Rust#

Rust, town in the province of Burgenland, chartered city, alt. 123 m, pop. 1,696, area 20.01 km2, "the wine capital of Austria" is situated near the western shore of Lake Neusiedl; since 1975 Rust, together with Salzburg and Krems, has been a model city regarding the preservation of historical monuments. - Regional school board, Austrian Wine Academy (with vinotheque), lakeshore swimming area; Rust is well known in Austria for growing and selling its own wine (principally Qualitaetsweine, around 500 hectares of vineyards, as far back as the Middle Ages an important wine-growing area, in 1524 Rust was granted the privilege of branding its wine barrels with an "R"), summer tourism (139,606 overnight stays in 1992), production of reed mats. -Settlement going back to Roman times, first mentioned in a document in 1317 as "Ceel". In 1681 Rust was elevated to "royal free city"; until 1921 situated in Hungary. - Partially preserved fortifications with city walls and a powder magazine (1614); Romanesque-Gothic fishermen´s church containing the most significant medieval frescoes (Romanesque and Gothic) in Burgenland and a Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary (around 1450), early Baroque Catholic parish church (consecrated in 1651); Protestant parish church (1784/1785); Rust boasts houses with both village and city characteristics, often with decorative façades (Rathaus (town hall), Haus zum Auge Gottes, Nattl-Haus, Feiler-Haus, Seehof); stork nests (together with the WWF, Rust has established a stork protection programme); town hall (1673). Dam and canal which flows into the lake through the reed belt surrounding Lake Neusiedl.

Literature#