How it all started …
At first there was an idea – or to be more precise – two ideas.
Stefan Behm, mayor of Moschendorf – he was born in the USA and ultimately came back to his old homeland. He thought about a revival of the region – and how the traditional flair of southern Burgenland can be brought to the people.
School Principal Franz Bachkönig – he too living in this small Burgenland village – devoted himself intensively to the cultivation of the local folk music and the traditionals – which in this borderland of different languages and nationalities covers a wide and interesting spectrum of cultural influences.
It should be a fruitful collaboration.
The Beginning
In the year 1968:
Landesrat (i.e. member of county government) Wiesler presented the Pinkataler Weinstraße
The beginning of the development of a region that was still suffering from the peripheral location along the Iron Curtain at that time, people still leaving their home villages to work in the cities.
The Kulturverein Moschendorf was founded at the beginning of the year 1981. Its aim is to preserve and make accessible the historical relics of local rural culture. Stefan Behm, town mayor and parliamentary deputy at that time was elected chairman.
If you are coming from Güssing it is just before the bridge over the river Pinka, about 500 m from the entrance to Moschendorf.
Re-construction of the first buildings
The individual barns and basements were removed from their original sites part for part and rebuilt in exactly the same way on the museum grounds.
However, the thatched roofs mostly needed renovation – a craft that only a few people in the region have mastered.
With the expansion of the museum, local farmers and artisans of the area got a job.
The initiator, Mayor Stefan Behm, showed himself as a man of action and grabbed strongly during the construction.
The solid construction of heavy wooden blocks, combined with the moisture-regulating exterior plaster and the thick straw roof ensures a uniform temperature throughout the year as is required for wine storage.
The Kulturverein also managed to collect and restore the old furniture, as well as numerous old tools which had long since ceased to be in use. In some sheds of furniture, hidden treasures, sometimes of considerable age, were found and brought to the attention of the visitors.
The Success Story
On June 19, 1983, finally the time came:
LTAbg. Ök.Rat Stefan Behm, the chairman of the Kulturverein, opens the wine museum in front of a numerous audience.
Such as the annual meeting of folk musicians with up to two thousand visitors.
The media resonance is not lacking either. Here is a broadcast in „Willkommen Österreich“ which is a regular broadcasting on the national TV station ORF dealing with local events. And an interview with Principal Franz Bachkönig, the initiator of the Folk Music Festival meeting.
The success of the museum and its events with more than 20,000 visitors a year proved the founder Stefan Behm right with his vision.
Impressions:
