Photo spot in Neusiedler See
Rust's old town and its stork nests
Austria's smallest chartered town — painted houses and arcaded courtyards around one square, with white storks nesting on the chimneys.
About Rust's old town and its stork nests
Get directionsRust stands on the western shore of the Neusiedler See, a free town since 1681 and the smallest in Austria with fewer than two thousand people. The old quarter is a handful of streets around Rathausplatz and Conradplatz: painted burgher houses in ochre, pink and pale green, deep arcaded courtyards behind arched gateways, and the Fischerkirche inside its own defensive wall.
Storks are why Rust calls itself the town of storks. Nests sit on the chimneys of the houses around the squares, occupied from spring until the birds leave in late summer, and they put a wild silhouette on top of a very tidy town. The platforms and cartwheels on the roofs are there to hold them up.
The courtyards are the best light in town: shaded arcades on two or three sides, warm light bouncing off the plaster, and no direct sun to fight. The squares themselves work in the first hour of the day and again in the last, and are quiet outside the summer weekends.
Everything here is public street; only the Fischerkirche has opening hours and rules on photography inside, set by the parish — check them. The old quarter is largely pedestrian, and a causeway a kilometre and a half long runs from the edge of town through the reeds to the Seebad, its jetties and the open water.
Best time to shoot
The first and last hour of the day on the squares; the courtyards work in any light; spring to late summer for the storks
Tips
Look up — the nests are the picture and they need a wider lens than the street does. Walk into the arcaded courtyards instead of shooting façades from the square; the light in there is the reason to come.
Other spots in Neusiedler See
The Mörbisch lake stage
A causeway through a kilometre of reeds to a stage standing in open water, with Hungary on the far shore.
The Podersdorf lighthouse
A small red-and-white tower on a mole at the only village on the lake with no reed belt — open water in every direction.
The Illmitz reeds and the Seewinkel pans
A road running straight through the reed belt to the water, and behind it a flat puszta of shallow salt lakes inside a national park.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Rust's old town and its stork nests — free of charge.