Blick auf den Außenbereich eines charmanten Restaurants mit Sonnenschirmen und blühenden Pflanzen.

Country estate Althof Retz

Welcome to the oasis of peace in the Weinviertel!

From the castle
to the 4 star hotel

The town of Retz was founded 700 years ago. The founder was the Thuringian Count Berthold von Rabenswalde, who was married to Countess Wilbirgis on Hardegg.

Before the town was founded, there were already settlements to the north of the town, which also had a parish. These settlements had been known as the “Old Town of Retz” for at least 500 years. Although they were not a town, they were referred to as such as old settlements.

This settlement was the crossroads of two medieval trade routes. One, the Rittsteig, came from Krems and divided in Znojmo to Iglau and Brünn. The second trade route was the Thayatalweg, which travelled from the east via Raabs to Budweis.

The Counts of Hardegg, Otto and Konrad von Plain, acquired a toll right at this junction even before the town was founded. This is why a Freihof, i.e. a farm exempt from taxes, stood here. To protect this freehold, the Counts of Hardegg built a castle on a slightly elevated site – the birth of the Althof.

Historisches Gebäude mit Steinmauer und modernem Anbau vor klarem Himmel

If you walk along the kennels, you can still see a relatively small patch of plasterwork on the north side of the former inner city wall (at reception level). This dates back to the time when the castle was founded. This would be an indication of the wealth of the Counts of Hardegg, who did not simply place their castle in Retz unplastered at the crossroads of the trade routes.

The castle, like the entire town, was destroyed by the Hussites (Taborites) in 1425. In the rising masonry of the castle ruins, a gate made of quarry stone remained recognisable in the west. This gate, which is still visible, is undoubtedly no longer in its original state. It probably fell victim to the Hussite invasion and was later rebuilt to resemble the old gate.

In the 16th century the old castle area was converted into a farmyard (Meiereihof) and a large tower was mentioned, the remains of which are probably the roundabout that still exists today.

Moderner Anbau neben einer alten Steinmauer unter blauem Himmel

Terrasse mit Blick auf historische Steinmauer und blühende Blumen

When the town was founded, the castle became the north-western corner of the town fortification. To fortify the south-west corner of the town, the Counts of Hardegg donated the Dominican monastery with the church and where the castle now stands (south-east corner of the town), there was a “festes haus” as the castle’s farmyard. In keeping with the times, a new castle was built from this farmyard around 1500 and the Althof, the former castle area, remained just a farmyard.

The following development of the Althof in fast motion:

In the 1980s, the municipality of Retz purchased the rather run-down Althof
In 1989, the foundation stone was laid for the conversion into a hotel.
The Althof has been operating as a hotel since 1992 and is also part of the training centre of the Intercultural Hotel Management School in Retz.
In 1997, the Ipp family leased the hotel and steadily expanded it!
In 2015, the VinoSPA – 1,000 m² of wellness on 5 levels – was built as another milestone in the Althof’s history.

Modernes Haus umgeben von Natur mit klarer Himmelssicht

In the Retzer Land – a region richly endowed by nature with beauty – at the foot of the idyllic vineyard under the famous windmill of Retz lies our jewel: the Country estate Althof Retz.

Once the founding point of the town as a castle, today tradition and modernity merge here. Subtle – with a lot of feeling and attention to detail. The centuries-old walls seem to resist every sound. “A small, intact world”.

The hotel courtyards are well worth seeing and invite you to linger. On the hotel terrace of our restaurant in the manor house surrounded by arcades, as well as in the romantic castle courtyard – marvelling or dreaming. We call these oases of pleasure – be it in a deckchair under the magnificent lime tree, in one of the lounges in the arcades, under the arbour in front of the Vinarium or on the lawn of our power place in the castle courtyard – whether with a good glass of wine, a quaffable Seidl Zwettler beer or simply with a coffee or grape juice – you will feel good and enjoy your time out at the Althof!

Since the beginning of 2016, the Althof VinoSPA has been offering over 1,000 m² of wellness on 5 levels. With the infinity pool on the roof with a view of the windmill and town hall tower, one of the country’s pool highlights is now in Retz! Since the beginning, our VinoSPA has been consistently awarded 1 Lily in the independent Relax Guide!