This page is for you if you run a Heuriger or Buschenschank (wine tavern), in any federal state. Above all, your guests want to know one thing online: are you ausg'steckt (open) today? If the calendar is from last year or Facebook shows different times from the website, they drive out for nothing or go somewhere else straight away. Legally, the Heuriger is a special case. The farm-run Buschenschank is exempt from the Gewerbeordnung (Trade Regulation Act) and regulated by state laws. This affects your website: the food and drinks you show must match what your Buschenschank act allows, and your Impressum (legal notice) looks different from an inn's. If you run your Heuriger with a hospitality licence, different rules apply again. If you sell wine online, mandatory information under the Food Information Regulation and the right of withdrawal come into play. Here you'll see which pages a Heuriger needs, what goes in the Impressum, how to state allergens and what to watch out for with a wine shop.
Websites for Heurigen and Buschenschank: what they need
The pages a wine tavern website needs
Home page
- Ausg'steckt (open): yes or no, right at the top
- Current opening hours and next ausg'steckt dates
- Address and phone number, tappable on a mobile
Ausg'steckt calendar
- All of the year's opening periods with weekdays and times
- One place where you maintain dates; home page and calendar show the same
- A notice for short-notice changes, e.g. due to the weather
Food & wine
- Wines with grape variety, vintage and style
- Cold dishes and pastries as permitted by your state's Buschenschank act; only show dishes your state law allows for the farm-run Buschenschank
- Allergen information, or a note that you provide it verbally on site
Reservations & groups
- How to reserve: phone, form or online tool
- Information for groups: seats, notice required, whether a buffet is possible
- Data protection notice for the form
Farm shop & online shop
- Farm shop opening times and wine prices, stating whether they are gross
- With an online shop: mandatory information on every wine before purchase, right of withdrawal, shipping costs
- A note that you don't sell alcohol to young people (youth protection)
Getting here
- Address, parking, public transport and Heurigen taxi or shuttle, if there is one
- Describe access for wheelchairs and pushchairs honestly
- Without consent, show the map only as an image or link
Impressum (legal notice) & privacy
- Information under § 5 ECG (E-Commerce Act) for the agricultural and forestry business
- Disclosure under the Mediengesetz (Media Act)
- Privacy policy including form, shop and embedded services
Mandatory information for wine taverns
The farm-run Buschenschank (wine tavern) is exempt from the Gewerbeordnung (§ 2 Abs. 1 Z 5 GewO) and regulated by the states' Buschenschank acts. Your point of contact is the Landwirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Agriculture) of your federal state. If, on the other hand, you run your Heuriger with a hospitality licence (Gastgewerbe-Berechtigung), it is a trade: you are then a member of the Wirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Commerce, Fachgruppe Gastronomie), and the rules for trade businesses apply to your Impressum (legal notice). On top of the general imprint (Impressum) details, your website needs:
- Name of the person running the business; for companies, the company name
- Address of the business, phone and email address
- Firmenbuch (company register) number and court, if registered; UID number (VAT ID), if you have one
- Note that you run a farm-run Buschenschank under your federal state's Buschenschank act, with a link to www.ris.bka.gv.at (recommended; whether it is mandatory is legally unclear)
- Landwirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Agriculture) of your federal state as the responsible representative body (recommended)
- For a Heuriger with a hospitality licence: trade, Wirtschaftskammer (Fachgruppe Gastronomie), trade authority and reference to the GewO
- Disclosure under § 25 Mediengesetz (Media Act): name, business purpose, place of residence or registered office
What else belongs in the imprint depends on your legal form: Impressum (legal notice) for sole traders (EPU) and e.U., Impressum (legal notice) for OG and KG, Disclosure under § 25 MedienG and Impressum under § 24 MedienG, Impressum (legal notice) on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and co..
Online shop, Selling gift vouchers online: Does the Accessibility Act apply?
A Heuriger website with an ausg'steckt calendar, food and directions is an information site. According to the WKO, the BaFG (Accessibility Act) does not apply to pure information sites with no way to order or book. If you sell wine to private customers through an online shop, you are in principle within its scope (§ 2 Abs. 2 Z 6 BaFG). According to the WKO, websites with a booking option also count; whether a free table reservation is already enough has not been settled. As a micro-enterprise (fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million in annual turnover or balance sheet total), you are exempt for services (§ 6 Abs. 1 BaFG). Regardless of this, a shop must comply with the right of withdrawal under the FAGG (Distance and Off-Premises Contracts Act) and the mandatory information under the Food Information Regulation.
Common mistakes on wine tavern websites
- The ausg'steckt calendar is from last year. Guests arrive to find the gate locked.
- Home page, calendar and Facebook show different opening hours.
- The menu on the website shows dishes or drinks that a farm-run Buschenschank may not offer under § 2 GewO and your state's Buschenschank act.
- The online shop shows no allergen note (e.g. sulphites) and no alcohol content for the wine, although this information must be available before purchase.
- There's no Impressum (legal notice) at all because the business is “just a Heuriger”. An agricultural and forestry business with a website also needs the information under § 5 ECG.
- The website calls the Buschenschank an inn or restaurant. The Lower Austrian Buschenschank act (NÖ Buschenschankgesetz) prohibits signage that pretends to be a hospitality business.
- The directions are an embedded Google map that transfers data without consent.
How Weblux does it
Weblux works exclusively for businesses, including farm businesses. We build the ausg'steckt calendar so that the home page and the calendar show the same dates. We embed maps and fonts without third-party services. Whether your food offering fits the Buschenschank act is best clarified with your Landwirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Agriculture).
Prices net, excl. VAT I work exclusively for businesses.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Heuriger need a trade licence?
The farm-run Buschenschank doesn't. § 2 Abs. 1 Z 5 GewO exempts it from the Gewerbeordnung (Trade Regulation Act). It may serve its own wine, fruit wine, cider, juice and home-distilled drinks, plus cold food in line with local tradition in the federal state. The details, such as which food is allowed, are set by the states' Buschenschank acts; read the act for your federal state. If you want to offer more, you need a hospitality licence and become a member of the Wirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Commerce).
What goes in the Impressum of my Heuriger website?
§ 5 ECG (E-Commerce Act) also applies to an agricultural and forestry business: name or company name, address and email address (a phone number is recommended), Firmenbuch (company register) number and UID number (VAT ID), if you have them. Whether you also have to name the Landwirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Agriculture) and the Buschenschank act is legally unclear. But it does no harm and makes things clear. With a hospitality licence, you name your trade, the Wirtschaftskammer, the trade authority and the GewO. The disclosure under the Mediengesetz (Media Act) is always required.
Do I have to list allergens on my website?
In the Heuriger itself, you must inform guests about allergens in food and drinks, in writing or verbally. For verbal information, you need a clearly visible notice and training. On the website, it isn't expressly required for a simple overview of your food, but a letter code helps guests. If you sell wine online, the WKO says the mandatory information, including allergens such as sulphites, must be on the page before purchase.
What applies if I sell wine through my website?
Then you're entering into distance contracts with consumers. Under § 11 FAGG (Distance and Off-Premises Contracts Act), they can withdraw within 14 days without giving reasons, and you must inform them about this. According to the WKO, for wine, the name, allergens, nominal volume and alcohol content, among other things, must be visible before purchase. Show prices clearly as gross prices.
Can I write “Gasthaus” (inn) or “restaurant” on my website?
As a farm-run Buschenschank, you should avoid it. The Lower Austrian Buschenschank act (NÖ Buschenschankgesetz), for example, requires that signage must not suggest a commercial inn or bar. Other states have their own rules. So write Heuriger or Buschenschank and only show what you're actually allowed to serve. Your Landwirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Agriculture) can tell you how strict your state is.
Request a free draft for your business
No obligation, no appointment needed. Send me a few details and I'll build your first draft.
Get a free, no-obligation quoteSources
- § 2 GewO 1994 – Ausnahmen, Abs. 1 Z 5 und Abs. 9 Buschenschank (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- NÖ Buschenschankgesetz (RIS Landesrecht) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- BMLUK – Heurigenkultur (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- LFI Österreich / Landwirtschaftskammer – Rechtliches zum bäuerlichen Buschenschank (Broschüre) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- LK Wien – Grundberatung Direktvermarktung/Wiener Heurigen und Buschenschank (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- WKO – EU-Lebensmittelinformationsverordnung (LMIV) und Wein, inkl. Fernabsatz nach Art. 14 (Merkblatt 2014) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- WKO – Allergene und Allergenkennzeichnung (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- § 11 FAGG – Rücktrittsrecht (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- § 5 ECG – Allgemeine Informationspflichten (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), BGBl. I Nr. 76/2023 – authentischer Text (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- WKO – Barrierefreiheitsgesetz im E-Commerce (FAQ) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
Last checked on 14 October 2026.