Burgenland helped 70,000 Hungarians flee in 1956

Burgenland opened its border and helped thousands of Hungarians escape after the 1956 uprising was crushed, ORF reports. About 70,000 people crossed into Austria near Andau, using a bridge over the Einser Canal.

The uprising began with a student demonstration in Budapest on October 23, 1956. Weeks later, Hungarian secret police and Soviet forces violently suppressed it, prompting about 200,000 people to flee the country.

On one day in November, more than 8,000 people crossed into Burgenland, historian Herbert Brettl said. Austria’s Interior Ministry had prepared for a refugee influx of about 7,000, so border communities provided initial assistance. Refugees were taken by train to Eisenstadt and Mattersburg, where major aid stations had been set up. Many others also crossed elsewhere in Burgenland. Most refugees later travelled on to Vienna, Germany or the United States.

Soviet soldiers blew up the Andau bridge on November 21, 1956. The bridge became a symbol of the flight and the help refugees received. US author and journalist James Mitchener, who was in Andau at the time, recounted the events in his book The Bridge at Andau. A visit by then-US Vice-President Richard Nixon also drew media attention to the border village.

Austrian and Hungarian soldiers rebuilt the bridge, which reopened in September 1996. It has since been replaced twice, most recently with a faithful replica built by Hungary in 2022. The bridge is Burgenland’s entry in the ORF programme 9 Places, 9 Treasures, which is due to choose Austria’s most beautiful place on October 26.