An International Village within a Village
In the western Hungarian village of Sitke, a multilingual place is taking shape across some ten acres — a home for social, ecological, therapeutic and artistic projects.
Alongside its extensive gardens, the site comprises fifteen buildings dating from around 1900, including houses, barns, former stables and a historic forge.
We began restoring the buildings and reshaping the gardens in 2021. The first buildings have now been renovated and are once again in use as homes, stables and barns, while the forge is fully operational.
The entire site has also been newly connected to the electricity and water mains.
10 ACRES
Land & Gardens
2
Farmsteads
15
Buildings
A Place for New Initiatives
We welcome individuals and organisations who would like to develop a project of their own in Sitke.
Develop a Project in Sitke →
Activities in Sitke
Since 2022, Sitke has hosted workshops, summer camps, retreats, exhibitions and a variety of other events.
Several hundred guests, participants and contributors from Hungary, Austria, Germany, Spain, the United States, Canada, Russia, Ukraine and Scandinavia have already visited Sitke or taken part in the work here.
Once or twice a year, the site hosts several-week summer camps and practical placements organised by the Budapest Waldorf School.
Since 2025, one of the houses has also served as a study centre. It is home to the literary archives of the Russian-Estonian mystic Valentin Tomberg and the Russian Sophiologist and poet Nikolai Belozwetoff. The centre was formally opened in July 2025 in the presence of the local bishop, His Excellency János Székely, and was warmly attended by people from Sitke and the surrounding villages.
WHERE TO FIND US
Location and Getting Here
Our project is situated in the small village of Sitke, whose history reaches back to the Middle Ages. Vineyards, gardens and the region\’s volcanic landscape shape the surrounding countryside.
Once a year, the long-established Sitke Rock Festival brings several thousand visitors to nearby Calvary Hill, just a short distance from the project.
Vienna, Graz, Budapest, Bratislava and Maribor can each be reached in approximately two and a half hours.
Nearby Towns
The thermal spa town of Sárvár and the pilgrimage town of Celldömölk, known for its volcanic landscape, are both less than ten minutes away.
The Austrian border can be reached in around forty minutes.
The Wider Region
Sitke lies on what is known as the Thermal and Spa Route. Several of the surrounding villages, including Mesteri, have hot springs and smaller thermal baths.
The episcopal city of Szombathely is around forty-five minutes away, while the shores of Lake Balaton can be reached in approximately one hour.
WHO WE ARE
Alexander Batthyány inherited the two farmsteads and their associated agricultural company from his father. He divides his time between Vienna and Sitke with his wife Juliane and their two daughters.
Alexander is a university professor whose research and teaching focus on the philosophical foundations of psychology and on questions surrounding death and dying. He is the author of numerous academic books, which have been translated into fifteen languages, and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Viktor Frankl Institute in Vienna.
He has had an active interest in alternative social models, ways of life and intentional communities since his youth, and brings his own experience of them to the Sitke project.
Juliane Batthyány studied social anthropology in Vienna and Paris and photography in Florence. She has published several books of photography exploring scientific, cultural and social themes.
Her studies, research and professional work have taken her for extended periods to Florence, New York, Paris and Zimbabwe.
In Sitke, she contributes both her international experience and her love of gardening, landscape design and the creation of natural habitats.
Since the project began, dozens of people have accompanied us as fellow builders, thinkers, planners and participants — far too many to introduce individually here.
We owe particular thanks to the team of the Budapest Waldorf School — Gábor Nagy, Judit Gyarmati and Jörg Rudolf — as well as to the many pupils and to the Spanish youth group of The Christian Community.
We are equally grateful to Denis D., whose path has since taken him to an intentional community in Portugal; to the members of the Ramsteiner Circle; and to the many friends and relatives who have supported the project and continue to accompany its development.
Contact
Sitke Community Projekt
József Attila u. 4
H - 9671 Sitke
Hungary
alexander.batthyany@gmail.com
j.batthyany@gmail.com
Alexander & Juliane Batthyány
Prinz Eugenstr. 18/12
A–1040 Vienna
Austria