stone is now
in the southern side aisle of the pillared hall, where it is placed on
the west wall.
In the area between the sarcophagus of Prince
Nicholas II and the two-armed staircase in the central nave of the
pillared hall is the richly designed, red marble tomb of Prince Paul I
(† 1713) and Joseph I († 1721). On its top sit four mourning putti of
white marble; A gray marble relief in the middle of the lid shows the
Crucified, St. Mary, St. Mary Magdalene and St. John in relief, as well
as an inscription in the form of an open scroll. The grave inscription
carved on behalf of Prince Paul reads: “Paul Estora’s Palatine and
Prince of the Empire is buried in this grave. After sweating and
freezing in peace and war, he chose this resting place for his body,
recommending his sinful soul to the Almighty, he hopes to live forever
in the kingdom of God, with the help of the dear Blessed Virgin Mary, to
whom after Jesus all set his hopes. If you, wayfarer, have piety in your
heart, say: May God grant him eternal rest, which may God reward you.”
Another notable inscription is located between the two arms of the
cloister staircase, while a number of smaller commemorative plaques also
line the remaining walls the tomb was attached.
The mortal
remains of Princes Michael I († 1721), Paul II († 1762), Nicholas I (†
1790), Anton I († 1794), Paul III. († 1866), Nicholas III. († 1894) and
Paul IV († 1898) and most of their wives are also buried in the princely
tomb.
Most recently, Prince Paul V († 1989 in Zurich) and his widow Melinda
(† 2014) were buried in the crypt; With the exception of the princely
couple Nikolaus IV († 1920) and Margit († 1910), who were buried near
Fertőd, all previous bearers of the princely title from the Esterházy
family are buried in the Franciscan monastery in Eisenstadt. The tomb of
the royal family is not open to the public.
Diocesan Museum
In
1980 the Diocesan Museum was set up on the second floor of the
Franciscan monastery and the display collection was constantly expanded
in the years that followed. In special exhibitions that change every
year, topics such as Burgenland church history and church cultural
history such as pilgrimages, veneration of saints, church music, stained
glass windows or popular piety are highlighted.