Hainburg

Hainburg, or Haimburg, a town of Austria, in Lower Austria, 38 m. E.S.E of Vienna by rail. Pop. (1900), 5134. It is situated on the Danube, only 2½ m. from the Hungarian frontier, and since the fire of 1827 Hainburg has been much improved, being now a handsomely built town. It has one of the largest tobacco manufactories in Austria, employing about 2000 hands, and a large needle factory. It occupies part of the site of the old Celtic town Carnuntum (q.v.). It is still surrounded by ancient walls, and has a gate guarded by two old towers. There are numerous Roman remains, among which may be mentioned the altar and tower at the town-house, on the latter of which is a statue, said to be of Attila. A Roman aqueduct is still used to bring water to the town. On the neighbouring Hainberg is an old castle, built of Roman remains, which appears in German tradition under the name of Heimburc; it was wrested from the Hungarians in 1042 by the emperor Henry III. At the foot of the same hill is a castle of the 12th century, where Ottakar of Bohemia was married to Margaret of Austria in 1252; earlier it was the residence of the dukes of Babenberg. Outside the town, on an island in the Danube, is the ruined castle of Röthelstein or Rothenstein, held by the Knights Templars. Hainburg was besieged by the Hungarians in 1477, was captured by Matthias Corvinus in 1482, and was sacked and its inhabitants massacred by the Turks in 1683.

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