Retz

Retz was founded in the thirteenth century as a planned town with a very large rectangular square, and its wealth came from wine - it held staple rights on the trade north into Bohemia and Moravia. Under the town runs the Erlebniskeller, a system of cellars cut into the sand and rock on up to three levels totalling around twenty kilometres, dug from the fifteenth century for storing and ageing wine at constant temperature; a section is toured, and the tunnels run under houses, streets and the square. Above ground are the square with its Sgraffitohaus and town hall, the Verderberhaus, remains of the walls, and a working Dutch-style windmill on the hill outside, one of very few in Austria. The Czech border and Znojmo are minutes away.

History

A village by the present Anger is first named in 1180 as Rezze, a Slavic word for a small creek, and Count Berthold of Rabenswalde, given Hardegg as a fief by Rudolf of Habsburg, moved to Retz, founded its Dominican priory, finished in 1295, and around 1300 the town itself. The Hussites took and wrecked Retz on 25 November 1425 and raided it again in 1431; in 1568-1569 the old church on the square was turned into the town hall, the Sgraffitohaus was built in 1576, its paintings uncovered again in 1928, and the Verderberhaus dates from 1583, while the Suttner-Gatterburg castle went up between 1660 and 1670 (Wikipedia, Retz).

What to look for

• Twenty kilometres of cellars - three levels of wine tunnels under the town.
• A very large planned square - the thirteenth-century market place with its houses.
• A working windmill - Dutch type, on the hill outside, rare in Austria.
• Town walls and gates - fragments of the medieval enclosure.

When to go

April to October; autumn for the wine. A day.

Good to know

The cellars are cold and damp year-round - bring a layer. Cellar tours run at set times and book out in season. The windmill has limited opening. The town is quiet outside events.

Nearby

Znojmo and Podyjí are across the Czech border; Hardegg is west.

Key facts