Neusiedl am See is a town with 8,600 inhabitants in Burgenland in the Neusiedl am See district in Austria. The shopping and school town of Neusiedl am See is also a district suburb (Burgenland name for district capital). The only town in the district is Neusiedl am See, which also includes the districts Refugium, Seemuseum and Segelhafen West. Neusiedl am See, located at 133 m above sea level, is located on the north shore of Lake Neusiedl between the foothills of the Leitha Mountains and the Parndorf Plain. The municipality is characterized by the surrounding vineyards as well as by the calvary and the clay massif Taborberg.
The first mention of “Sumbotheil” (referring to its right to hold Saturday markets) dates back to 1209. In the mid-13th century, the town was destroyed by the Mongols, and by 1282 under the name “Niusidel” resettled. In 1517 Neusiedl received market rights. Neusiedl in 1683 was in the wake of the second Turkish siege, and in 1708 the town was devastated by the Kuruc. Neusiedl am See received a city charter in 1926, which had already been investigated in 1824. Like the rest of Burgenland, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1920/21. After the end of World War I it was given to Austria in the Treaty of St. Germain and Trianon. It has belonged since 1921 to the new State of Burgenland (history of Burgenland). The town has produced the notable figure: the experimental guitarist and composer, Christian Fennesz, known for his swirling, spatial works and collaboration with Japanese pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Neusiedl lives from viticulture, tourism and numerous businesses. The main season for tourism is, due to the lido, in summer, with mainly visitors from the greater Vienna area, but also numerous guests from southern Germany using the nearby opportunities for swimming, windsurfing, kite surfing and sailing. From spring to late autumn, Neusiedl am See is a popular starting point for bike tours in the Neusiedler See region thanks to its convenient transport links. In the winter months, the lake, which is closed for weeks, also attracts numerous ice skating and ice sailing tourists. Numerous commercial and trading companies are based in Neusiedl am See. A large industrial park with a technology center has been built at the motorway exit since the end of the 1990s. Immediately adjacent to Neusiedl am See is a Designer Outlet Center in Parndorf with dozens of shops for fashion brands. Since the third quarter of 2006, Neusiedl am See has its own shopping center called “Pannonia”.
Neusiedl am See has a newly developed lido with a sailing center as well as schools for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The lido also offers beach volleyball and beach soccer courts as well as a basketball court. In addition, there is an indoor swimming pool in Neusiedl am See (with a fun or skate park right next to it), a golf course, tennis courts, a soccer field with natural and artificial turf and a riding stables. Neusiedl am See is also particularly popular with cyclists as it is located directly on the cycle route around Lake Neusiedl. As a result of the successes in sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, a federal sports center was set up in Neusiedl to promote the next generation of sailing. Two long-distance hiking trails run through the municipality: the Central Alpine Trail and the Burgenland Long-Distance Hiking Trail.
