Lindner Group plans restaurant reopening and winery cellar at Ratschen

The Lindner Group, a southern German family-owned company, plans to reopen the Ratschen restaurant and accommodation business in Deutsch Schützen and build a new wine cellar there, ORF Burgenland reported. The company bought the property at auction after the insolvency of investor Hans Kilger and his Domaine Kilger.

The 60-year-old company acquired the restaurant and the so-called Wohnothek accommodation complex in a second auction following a turbulent bidding process.

“We want to make Ratschen what it once was,” Lindner Group executive Veronika Lindner told ORF Burgenland. The company operates hotels ranging from small bed and breakfasts to five-star properties, as well as several restaurants.

The restaurant will not be a Hauben restaurant, Lindner said, but a “good, solid restaurant” where local residents and guests staying at the Wohnothek can eat. The company aims to reopen it later this year.

The Lindner Group also owns Großer Wein winery in Burg and a property at the foot of the Eisenberg, where plans for a winery were presented last year. Lindner said the group had been looking for a suitable location for a new winery because Großer Wein’s existing winery is small and outdated.

Subject to the necessary approvals, the company plans to build a new cellar for Großer Wein at Ratschen in the medium term.

Beppo Wiesler, who founded Ratschen, said he was pleased that the Lindner family had bought the business. He pointed to the family’s generations of business experience and its background in hotels and restaurants, saying the development gave him and many people in the region hope.

Restaurateurs around the Eisenberg also welcomed the change. They said that more visitors coming to southern Burgenland for its food and wine would benefit businesses throughout the region.