Straußwirtschaft

A Strausse or Strausswirtschaft (also Strauße or Straußwirtschaft) is a type of wine tavern in winegrowing areas of German-speaking countries that is only open during certain times of the year. Typically it is a pub run by winegrowers and winemakers themselves, in which they sell their own wine directly to the public. The food served needs to be simple, regional cold dishes. Other expressions like Besenwirtschaft and Besenschänke ("broom pub"), Rädlewirtschaft ("cyclists' pub") as well as Hecken- or Häckerwirtschaft are also common.

A Strausswirtschaft is essentially understood to be a winemaker serving his own wine on his own premises. These seasonal inns are not subject to normal business laws and are thus not obliged to have a licence or to pay extra taxes. They must, however, fulfil certain conditions instead. These conditions vary from state to state but they are in general agreement on certain essential points (see "Legal aspects" below).

The kinds of locations in which a Strausswirtschaft can be found can vary considerably. Besides ones funished like ordinary pubs there are also simple barns where benches and tables have been temporarily set up to accommodate guests. In earlier decades some winegrowers even cleared their flats or the stables to run such a tavern. In Austria this kind of pub is called a Buschenschank or Heuriger. The name is derived from a bar or post to which a so-called Föhrenbusch or a Reisigbesen (a kind of besom or broom) was attached. This helps to explain another expression associated with the Strausswirtschaft: Ausg'steckt is' ("It is attached"). By attaching the bar outside, the pub owner was informing the tax collector about the pub's tax liability. The Buschenschank and the expression Ausg'steckt is' can be traced back to a regulation by Empress Maria Theresia.

The enactment "Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperii" by Charlemagne is often mentioned as the historical standard for the Strausswirtschaft. It enabled winemakers to sell their own products free of business tax. The Strausswirtschaft (Strauss – German for bunch of flowers; Wirtschaft – pub, inn) had to be marked as such by a bunch of flowers put up at the entrance.

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Wikipedia