Bergkirche Eisenstadt

The Bergkirche was built by Prince Paul I Esterházy from 1701 as the setting for a calvary, and the calvary is the peculiar part: rather than stations along a path, an artificial mountain of masonry was built onto and around the church, riddled with staircases, passages, grottoes and chambers holding around two hundred life-size painted wooden figures in twenty-four scenes of the Passion, so that pilgrims climbed through the inside of a fabricated hill. It survives complete and is walked today. Joseph Haydn worked for the Esterházy family for decades and his remains were brought here in 1820 and laid in a mausoleum built in the church in 1932 - a complicated journey, since his skull had been stolen after burial by phrenologists and was only reunited with the body in 1954.

The main sights

• An artificial calvary mountain - passages and grottoes built around the church.
• Around two hundred figures - life-size painted wooden Passion scenes inside it.
• Haydn's tomb - the mausoleum holding the composer, reunited with his skull in 1954.
• An Esterházy foundation - built from 1701 by the family Haydn served.

When to go

April to October; the calvary closes in winter. An hour or two.

Good to know

The calvary passages are narrow, dark and involve many steps - not suitable for limited mobility. It closes in winter. The figures are folk art, vivid rather than refined.

Nearby

The Esterházy palace and the Eisenstadt Jewish quarter are a short walk.

Key facts