The site has been known since the 19th century; from 1949-1955 excavations took place under the direction of B. Saria, under the auspices of the OEAI and with assistance from the province of Burgenland. The financial burden was taken over by the government of Burgenland until 1988, while from 1989-1997, financial assistance was provided to the OEAI through a contribution from the Electricity Company, and from 1998-2001, the project was funded by the budget of the OEAI.
The main building and a large number of outlying structures, as well as the circumference wall of the villa, were excavated by B. Saria. In the main building, the largest mosaic found on Austrian soil was discovered: over 300 m² of an original 500 m² are preserved. Small areas of the mosaic floor were removed, while the remains of the walls and the mosaics which are still in situ were covered with earth. Of the neighbouring structures, primarily the ground plans were recorded.
The unusually rich fittings, and the re-used tomb stone of M. Cocceius Caupianus, a leading personage of the Celtic branch of the Boier, provide evidence that the significance of the villa was in no way restricted to the local sphere: it might even have been the residence of the Imperial family in the autumn of 375 A.D.
In 1975, the excavations were resumed under the direction of G. Langmann. The mosaics were uncovered, removed, and the majority of them were displayed in the Burgenland Provincial Museum in Eisenstadt. From 1994-2003, under the direction of H. Zabehlicky, a clear recording of the development of this estate was attempted; the estate was certainly inhabited from the second half of the 1st century until the first half of the 5th century A.D.
The earliest recognizable structure is a wooden building, whose post holes suggest a rectangular structure. Sometime in the first half of the 2nd century, the first building with stone foundations was erected, while the following structure, however, can only have been built of clay bricks. A threshing-floor was reorganized several times in the courtyard of this house. Pollen analysis (I. Draxler, State Department of Geology) and phytolithic extraction (U. Thanheiser, VIAS) support the interpretation of this area as a threshing-floor. The agricultural products of the villa were certainly used by the legionary camp, and later the town of Carnuntum. Towards the end of the 2nd century A.D., a building with stone walls and characteristic decorative mortar joints was erected on almost the same groundplan. Later, a hall was constructed at the northern edge of the central courtyard and a roofed area prepared in the southwestern corner; the roof rested on a massive pillar. The last major rebuilding after 350 A.D. altered the picture fundamentally. On the north side appeared an impressive room, whose significance was further emphasized via its apse. The central courtyard was completely renovated, whereby certain details give the impression of building activity carried out under massive time pressure and under differing directives. For example, heating channels were laid down for which the heating outlets are lacking. The building phases are shown on the coloured map (wooden building: red; stone foundations: blue, orange). A lavish outfitting with mosaics was laid down in this phase, while wall paintings also from earlier phases are known. A number of graffiti, scratched into the plasterwork, betray aspects of the daily life of the inhabitants. An amber ring underscores the site's location on the Amber Road. The assumption that this complex was created as a provisional residence for the Imperial family, remains as before unprovable, although certainly probable.
Another interpretation might be that the palace of the provincial governor in Carnuntum was damaged by an earthquake around the middle of the 4th century A.D., and that the renovation of the Bruckneudorf villa, which lay nearby, offered a more practical solution than the rebuilding of the provincial palace. Coin finds point rather to the dating of the renovation to shortly after 350 A.D., than to the year 375 A.D., the date at which Valentinian I was in Pannonia.

Through the Association for the Preservation and touristic Utilization of the Roman Palace in Bruckneudorf, with the assistance of funds from the European Union for the province of Burgenland, a partial reconstruction was carried out between 2004-2006. The walls of the final period were raised up, and the descriptions of the mosaics were indicated in coloured plaster. Tablets were mounted on wooden portals and on desks around the structure, elucidating the site for the visitor. The remodeling of the "Bruckneudorf area" will also be indicated at the Burgenland Provincial Museum.

Picture Captions
Fig. 1: Aerial view of the Villa Bruckneudorf (© Tourism Association Bruckneudorf, Photo Helmreich)
Fig. 2: Plan of the phases of the Villa Bruckneudorf (© OEAI, H. Zabehlicky)
Fig. 3: Amber ring (© OEAI, Photo I. Dembski)
Fig. 4: Partial reconstruction of the Villa Bruckneudorf (© OEAI)

Bibliography:
B. Saria, Der römische Herrensitz bei Parndorf und seine Deutung, in: Festschrift für A.A. Barb, Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten aus dem Burgenland 35, 1966, 252 ff.
G. Langmann, Bericht über die Grabungskampagnen 1975-1978 in Bruckneudorf, Bezirk Neusiedl am See, Burgenland, BHBl 41, 1979, 66 ff. 101 ff.
H. Zabehlicky, Kleiner Führer durch die römische Palastanlage von Bruckneudorf (1998).
H. Zabehlicky, Bruckneudorf, in: 100 Jahre Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, SoSchrÖAI 31 (1998) 137-139.
H. Zabehlicky, Fundus Cocceianus oder "Wem gehörte die Villa von Bruckneudorf", in: Steine und Wege. Festschrift Dieter Knibbe, SoSchÖAI 32 (1999) 397-401.
H. Zabehlicky, Das Hinterland von Carnuntum und die Villa von Bruckneudorf, Anodos 1, 2002, 227-230.
H. Zabehlicky, Zum Abschluß der Grabungen im Hauptgebäude der Villa von Bruckneudorf, ÖJh 73, 2004, 305-325 (mit weiterer Literatur).
I. Draxler - U. Thanheiser - H. Zabehlicky, Eine Tenne aus der Villa von Bruckneudorf (Parndorf) Burgenland, Österreich, in: Limes XIX. Proceedings of the XIXth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies Pécs, Hungary, September 2003 (Pécs 2005) 651-656.
H. Zabehlicky, Laufzeiten - Zeitläufe, in: Vindobona docet. 40 Jahre Institut für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte der Universität Wien, 1965-2005 = NumZ 113/114, 2005, 177-179.
H. Zabehlicky, Das Hinterland von Carnuntum - Villen und Dörfer, in: F. Humer (Hrsg.), Legionsadler und Druidenstab - Vom Legionslager zur Donaumetropole. Textband (Petronell-Carnuntum 2006) 354-360.