Heuriger and Buschenschank in Austria: rules and practice

Buschenschank or Heurigen restaurant?

In everyday language both are called Heuriger, but legally they are two different worlds. Under § 2 Abs 1 Z 5 GewO, the Buschenschank is exempt from the Trade Act. § 2 Abs 9 GewO describes it as serving, in the manner of a Buschenschank, wine and fruit wine, grape and fruit must, grape and fruit juice and spirits distilled by the owners of vineyards and orchards themselves, as far as these are their own products. Cold food, mineral water and carbonated drinks may be offered alongside, but only if this corresponds to tradition in the respective federal state. Hot food is explicitly not permitted under this exemption.

If you open all year round, offer hot dishes such as roast pork or Backhendl (breaded fried chicken), buy in wine or serve beer, you are running a Heurigen restaurant or a Heurigen business within the hospitality trade. For this you need the trade licence with a proof of qualification, see Hospitality licence in Austria. For certain food and drinks in connection with a Buschenschank, § 111 Abs 2 Z 5 GewO also provides for a freies Gastgewerbe (unregulated small hospitality trade) without proof of qualification. What exactly it covers follows from an older version of the Trade Act and from state law. Get advice on this from the trade authority or the Landwirtschaftskammer (chamber of agriculture).

Example Vienna: the Wiener Buschenschankgesetz

In Vienna, individuals and companies that own vineyards or orchards located in Vienna and have their business premises there may serve wine from their own harvest (§ 1 Wiener Buschenschankgesetz). The grapes must have grown in Vienna or in a vineyard no more than ten kilometres in a straight line from the state border (§ 2). Anyone who has bought in grapes, must or wine for serving in the last two years loses the right, with the exception of buying grapes from the Vienna wine region after a crop failure (§§ 3 and 5). Serving is only permitted in a Heurigen area and, as a rule, at your own business location (§ 4).

• Ausstecken (opening): during the serving period, a pine, fir or spruce branch and a board with the name hang on the premises (§ 6). Only Buschenschank operators may display the Buschen.
• Serving hours: the daily serving hours are set by the state government by ordinance; the Magistrat (city authority) can extend them in individual cases or shorten them if neighbours are disturbed (§ 7).
• Registration: at the latest three weeks before the start, with the Magistrat; all serving periods for a year may be registered at once (§ 11).
• Food: local sausages and cheeses, ham, bacon, cold meat and poultry, spreads, salads, pickled vegetables, Grammeln (pork cracklings), bread and rolls, pastries made to typical farmhouse recipes from your own production, fruit and vegetables; no hot food (§ 10 Abs 2).
• Drinks and order: tap water, mineral water, soda and soft drinks are allowed, and at least one cold non-alcoholic drink may not cost more than the cheapest cold alcoholic one. The drinks price calculator helps you check that your glass prices meet this rule and still pay off. Games and dance events are not allowed (§ 10).

Example Lower Austria: different deadlines, different food

In Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), the NÖ Buschenschankgesetz applies. Drinks made from grapes and fruit produced in Lower Austria may be served, and under certain conditions also from nearby vineyards (§ 4). The Buschenschank may only take place in the municipality of the production site or the main business premises (§ 5) and may last no more than three months without interruption. There must be at least four weeks between two serving periods in the same municipality, and the municipality can lay down further details by ordinance (§ 7).

• Registration: at the latest two weeks before the start, with the municipality, with proof of the vineyards and the quantities according to the cellar book (§ 8). The municipality can prohibit it within one week (§ 9).
• Hours and notices: no serving is allowed between midnight and 6 am. The text of the act and the municipal ordinance must be posted in the premises, and games and dancing are prohibited (§ 10).
• Food and drinks: cold food except sweets; as for pastries, only Grammel and Schmer pastries, Bauernkrapfen and Schmerkrapfen (farmhouse doughnuts), Prügelkrapfen (spit cake), Pofesen (stuffed fried bread) and fruit cakes made to farmhouse recipes from your own production. Besides mineral and soda water, no more than two kinds of carbonated soft drinks (§ 11).

Comparing just two states shows it: what is allowed in Vienna may be prohibited in Lower Austria, for example regarding the pastries on offer or the duration of serving. Burgenland, Styria, Carinthia and the other states have their own Buschenschank acts with their own rules; in Styria the business is traditionally called Buschenschank rather than Heuriger. So never rely on experience from another federal state, but read the act of your own state and ask your municipality and the Landwirtschaftskammer. In Germany the counterpart is called Straußwirtschaft or Besenwirtschaft and follows its own rules again, see Opening a Straußwirtschaft in Germany.

Allergens, hygiene, smoking ban and cash register

The fact that the Buschenschank does not fall under the Trade Act does not exempt it from food law. As a food business operator, the EU Hygiene Regulation, the LMSVG (Austrian Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act) and the Allergeninformationsverordnung (Allergen Information Ordinance) apply to you: guests must be informed about the 14 major allergens in spreads, pastries and cold platters, and the information must be documented in writing. In the wine cellar, sulphites are part of it. What this looks like on the menu is shown in the post Allergen labelling in Austria, and the allergen legend tool creates the matching legend. A smoking ban applies in indoor rooms where food and drinks are served (§ 12 TNRSG), but not in the garden.

There is a special rule for the Registrierkasse (certified cash register): a Buschenschank that is open on no more than 14 days per calendar year is exempt from the cash register and receipt obligation up to an annual turnover of 45,000 euros (§ 131 Abs 4 Z 1 lit c BAO, Barumsatzverordnung 2015). If you are ausg'steckt more often, you need a cash register from 15,000 euros turnover and 7,500 euros cash turnover. Details are in the post Cash register in Austria.

Checklist before your first serving week

If, alongside the Buschenschank, you plan a Heurigen restaurant, farm-gate wine sales with tastings or rooms for guests, separate rules apply to each. An overview of trade licence, premises, hygiene and funding for commercial businesses is given in the roadmap for opening a venue in Austria, and for guest rooms in the post Opening a guesthouse.

Showing ausg'steckt online: website, Google and Heuriger calendars

Your guests' biggest question is simple: Are you open today? Because Buschenschank businesses only open during registered periods, many visits fail because of outdated information. Publish your serving dates for the whole year on your website as soon as you have registered them with the municipality or Magistrat. Enter the dates in your Google Business Profile as opening hours or special opening hours, and clearly mark the weeks you are closed. Also register with the Heuriger calendars of your municipality, wine region or tourism association, where many day-trippers search specifically.