House of National Minorities opens in Burgenland: A shared centre for Croats, Hungarians and Roma

27.09.2026

A shared space for language, culture and cooperation: On 26 September 2026, the new House of National Minorities (“Haus der Volksgruppen”) was officially opened in Oberwart/Borta in the Austrian province of Burgenland. The centre brings together organisations representing Burgenland Croats, Hungarians and Roma under one roof and provides space for cultural events, educational activities and exchanges between the communities. The official opening took place on the European Day of Languages and was accompanied by an open day.

The centre is located in the former municipal boarding school building in Oberwart, which was renovated and redesigned at a cost of around 20 million euros. The premises were handed over in spring 2026, followed by an initial trial period. With the official opening, the national minorities now have access to a shared centre designed to facilitate cooperation and strengthen the visibility of their languages and cultures.

The building houses several organisations, including the Burgenland Hungarian Cultural Association, the Croatian Cultural Association in Burgenland, Roma Service, the Roma Adult Education Centre Burgenland, the Hungarian Adult Education Centre and the multilingual radio station Radio MORA. In addition to offices, the building offers seminar rooms, a shared library, an event hall, guest rooms, apartments and a bistro open to the public. These facilities are intended to create opportunities for meetings, educational activities and joint projects.

At the opening ceremony, Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil described the centre as a "project of the century" and a "milestone for coexistence and cultural diversity in Burgenland". He emphasised that Oberwart was the right location for such a centre. Attila Somogyi, Chair of the Hungarian National Minority Advisory Council, highlighted the significance of the project: "There is nothing like it anywhere else in Europe."

Josef Buranits, Chair of the Croatian National Minority Advisory Council, also stressed the importance of cooperation between the national minorities. "We must act together. This will also make joint coordination with the provincial government easier," he explained. The shared centre is intended to enable the participating organisations to better coordinate their activities and represent their interests collectively.

During the opening ceremony, composer, conductor and musician Christian Kolonovits, who comes from Rechnitz, was also honoured with the Eurostar lifetime achievement award by the Austrian collecting society AKM. Kolonovits, whose father was Croatian and whose mother was Hungarian, recalled how attitudes towards minority languages have changed: "When I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to speak Croatian or Hungarian. Just imagine how much things have changed since then."

The House of National Minorities provides Burgenland with shared infrastructure that offers participating organisations a long-term base for their activities. Its future impact will depend on how the organisations and associations use the new facilities for their linguistic and cultural work and what joint initiatives emerge from their cooperation.

Further information and photos from the opening are available from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). A detailed report has also been published by Radio MORA.