Eszterháza

Miklós Esterházy began his plans for a new palace not long after he became reigning prince in 1762 on the death of his brother Paul Anton.

The palace cost the Prince the sum of 13 million Austrian gulden, a figure that Robbins Landon terms "astronomical".

[1] Musical entertainment for the higher ranks was provided in the main building, typically located in the picture gallery ground floor.

Regular free-to-attend academies were typically held in the marionette theater, which were open to the public and hosting a whole range of cultural and environmental programmes.

[1] The music room was decorated with white and gold walls with delicately rounded corners, the frescoed ceiling, glass chandeliers, roses, and audience's period chairs.

Robbins Landon notes that "it was a particularly eccentric idea on the part of Prince Nicolaus to choose it as the site for a large castle.

From 1766 to 1790, the estate was the home of the celebrated composer Joseph Haydn,[4] where he lived in a four-room flat in a large two-storey building housing servants' quarters, separate from the palace.