In terms of the character of today's cultural landscape, the history of the region can be divided into two major periods: the long period from early human history until the establishment of the Hungarian state in the 11th century, and the period from the 11th century until now. The first ar-chaeological traces of settlements in the area of the Hungarian Fertő and Hanság date from the 6th millennium BC. The row of Neolithic settlements follows the southern shore of Fertő-Neusiedler See. The existence of cultural and trading connections with the neighbouring areas is substantiated by the forms and decorations of the painted pottery finds. The sites of the Cop-per Age Balaton-Lasinja group date from the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, and vestiges of the late Copper Age Baden civilisation have been found near Fertőrákos and Sopronkőhida. The area continued to be inhabited at the end of the Copper Age, around 2000 BC, as can be seen from traces of a metallurgical workshop.
The Bronze Age, the first golden age in Europe, resulted in prosperity in the Fertő area as well. The successive civilisations made contact with the people of far-away lands via the routes crossing in the south-west region of the lake. The Amber Route ran through the Sopron basin, which is next to the hills of the lake shore, and connected the Adriatic to the Baltic. There was also the main road connecting the plain of north-western Hungary to the Vienna basin from the east, one of its tracks following the southern shore of Ferto-Neusiedler See.
In the early Iron Age, mainly from the 7th century BC, the shore of the lake was densely popu-lated. Surface remains of these former settlements have been found in the fields of almost every present-day village.
In the 5th century BC, the Celts lived in small pile and mud huts, partly at ground level and partly dug into the earth of what are now fields near Sopron. The first coins were also minted by the Celts in the area of Ferto / Neusiedler See.
Between 50 and 57 AD, Pliny mentioned that the territory of the people of Noricum reached to lake Peiso and the deserted region of the Boii. However, in the latter, the Colony of Claudius (today's Szombathely) and Scarbantia (today's Sopron) founded by Julius were already inhab-ited places. Some scientists believe that lacus Peiso is Ferto-Neusiedler See, others think that Pliny was referring to Lake Balaton. The region south of Ferto-Neusiedler See belonged to the territory of Scarbantia in Roman times. In the fields of almost every village, remains of Roman villas have come to light.
The Mithras cult was especially popular in this border region of the Roman Empire. The birth of Mithras (the god of heavenly light), was celebrated on dies natalis solis, 25 December, the date later chosen by the Christian church for the Christmas festival. Among the archaeological finds in the region, the altar dedicated to Mithras in Illmitz and the Mithras shrine near Fertorákos are especially worthy of mention.
The Roman administration in the vicinity of Scarbantia was destroyed by the Teutonic Quads, who raided the land from the area of today's Slovakia between 374 and 395 AD. Teutonic Svebs arrived and lived in the vicinity of the Roman remains.
Around 433-434 AD, the Western Roman Empire left East Pannonia to the Huns. The nomadic Huns and their Teutonic allies occupied the province as far as the Alps. The fall of the Hun em-pire was followed by the hegemony of the East Goths, the Svebs and Heruls, Langobards and Avars. This eastern equestrian people united the region of the Carpathian basin under a single authority for the first time. Around 670 AD, new settlers arrived from the east, who reorganised the Avar empire. They were Onogurs, after whom the Magyars, who came later, were called "Ungars", i.e. Hungarians. Around 800 AD, the Avar empire, which was torn apart by internal fighting, collapsed under the attacks of Charlemagne and the Bulgarian Krum Khan. The region of Ferto-Neusiedler See (inter Savariam et Carnuntum, i.e. between Szombathely and Petro-nell) remained the territory of the Avar people.
On the shore of the lake, Frankish Bavarian military posts existed for controlling the roads, for example between Balf and Fertőrákos. At the turn of the 10th century, the Hungarians allied with the Bavarians and occupied this territory from the north. Hungarians occupying the Carpathian basin were the overlords of the Ferto / Neusiedler See area in the years around 900 – as a land especially suited for keeping animals. It became part of a multi-level border protection system.
Within the state and public administration system established since the 11th century, the for-merly Celtic-Roman Sopron became the seat of the bailiff and the centre of the county named after it, which included the south-western part of the Ferto / Neusiedler See area. The north-eastern area of the lakeside became part of Moson county. Migration of German settlers started in the 13th century and continued throughout the Middle Ages. The Tartar invasion in 1241-42, which devastated almost the whole country, left this area unharmed, i.e. the settlements were not forced to restart from scratch. The region enjoyed uninterrupted development throughout the Middle Ages until the Turkish conquest.
The Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529 devastated this region as well. The fall of Gyor in 1594 and four years of Turkish occupation brought renewed devastation. During that period Croats moved in from Slavonia to replenish the reduced population. The conflicts with the Ottoman Empire led to the redesign of the medieval fortifications. Some of them were turned into Italian Renais-sance-type fortresses, whereas many villages on the shores of Ferto-Neusiedler See received stone fortifications, e.g. Rust, Oggau, Donnerskirchen and Purbach. The most important local event in the 17th century was Rust’s elevation to the rank of a royal free town in 1681.
The most significant building phase that would continue to dominate the vistas of towns and villages in the area of Ferto-Neusiedler See was that of the 18th century. The economic upswing that followed the Turkish wars, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the war of Hun-garian independence (led by Rákóczi) was not only reflected in the great building activity of the aristocracy but also in the splendid facades of the local burgher farmhouses, as well as in build-ings built by the Church to glorify the victory over Protestantism and by the nobility to manifest its regained prosperity. The palaces and mansions of noble families, above all the Esterházys and Széchenyis, were bathed in a splendour hardly conceivable a few decades earlier; it was the unrivalled heyday of culture in Burgenland, an epoch of flourishing arts and crafts. In addi-tion to designers, architects and stucco and fresco artisans, many other artists helped create the special cultural atmosphere of that period. This applies in particular to music, the most nota-ble example being the great Joseph Haydn and his close links with Eisenstadt (Kismarton), Fertod-Eszterháza and the Esterházy dynasty.
The landlords' estates, which had developed since the 16th century, covered such a huge area that they prevented any major economic development for the peasants living on them. On the other hand, this was the time when the palaces and parks of Fertod and Nagycenk were built, while the villages and towns around the lake received their present appearance. Reformation and Counter-Reformation led to the rebuilding of churches or the construction of new ones. Numerous small monuments were built which are still found inside and outside the villages and towns of the present-day cultural landscape of Ferto / Neusiedler See.
While the economic basis of the area continued to be arable farming, animal husbandry and viticulture, the politically restless times of the first half of the 19th century prevented any major changes and thus also any further development of the existing building forms, i.e. the Baroque character of townscapes and villagescapes remained largely intact.
The liberation of the peasants under the laws of 1848 and the political situation after 1867 pro-moted the area's development. Renewed building activity set in. This was when the frequently Classicist and eclectic street facades with their plastered decorations were added, dozens of which are still to be seen.
The most important events of the second half of the 19th century were the construction of rail-way lines and the completion of the water management facilities in the area.
The first segment of the railway line between Sopron and Wiener Neustadt was completed in 1847. The next section from Sopron to Gyor was completed in 1876, that from Sopron to Eben-furt in 1879, and that from Fertoszentmiklós to Neusiedl/See in 1897. Hence, by the end of the 19th century, the region was completely integrated into the transportation system of the Monar-chy and/or Europe.
After World War I, the national border introduced between Austria and Hungary divided the re-gion into two halves. However, true isolation started with the establishment of the Communists' "Iron Curtain" after World War II. But it was between Fertorákos and St. Margarethen that the participants in a Pan-European Picnic tore down the barbed wire and reopened the border. "This was the place where the first brick was knocked out of the Berlin Wall".
