Schloss Esterházy–July 22, 2026

One of the main attractions in Eisenstadt is the Esterházy Palace. It must have been nice to be the prince.

Above castle entrance, two busts of old men. Above them, a frame with a cracked painting, held by angels.
Relief bust of man in turban. Text under bust is ALMOS
Gold coat of arms held by two griffins/eagles?
Ornate desk clock on table; behind it, a gold-framed mirror.
A display case 7 columns by 6 rows high, each section with ceramic dishware.
Several blue and several black vases with gold-decorated lids.
Three light-green fish-shaped urns. They are standing on their tail, and the base of each is gold.
Display case filled with silver teapots serving dishes, and candelabras
small room with ceramic toilet
At left, a table with two lamps supported by statues of a man and a woman rspectively. Between them, a desk clock with a man and woman embracing on either side of the clock. At right, a painting of a woman in a white dress with a gold belt
Painting of chinese woman holding child. A man is at the right, and children are playing in the center of the painting.
Base of a column decorated with gold grape vine. The column has an oriental-style snake cured around it.
At left, clock with floral decoration. At right, a cup and saucer
Gold oranment with picture of stringed instrument on it.

Castle Courtyard

These are just a few of the carvings in the courtyard.

Two gold griffins flanking a plaque with gold inscription.
Relief carving of what looks like a jester with a neutral expression
Man with glasses, looking to side, with a disgusted/angry look on his face
Bearded man with eyes half closed
man looking as if he has tasted something awful
Man with beard and sad expression
Man with mask and lips pursed, slightly twisted
Laughing man
Three faces with tongue sticking out, lip curled upwards, and mouth open as if yawning

Haydn Exhibitions

There was an exhibition about Joseph Haydn, who was part of Prince Esterházy’s court as the musical director. It was interesting, but ye gods, whose idea was that awful carpeting and wallpaper? I found it horribly distracting.

Wallpaper with green and red drawings of Haydn
Carpet with green stripes, a tan area, red stripes, and a blue polka-dotted section
Sheet music of Endimione és Diana from 1806 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Mirrored cube reflecting wallpaper and carpeting.
Gold-painted horse-drawn carriage with blue and gold canopy in driver’s area.
Blue and gold tassels on the carriage

Closeup of part of the carriage

Sheet music by Haydn for the Kaiserhymne
Video screen with animated picture of Haydn talking about his works.
Portrait of Haydn. In his left hand are sheets of music. His right hand is resting on his cheek.

Wine Celler

They certainly had enough wine to do a lot of entertaining in those days...

Two large wine jugs
Carved knight holding spear
Wine-making equipment
Large wooden wine press
Large wine barrel with carving of virgin Mary holding baby Jesus
Large wine barrel with carved portrait of emperor and empress
Wine jugs of various sizes. Some are green ceramic
Two ornate round medallions (?)
Rack of wine bottles that are thoroughly layered in dust

That’s about the amount of dust on the surface of things in my room.

Wine bottles covered with so much dust they look gray.