Battle of the Leitha River

The Battle of the Leitha was struck between a commanded by the Babenberg Duke Frederick II of Austria (r. 1230-1246 ), army and an army of the Hungarian king Béla IV (reigned 1235-1270 ) on June 15, 1246. The insignificant in and of itself clash of both forces, which ended with an Austrian victory, proved to be momentous, as the childless Duke Frederick II, known as " the Quarrelsome ", during the fighting in suspicious circumstances was killed. With Frederick's death the family of Babenberg became extinct in the male line and it began a designated as an Austrian interregnum period during which came the countries of Frederick II in a prolonged power play of rival powers.

Localization of the battle site

Where the Leitha battle took place exactly today can no longer be elicited. The specification of a Hungarian source, the location of the battle site "sub Nova Civitate iuxta Fluvium Saar " ( German: "in Neustadt an der Leitha "; Hungarian Sár = Leitha ) indicates, and the description by the minstrel Ulrich von Liechtenstein († 1275 ) According to who was an eyewitness of the fighting, it can be assumed that the slaughter at Ebenfurth or across from it on the Hungarian side at that time was located ( in what is now Neufeld ).