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Esterházy Palace in the capital of Burgenland
Leopoldine Temple in Eisenstadt’s Palace Gardens
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The Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, the Iron City in the east of Austria, is quite impressive. It is located uphill from the city center with its main street that was turned into a pedestrian zone in the late 1980’s. One of our favorite places in town would be the Leopoldine Temple in the park – with a beautiful pond in front that for some time had been a meadow where one could play soccer. Looking at a picture of the temple in the Iron City’s Palace Gardens, a neighbor friend would say: “So schön haben wir’s hier – It’s so beautiful here!”
The city reached fame as home and final resting place of the classical composer Joseph Haydn. His mortal remains are buried in the Haydn church, flanked by depictions of the four seasons which he used as a title for one of his oratorios. Haydn’s sad string quartet of 1797 was to become the grandiose Austrian Emperor’s Hymn: “God preserve, God protect Our Emperor, our country.” Underlaid with different lyrics, the melody still serves as the German National Anthem. In late 1790, when Haydn headed out of Vienna onto an assignment in London, he was asked about his English language skills. Determined to make himself understood with his compositions, he responded: “My language is understood throughout the world!” I like it!
Continue reading in the book “SO LONG – Encouraging Messages for Change Sceptics.”
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