Bruck an der Leitha

Bruck stands on the Leitha, a river that long marked the frontier between Austria and Hungary. A settlement grew under the protection of a castle and was recorded in 1074 as Aschirichesprucca, a name referring to its bridge. From 1276 King Rudolf I granted the town a share of the tolls collected there.

In the war between King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Emperor Frederick III, Hungarian forces captured Bruck in 1484. Six years later its citizens seized the Hungarian commander, allowing Maximilian I to recover the town. Ottoman campaigns in 1529 and later brought heavy losses. Count Leonhard IV of Harrach acquired the lordship in 1546, beginning a long association with his family. In the early eighteenth century Aloys Thomas von Harrach had the castle rebuilt as the Baroque Schloss Prugg.