Retz, also known as a wine growing town. The town has a population of approx 4,168 and lies near the Czech border in the Weinviertel (wine quarter) in Lower Austria.
Those who visit the market square of Retz the first time, will be astonished about the Italian renaissance buildings, especially about the so called Verderberhaus, built in 1583.
In the 15th century, the Hussites invaded Retz and destroyed the town. Reports speak of 8.000 dead and 6.000 prisoners.
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More InformationThe town was rebuilt. Emperor Frederick III gave Retz generous privileges for the wine trade in 1458.
A short time later, the town was occupied by Mathias Corvinus, who was King of Hungary and at the same time for five years Margrave of Austria.
Mathias Corvinus was enthusiast of the Italian Renaissance. He confirmed the wine trade privileges, on which the prosperity of the town was based on. Mathias Corvinus was by the way the originator of the following sentence: “Others may wage war, but thou, oh happy Austria, marry” with which he tried to mock Friedrich III.
In the 16th century, the church in the middle of the main square was provided with a false ceiling and since then it houses the city hall in the upper floor. The Marian column commemorates the plague which raged also here.
One should not miss a guided through the Retzer Erlebniskeller, the Adventure Cellar of Retz, Austria’s largest historical wine cellar.
The cellars were usually driven directly without connecting masonry into approx. 25 million years old quartz sand.
The cellars extend over twenty kilometers far under the town and are lying in a depth from 10 to 30 meters.
The plow is called colloquially “woman oppressor” in the Wachau since it is not as usual pulled by oxen but because of the steep terrain like in Retz, it was pulled by women.
The bottle with the red-white-red bow which you see in the video is a bottle of the red wine which was served at the signing of the State Treaty in 1955.
A windmill, which is rather unusual for this region, is the widely visible landmark of Retz.
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Nice video but I was wondering about the boat in that small room?
Thank you very much for the positive feedback.
Unfortunately we know the exact origin of the boat. Since the cellar is all about wine, we assume that the wine was also transported by such boats.