The Mörbisch lake stage

Mörbisch am See is the last village on the western shore before the Hungarian border, and its reed belt is so wide that the lake can only be reached along a dam thrown across it in 1950. At the end of that dam sit the Seebad, the harbour, the ferry pier for Illmitz — and the Seebühne, a stage built out into the open water.

The stage is home to the Mörbisch operetta festival, which plays in July and August; the rest of the year it stands empty over the lake and can be photographed from the shore and the jetties around it. It is a large, hard structure against a completely flat horizon, which makes it a silhouette subject at either end of the day.

The causeway is as good a location as the stage. It is a straight line of road between walls of reed two to three metres high with water on both sides, and a couple walking it has nothing else in the frame. In late summer the reed heads go silver and take backlight beautifully.

The village end has the whitewashed lanes Mörbisch is known for, with maize hung on the house fronts to dry in autumn. Access around the stage is controlled on performance days in July and August and parking is paid in season — check the festival calendar before fixing a date, and check the wind, because the dam is completely exposed.