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Esterházy Palace is the largest rococo building of
its kind in Hungary. The original manor house, which is the core of the building, was
constructed in 1721 by Anton Erhard Martinelli.
Esterházy Palace History
Between 1764 and 1784 Prince Miklós Esterházy extended it on the basis
of his own plans, although Melchior Hefele was the architect chiefly involved in its
rebuilding.
Several architects, including Miklós Jakoby, collaborated on the
project. The park was created in Baroque style and is also credited to
Esterházy, although after his death it fell into disrepair. Parts of the
building were damaged in 1944 and 1945 during WWII, and restoration was carried out in 1958 and
1959.
The elevation of the main building is a three-storey central block of
eleven bays, the three central bays of which have an additional storey and project
slightly.
The ground floor is banded, and the balconied storeys above are
articulated by giant pilasters. Two wings of the same elevation as the central block extend
out, forming a large cour d’honneur, the inner angles of which are curved.
The court is closed off at its front end by balconied wings of one
storey with blind arcades and by an ornate Rococo wrought-iron gate adorned with vases. A
fountain of a cherub with a dolphin is in the centre of the courtyard. Six bays of the garden
façade project towards the extensive formal gardens designed in the French manner.
The grounds originally had a music house where Joseph Haydn was
resident composer and Kapellmeister from 1761. On the ground floor the Sala Terrena (one of 126
rooms) has a ceiling frescoed (1766) by Josef Ignaz Mildorfer.
Johann Basilius Grundmann executed a fresco of Apollo on the Chariots
of the Sun in the banquet hall on the first floor; the room also contains sculptures of the
Four Seasons by Johann Joseph Rössler. The chapel has frescoes by Mildorfer. After years of
neglect, the interior of the palace was restored by Zsigmond Babics at the end of the 19th
century.
Esterházy
Palace Map
Esterházy Palace Address: Eszterháza 9431
Fertőd, Joseph Haydn út 2, Hungary. Get directions using the map provided
bellow:
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