Mareyč, Mařejž, Marschitz, Meyrins, Maries, Mayres, Maires, Maříž, … a villages with many names derived from the given name Marysch, the masculine form of the name Mary

The first mention of the fortress and noble estate of Theobald of Mayres dates back to 1353.

On 22nd of January in 1372, the Margrave of Moravia John Henry of Luxembourg, granted the fortress and village of Mayres to the brothers Ulrick and Jeschke of Wolleschna as fiefs.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the family of the lords of Mayres is mentioned, but they did not live here all the time and also held properties in the surrounding area. The Mayres noble family died out after the sword with the death of Ulrick III. around 1505.

Coat of Arms: Golden wheel with four, later six spindles, on a blue background.

King Wladislaw II. released Mayres from the manor of Teltsch in the year of 1494 and gave the fortress and village of Maříž to Boguslaus, John and Wenceslas Kadalitz from Rötschitz.

1514 Wenceslas Ržeziczky of Ržeczic took over the property of Boguslaus, with Henry and Nicolas of Ržeczic intabulated (entered into the Land Registers)

1591 - Dietrich Ržeziczky of Ržeczic

1607 - Mary Ann Korzensky of Teressow

1610 - Wolf of Enzing at Schrattenthal, Austrian hereditary Chamberlain

1612 - Jack Rieder of Riedern, citizen and councilor of Znaim

1613 - Ernest of Stockhammer at Frating

After 1620 - Frank Peter König, officer in the Venetian and Imperial service, Colonel and Field Marshall, Mayor of Freiburg in 1645 and 1646 - after the Battle of “Battle of White Mountain”, he received the confiscated Mayres as a gift from Emperor Ferdinand II.

1630 - Jacob Zinn, Knight of Zinneburg, "I&R" (Imperial & Royal) Governor

1683 - Otto Rudolph, Count of Schaumburg

1693 - Johann Rudolph Goldmüller of Goldenstein

1702 - John George Hauspersky, Baron of Fanal

1710 - Maximilian Zieletzky, Baron of Poczenitz and Royal Councilor

1713 - John Rudolph Kominek of Engelshausen, Governor

In the same year, Mayres was bought by the knight Matthew George Butz of Rolsberg.

For more information see "CASTLE & PARK".

The brewery was founded in 1652. In 1713, beer temporarily stopped being brewed due to a dispute with the city of Zlabings and was imported from Wiedern. In 1840, it stood near the Mill Chateau under No.13. It ceased to exist around 1900 when it produced about 800 hl of beer per year.

In 1840, the mill had No.11, the mill chateau No.11a and they stood by the Mill pond, today called Castle pond.

The manor also previously included a granary from 1780, a sheepfold and a distillery with No.12, which was owned by Salomon Bauer in 1847.

The spinning mill operated from 1793 to 1830.

The school building was made available by the estate in 1811. Before that, classes were held in various houses and wherever a room was available. At one time, house No.17 opposite the inn was used for this. And also No.36, a house in poor condition. Children from Kadolz and Lexnitz were also taught in German. Czech children had to go to Zlabings. The current school building was built in 1893.

The population in 1880 was 340 people in 68 houses. Of which 317 were Germans, 17 Czechs and two were of Jewish origin.

In 1910, the population was 268 people, of which 266 were Germans and two were of other origins. In addition, 151 cattle, 3 horses, 46 pigs, 9 sheep, 39 goats and 44 apiaries were counted back then.

According to the Moravian History II. from 1926, there were 3 three-quarter farmers, 5 half-farmers and 6 quarter-farmers and 43 housekeepers in the village. There were 2 inns, 2 general stores, 1 vegetable and fruit store, 2 carpenters, 2 tailors, 1 blacksmith and 1 shoemaker. The village had a mill with a sawmill, a forge, a chapel, a one-class German school and a poorhouse. The granary and starch factory were already out of operation.

“On June 6, 1945, the German residents were ordered by the arriving Czech “Revolutionary Guards” to leave their homes within one hour and take with them a maximum of 30 kg of luggage. With the, by the guards looted luggage, the former residents of Maříž reached Austria. A total of 229 people were expelled.”

(Source: https://www.suedmaehren.at/ort/maires)

All that remained after them were lowing cattle in the stables and plates of lunch on the tables.

On June 6, 1945, it is quoted that the chronicler of Mayres, PhDr. Theodor Deimel, tore out and destroyed the records from the war years from October 1938 to May 1945, starting from page 120.

Abandoned houses were offered for settlement to Czechs not only from the surrounding area.

Until October 1948, crossing the nearby border into Austria was considered a misdemeanor. After the repressive Border Guard was established, it was severely punished. In 1950, by decree of the Ministry of the Interior, Maříž (along with more than three hundred other settlements and villages) suddenly found itself within a two-kilometer border zone.

The remaining residents thus found themselves in a “death zone” where only strictly vetted persons accompanied by border guards could enter. The Iron Curtain stretched two kilometers along the state border. At the pond in front of Mayres, there was a strictly guarded gate and anti-tank barriers.

The zone was marked with signs: “Attention! Forbidden Zone, Entry Prohibited!”

Many residents moved out due to the bullying.

The neighbouring village of Lexnitz, right on the border with Austria which was settled by several Czech families after 1945, was strategically razed to the ground after 1953 so that it could not serve as a hiding place for people trying to escape.

After the administrative reform in 1960, Mayres, which had belonged to Southwestern Moravia for centuries, was incorporated into the South Bohemian region.

In the 1980s, only three elderly women remained, secretly watching Austrian television while buildings were being destroyed, looted and collapsing around them.

No outsider got behind the wires before the revolution. In the abandoned village, where time stood still, an unusually preserved fauna and flora remained to modern times, today known as the Green Belt.

In the spring of 1990, friends from the Sklep Theater  volunteered to help remove the wires around Mayres and the artist Kryštof Trubáček had a vision. In the former blacksmith shop near John's pond, a ceramics workshop was established in 1991 with his companion Jan Boháč. Ceramic products were painted by various artists, creating originals. Each piece is therefore unique.

This charming environment also appealed to several other adventurers with great courage. People from different corners of the world began to repair houses and improve gardens.

Since 1999, after disagreements between the owners of the ceramics workshop, you can find two workshops.

So now you can choose to visit a brick-and-mortar store, a barn or a whale.

POINTS OF INTEREST:

• The Tri-point - "Not far from the hunting lodge, between Mayres, Kadolz, Old Town and Lexnitz is the Tri-border of Moravia, Bohemia and Lower Austria, marked by a triangular granite border."

(Source: Vlastivěda moravská Jan Tiray, Brno 1926)

NATIVES:

• Georg Wimmer (* April 16, 1815 Mayres - † May 18, 1893 Brussels), personal medical doctor of the Belgian King Leopold II.

• Anton Eipeldauer (* February 25, 1893 Mayres - † October 17, 1977 Vienna), Austrian professor of horticulture, botanist and specialist writer

EVENTS:

• On April 29, 1886, a tornado swept through Maříž. The windstorm was very destructive and broke 40 glass panes in the castle.

• In July 1904, a peasant revolt took place in the village:

“Since the time the Mayres estate came into the possession of Baron Offermann, the nobility has had so many problems with the local residents that they have completely given up agriculture and have had most of the

fields afforested. Of course, the villagers do not like this at all.”

A few days ago, posters appeared in all possible places in the village with threats against the residents of the castle – they said that they would end up like the Serbian King Alexander.

Baron Offermann filed a criminal complaint because of this and the local active gendarmerie station is now searching for the author of these memorable posters and the leader of the entire conspiratorial action.

Let’s hope that the gendarmerie will soon be able to track down these people and bring them to justice so that the nobility can continue to be undisturbed.”

(Source: Znaimer Wochenblatt, 23.7.1904)

• On April 17, 1931, a private plane from the Bata company made an emergency landing at a field on the Austrian side behind Mayres. The pilot and crew, who survived the crash, were provided for by the locals and continued their journey by train.

LEGEND:

• “A legend is told that the famous robber Grasel (*1790 Neu Serowitz - † 1818 Vienna) in his anger had a young boy hanged by his feet in Mayres so that his head ended up in an anthill, and left him hanging there for three days.”

  (Source: Das Waldviertel 1935, anno.onb.ac.at)