Miedlingsdorf

Miedlingsdorf is a small Austrian village in Burgenland’s southern countryside. It belongs to the municipality of Großpetersdorf and sits in a quiet, rolling landscape of fields and orchards. The village traces its name back to a Slavic word, first recorded in 1325 as ‘Meren’. Over the centuries its name changed several times before settling on Miedlingsdorf in 1722. In the 16th century Croatian settlers arrived under the Batthyány family, making the village home to three nationalities. By 1792 it had 160 residents, growing to 299 by 1836. The village’s oldest surviving building is a wooden chapel built in 1697 and dedicated to James, son of Zebedee. Archaeologists have found brick remains suggesting the original settlement stood nearby. The chapel is now the oldest wooden chapel in Burgenland and is being restored by the Austrian State Office for Historical Monuments. In 1866 master builder Johann Brenner constructed a new church on the same dedication. A century later both church and the historic Tausz organ were carefully renovated. Visitors walk past orchards and quiet lanes to reach the wooden chapel outside the village centre. Inside, simple wooden benches face the altar beneath a small bell tower. The newer church stands in the heart of the village, its white walls and red roof framing the Tausz organ. Both buildings share the same patron saint, linking past and present in a single thread of tradition.