Municipality Bruck an der Leitha
Coat of arms	Map of Austria
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State:	Lower Austria
Political district:	Bruck an der Leitha
Vehicle registration:	BL
Area:	23.69 km²
Coordinates:	♁48° 2′ N, 16° 47′ ECoordinates: 48° 1′ 32″ N, 16° 46′ 44″ E | |
Elevation:	156 m a.s.l.
Population:	8,687 (Jan 1, 2025)
Population density:	367 inh. per km²
Postal code:	2460
Area code:	0 21 62
Municipal code:	3 07 04
Address of the municipal administration:	Hauptplatz 16 2460 Bruck an der Leitha
Website:	www.bruckleitha.at
Politics
Mayor:	Gerhard Weil (SPÖ)
Municipal council: (Election year: 2025) (33 members)	16 7 5 3 2 16 7 5 3 2 Total 33 seats SPÖ: 16 ÖVP: 7 LBW: 5 FPÖ: 3 GRÜNE: 2
Location of Bruck an der Leitha in the district of Bruck an der Leitha
Town hall on the main square
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Bruck an der Leitha (Hungarian Lajtabruck, Slovak and Czech Most nad Litavou) is an Austrian town with 8,687 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2025) on the Leitha river in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in Lower Austria. Bruck an der Leitha is also the seat of the district administration of the district of the same name.

Bruck an der Leitha is located on the Leitha river, on the edge of the Leitha Mountains, just a few kilometers north of Lake Neusiedl, on the state border with Burgenland and near Vienna.

The municipality has an area of 23.69 square kilometers. Of this, 68 percent is agricultural land, 8 percent is gardens, and 4 percent is forested.^[1]

The municipal territory comprises two localities (population as of January 1, 2025^[2]):

• Bruck an der Leitha (7537)
• Wilfleinsdorf (1150)

and three cadastral municipalities (area as of December 31, 2023^[3]):

• Bruck an der Leitha (1,489.06 ha)
• Prugg Schloß (72.04 ha)
• Wilfleinsdorf (807.9 ha)

Wilfleinsdorf was incorporated in 1971.^[4]

Trautmannsdorf an der Leitha	Göttlesbrunn-Arbesthal Höflein	Rohrau
Trautmannsdorf an der Leitha
Sommerein ∗	Bruckneudorf (dist. Neusiedl a.S., Burgenland)	Parndorf (dist. Neusiedl a.S., Burgenland)

Sommerein borders for approx. 100 m on

Around 800, Charlemagne was able to largely drive the majority of the Avars out of what is now eastern Lower Austria. As a result, the area was settled by Frankish and Bavarian emigrants. At this time, the first settlements were established in what is today the "Old Town". In 976, Luitpold (Leopold) of the Babenberg dynasty was enfeoffed with this March. The Leitha therefore already formed the border between what was then called Ostarrîchi (Austria) and Hungary at that time. Under the protection of a castle in the north – which stands on the current site of Prugg Castle – the settlement area grew rapidly. In 1074, Bruck an der Leitha was first mentioned in a document as the place Aschirichesprucca. In 1239 (?), the town was granted city rights under Leopold IV, the Glorious († 1230). From 1276 onwards, King Rudolf I granted the town a fixed share of the toll revenues.^[5]

Belonging to the Habsburg Duchy of Austria, Bruck was conquered in 1484 by the Hungarian commander István Dávidházy († 1484) during the wars between the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and Frederick III. During the campaign against Hungary in 1490, Maximilian I was able to reconquer the town after citizens of Bruck captured the Hungarian commander.

The town survived the 1529 campaign of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleiman I, although it suffered heavy losses. Bruck also suffered as a border town during later campaigns (today called Turkish Sieges).

In 1546, Count Leonhard IV of Harrach acquired the lordship over Bruck an der Leitha. From this point on, the town lived under this noble family until the 19th century. After the second great Turkish siege in 1683, the inhabitants of the town built the Trinity Column (also called the Plague Column) in 1694 on the main square in gratitude for the victory over the Ottomans and as a memorial against the plague, which still stands today.

In the same year, construction of the Baroque church also began (construction until 1702; a later extension was not completed until 1738). The current church tower was once a simple town tower, which was used to warn against approaching enemies, fires within the town, or other dangers. From 1707 to 1711, Aloys Thomas Count Harrach had the castle in the north of the town expanded by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt into the Baroque Prugg Castle, which is still used today.

The district guild of the stonemason and mason craft of Bruck an der Leitha^[6] (as well as those of Kaisersteinbruch, Eisenstadt, and Pottendorf) was assigned to the Wiener Neustadt main guild. The guild book with cash receipts and expenditures proves this emphatically, as does its existence over time. An example:^[7]

Receipt, June 4, 1671, were received by an honorable craft for submitted invoices from Khayser Steinbruch, Pruckh an der Leytha, and Eysenstatt. 15 guilders 3 kreutzer.

Expenditures, May 22, 1678, for expenses incurred in visiting the district guilds of Prugg an der Leytta and Kayl. Stainbruch. 8 guilders 17 kreutzer.

In the Bruck guild book, one also gets information about Kaisersteinbruch and Sommerein masters, especially of the Kru(c)kenfellner family.^[8] The Sommerein masters were assigned to the craft of stonemasons and masons in Kaisersteinbruch until 1781. From October 7, 1781, these masters were incorporated into the guild of the Bruck craft by imperial order.

In 1863, it was decided in the k.k. Ministry of War to set up a tent camp for six brigades on the meadows between Pachfurth and Rohrau in the period from May to October.^[9] The soldiers accommodated there often had the opportunity to visit the nearby town of Bruck during these months. The people of Bruck were very impressed by the large number of these visitors; especially businessmen and innkeepers quickly realized that this was an opportunity to gain new customers and earn a lot of money. The people of Bruck realized that a larger training camp was to be built here in the east of Austria in order to be able to provide the various military units, officers, and soldiers with shooting and combat training.

The people of Bruck applied for the construction of this planned military camp, and preliminary negotiations were concluded as early as 1865. However, the military administration demanded to negotiate with only a single partner, namely the municipality of Bruck. The entire camp area was to be handed over in one go. The town had to conduct negotiations with 288 individual owners; the Sappberg was, after all, a viticulture area, and the winegrowers feared losing their livelihood. But the prices for the land to be purchased were very high for the conditions of the time, and so the farmers were soon ready to sell. The businessmen were, of course, fully in favor of this project, and the Counts Harrach and Batthyány, who negotiated directly with the military, were also ready to sell.

On April 20, 1866, the imperial approval arrived, and this day can be considered the actual date of the establishment of the Bruck camp. After clarifying all points, the purchase agreement was signed on January 8, 1867.

In 1867, the Bruck camp was established, which served as a garrison until the First World War, used by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Feldjäger Battalion, among others. It was located entirely on the right bank of the Leitha on Hungarian soil, i.e., in Bruck-Hungarian side; the later community of Bruck-Neudorf, later Királyhida, which means King's Bridge, did not yet exist.

The demands of the Bruck camp for more training grounds led to negotiations between Heiligenkreuz Abbey as the landowner of Kaisersteinbruch, including the district of Königshof, and the military administration.^[10] On 31 October 1912, the sales negotiations, for which Abbot Gregor Pöck was responsible, were concluded and the quarry area was handed over to the k.u.k. War Ministry. The abbey received 3,500,000 kronen and Styrian forest areas in return.

On this ground, a First World War prisoner-of-war camp for approx. 3,000 soldiers was built, subsequently an Austrofascist detention camp, and in the Second World War, Stalag XVII A, one of the largest camps in the entire Reich territory with approx. 73,000 soldiers. The political municipality of Kaisersteinbruch no longer existed.^[11]

From October 1944, Hungarian Jews as well as forced laborers from other countries were deployed for fortification work on the "Southeast Wall" in the Bruck an der Leitha construction section. The Hungarian Jews were housed in various barns located on Fischamender Straße and "Am Stadtgut". Another camp is said to have existed at the Heidehof in Bruckneudorf. Between 5 December 1944 and 26 March 1945, 155 Hungarian Jews died in Bruck, primarily from cold, exhaustion, and malnutrition. On 29 March 1945, the Jewish forced laborers were evacuated on a death march via Bad Deutsch Altenburg in the direction of the Mauthausen concentration camp.^[12]

Bruck an der Leitha: Population figures from 1869 to 2025
Year				Inhabitants
1869			5.431
1880			4.983
1890			5.480
1900			6.167
1910			6.907
1923			6.846
1934			7.228
1939			7.816
1951			7.399
1961			7.478
1971			7.529
1981			7.179
1991			7.259
2001			7.311
2011			7.648
2021			8.177
2025			8.687
Source(s): Statistics Austria, territorial status 1 January 2021

• City fortifications of Bruck an der Leitha
• Catholic Bruck an der Leitha Parish Church of the Holy Trinity: The church was built between 1696 and 1702, incorporating the city tower. This is medieval up to the belfry level (around 1230). The circulation passage was built in the 16th century and the baroque bell tower around 1740. The unadorned facade was also rebuilt during this period (1738–1740). Among other things, it was structured with a floor-separating entablature, an upper floor crowned with a gable, and a three-axis central avant-corps. Additionally, 6 semicircular niches were installed for stone statues.
• Catholic Wilfleinsdorf Parish Church of Sts. Peter and Paul
• Bruck an der Leitha Synagogue
• Prugg Palace
• Fountains: Count Harrach commissioned court master stonemason Antonius Bregno to create two fountains in 1640.
• Manorial estate with a magnificent staircase for Claudius Florimund Mercy, built in 1708 by architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt
• Stonemason's house
• District court
• Castle
• Ring wall and defensive moat: largely preserved

• City theater

• Harrachpark
• Bruckmühlpark
• School park

The most important company today is a pet food factory owned by the company Mars Austria OG, a subsidiary of Mars Incorporated.

Previously, Bruck, alongside Tulln an der Donau and Siegendorf in Burgenland, was home to one of the most important sugar factories in the eastern region. However, this was closed in the 1980s. The oil mill, which produces a large part of Austria's biodiesel, was built on the site.

There is a specialist retail center on the A4, and shops around the main square and the pedestrian zone in the city center.

A funding agreement exists from 2003 between ecoplus, the municipality of Bruck, the regional initiative Brucker Werbegemeinschaft, and the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce, upon which the founding of C!TY-Bruck GmbH is based.^[13]

The Bruck an der Leitha wind farm is located in the municipality.

• Road: Bruck is located on the A4 Eastern Motorway A4 and the Budapest Road B10.
• Railway:
  • The Bruck an der Leitha station is located on the branch of the Eastern Railway leading to Budapest, served by the S-Bahn line S60 of the ÖBB.
  • The Wilfleinsdorf stop is also on the Eastern Railway and is about one kilometer from the center of the Wilfleinsdorf district. The station, served by the S60, only has two side platforms; the former station building, located about 200 meters away, is no longer used.
• Hiking trail: The Burgenland Way of St. James, which comes from Frauenkirchen and runs predominantly through Burgenland until it connects to the Austrian Way of St. James in Haslau-Maria Ellend, passes through Bruck an der Leitha.

• District Commission Bruck an der Leitha
• Bruck an der Leitha District Court. According to the Austrian judicial organization, it is subordinate to the Regional Court of Korneuburg.
• District Police Command
• Tax office (Tax office 38: Bruck – Eisenstadt – Oberwart)

• three kindergartens in Bruck and one in Wilfleinsdorf
• Elementary School I, Hauptplatz
• Elementary School II, Fischamenderstraße
• New Middle School I (until 2011–2012 Middle School I), Lagerhausstraße
• New Middle School II (until 2011–2012 Middle School II), Raiffeisengürtel
• Special Education Center and General Special School, Hauptplatz
• Polytechnic School, Raiffeisengürtel
• BG/BRG (Grammar School), Fischamenderstraße
• HAK/HASCH (Commercial Academy/School), Fischamenderstraße

The municipal council has 33 members.

• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 1990, the municipal council had the following distribution: 17 SPÖ, 14 ÖVP, and 2 Grüne-BRUCK 2001.
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 1995, the municipal council had the following distribution: 17 SPÖ, 11 ÖVP, 2 Grüne-BRUCK 2001, 2 BA-Bruck aktiv, and 1 FPÖ.
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2000, the municipal council had the following distribution: 16 ÖVP, 13 SPÖ, 3 Grüne, and 1 FPÖ.
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2005, the municipal council had the following distribution: 17 SPÖ, 14 ÖVP, and 2 Grüne.
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2010, the municipal council had the following distribution: 18 SPÖ, 11 ÖVP, 2 Grüne, and 2 FPÖ.
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2015, the municipal council had the following distribution: 18 SPÖ, 11 ÖVP, 2 Grüne, and 2 FPÖ.^[14]
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2020, the municipal council had the following distribution: 20 SPÖ, 8 ÖVP, 2 Citizens' List Bruck-Wilfleinsdorf, 2 Grüne, and 1 FPÖ.^[15]
• With the municipal elections in Lower Austria in 2025, the municipal council has the following distribution: 16 SPÖ, 7 ÖVP, 5 Citizens' List Bruck-Wilfleinsdorf, 3 FPÖ, and 2 Grüne.^[16]

• 1945–1947 Johann Koppensteiner (SPÖ)
• 1999–2000 Christa Vladyka (SPÖ)
• 2000–2005 Franz Perger (ÖVP)^[17]
• 2005–2009 Christa Vladyka (SPÖ)
• 2009–2018 Richard Hemmer (SPÖ)^[18]
• since 2018 Gerhard Weil (SPÖ)

	Blazon: "In a red shield, a golden, ashlar city wall with a red-opened gate and raised portcullis, surmounted by three identical golden towers, the right and left ones crenellated, the middle one the highest, provided with a pointed roof."[19]
	The coat of arms has been used since 2010.

Former coat of arms

• Bruckmühl in Bavaria, Germany, since September 13, 1974^[20]

• Georg Donberger (1709–1768), composer
• Joseph Högl (1741–1780), master stonemason and sculptor
• Anton Stadler (1753–1812), clarinetist and friend of Mozart
• Johann Nepomuk Stadler (1755–1804), clarinetist and Anton Stadler's younger brother
• Jakob Braun (1795–1839), first Austrian blind student
• Franz von John (1815–1876), general and Minister of War
• Hans von Friebeis (1855–1923), Mayor of Vienna
• Julius Strobl (1868–1932), actor
• Heinrich Kretschmayr (1870–1939), historian and archivist
• Leopold Petznek (1881–1956), social democratic politician
• C. W. Fernbach (1915–1967), actor
• Karl Schneider (1918–2003), ÖVP politician
• Georg Schmidt (1927–1990), football coach
• Hertha Kratzer (* 1940), writer
• Johannes Huber (* 1946), physician and theologian
• Ilse Hübner (* 1948), author, winner of the Lower Austrian Literature Prize
• Josef Ernst Köpplinger (* 1964), theater director
• Roland Stinauer (* 1991), musician

• Beppo Harrach (* 1979), rally driver
• Johann Georg Högl (1706–1748), Austrian master stonemason and sculptor
• Anselm Hörmonseder (1686–1740), Augustinian, prior of the local Augustinian monastery
• Michael Krickl (1883–1949), Lower Austrian local poet, school director
• Martin Vögerl (1714–1770), Austrian sculptor
• Johann Georg Wimpassinger (1693–1766), Austrian-Hungarian master mason, architect
• Rainer Windholz (* 1969), politician (SPÖ)

• Martin Zeiller: Bruck. In: Matthäus Merian (ed.): Topographia Provinciarum Austriacarum. Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniolia, Tyrolis … (= Topographia Germaniae. Volume 10). 3rd edition. Matthaeus Merian's heirs, Frankfurt am Main 1679, p. 4 (Full text [Wikisource]).
• Laurenz Pröll: Die Gegenreformation in der l.-f. Stadt Bruck a. d. L., ein typisches Bild, nach den Aufzeichnungen des Stadtschreibers Georg Khirmair. Vienna 1897.
• District School Board Bruck an der Leitha (ed.): Heimatbuch des Bezirkes Bruck an der Leitha. 4 volumes. Bruck an der Leitha 1951–1954.
• Josef Christelbauer: Geschichte der Stadt Bruck an der Leitha. Ein Beitrag zur Förderung der Heimatkunde. Bruck an der Leitha 1920.
• Josef Christelbauer, Rudolf Stadlmayer: Geschichte der Stadt Bruck an der Leitha. Bruck an der Leitha, Municipality, 1983 (reprint 1986). Originally: 1920. Facsimile edition supplemented, expanded and modified by Rudolf Stadlmayer.
• Josef Grubmüller: Hervorragende Persönlichkeiten (of Bruck an der Leitha). In: District School Board Bruck an der Leitha (ed.), Part 3, p. 423 et seq.
• Karl Hammer (ed.): BG Bruck a. d. Leitha, Festschrift anlässlich der Eröffnung des neuen Schulgebäudes. Commemorative publication. Bruck an der Leitha [1965].
• Rudolf Stadlmayer: Hundert Jahre Brucker Schule. Festschrift. Bruck an der Leitha 1974.
• Rudolf Stadlmayer: Bruck an der Leitha. 60 Jahre Zeitgeschehen 1918–1978. Self-published by the municipality, 1982.
• Petra Weiß: Bruck a. d. Leitha von 1867 bis 1918 mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Brucker Lagers. Diploma thesis at the University of Vienna, 1993.
• Rudolf Stadlmayer (Ed.): Bruck an der Leitha. Brucker Alltag in vergangenen Jahrhunderten. Self-published by the municipality of Bruck an der Leitha, 1998.
• Petra Weiß: Bruck an der Leitha anno ’45 *1945. Kriegsende und Besatzungszeit am Beispiel einer niederösterreichischen Kleinstadt. Dissertation at the University of Vienna, 1998.
• Petra Weiß: Die letzten Monate nationalsozialistischer Herrschaft in Bruck, Leitha. Bruck an der Leitha 1999.
• Petra Weiß: Politik und Alltag in den ersten Monaten der Besatzungszeit in Bruck an der Leitha. Bruck an der Leitha 2000.
• Petra Weiß, Johanna Wallnegger, Ilse Hübner: 100 Jahre Stadtbücherei Bruck an der Leitha. 1901–2001. City library of the city of Bruck an der Leitha, 2001.
• Petra Weiß, Eine Stadt erlebte Geschichte. Stadtchronik 1910–1970. Ed. Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha
• Petra Weiß, Eine Stadt auf dem Weg ins neue Jahrtausend 1971–2010. Ed. Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha
• Petra Weiß, 150 Jahre Brucker Lager – TÜPl Bruckneudorf. Eine Geschichte in Bildern. Ed. Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha
• Petra Weiß, Spurensuche. Eine Erinnerung an jüdische Familien in Bruck und Bruckneudorf. Ed. Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha 2018
• Hertha Schuster: Festschrift Volksschule Hauptplatz 2001. Ed. Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha, 2001.
• Johanna Wallnegger, Petra Weiß: 100 Jahre Brucker Stadttheater 1904 bis 2004 Self-published by the Culture and Museum Association Bruck an der Leitha, 2004.
• Irmtraut Karlsson, Petra Weiß: Die Toten von Bruck – Dokumente erzählen Geschichte. Kral-Verlag, Berndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-902447-43-2.

• Official website of the municipal administration of Bruck an der Leitha
• Austrian City Atlas, Sheet Bruck an der Leitha
• Data and images regarding the preserved city fortifications
• Bruck an der Leitha in the database Gedächtnis des Landes on the history of the state of Lower Austria (Museum Niederösterreich)

• 30704 – Bruck an der Leitha. Municipal data from Statistik Austria

1. A look at the municipality of Bruck an der Leitha, area and land use. (PDF) Statistik Austria, retrieved on November 22, 2021.
2. Statistik Austria: Population as of Jan 1, 2025 by localities (territorial status Jan 1, 2025), (ODS, 500 KB)
3. Regionalinformation 31.12.2023.zip, bev.gv.at (1,119 kB, 0003450398_100_Verwaltungseinheiten_KG_2023.csv); retrieved on January 20, 2025
4. Statistik Austria: Dissolutions or mergers of municipalities since 1945
5. Heinrich Gottfried Gengler: Regesten und Urkunden zur Verfassungs- und Rechtsgeschichte der deutschen Städte im Mittelalter. Erlangen 1863, pp. 407–408.
6. City Archive Bruck an der Leitha: Protokoll und Meisterbuch eines ehrsamen Handwerks der Steinmetz- und Maurer Viertellade Bruck an der Leitha – anno 1749
7. City Archive Wiener Neustadt: Denen Bürgerlichen Steinmetz- und Maurer in der Neustadt Zechbuch. Angefangen Anno 1617 bis 1781
8. Helmuth Furch: Die Familie Krukenfellner. In: Mitteilungen des Museums- und Kulturvereines Kaisersteinbruch. No. 51, 1999, ISBN 3-9504555-3-1.
9. Josef Christelbauer, Rudolf Stadlmayer: Geschichte der Stadt Bruck an der Leitha. 1983, Entstehungsgeschichte des Brucker Lagers, p. 167.
10. War Archive Vienna: 1912 Sale of Königshof to the Military Treasury.
11. Helmuth Furch: Historisches Lexikon Kaisersteinbruch, Kriegsgefangenenlager Kaisersteinbruch. 2004, pp. 379–394.[1]
12. Petra Weiß, Irmtraut Karlsson: Die Toten von Bruck. Dokumente erzählen Geschichte. KRAL-Verlag, Berndorf 2008.
13. C!TY-Bruck GmbH (Retrieved on November 22)
14. Election result municipal council election 2015 in Bruck an der Leitha. Office of the Lower Austrian State Government, December 1, 2015, retrieved on April 27, 2019.
15. Election result municipal council election 2020 in Bruck an der Leitha. Office of the Lower Austrian State Government, January 26, 2020, retrieved on January 26, 2020.
16. Election result municipal council election 2025 in Bruck an der Leitha. Office of the Lower Austrian State Government, January 26, 2025, retrieved on January 31, 2025.
17. Franz Perger celebrated his seventieth meinbezirk.at, January 11, 2018
18. Hemmer: “Would do it again anytime” gemeindebund.at, August 13, 2018
19. Coat of arms description at “Gedächtnis des Landes”; retrieved on March 15, 2025
20. Partner city. Retrieved on November 22, 2021 (Austrian German).