Retzenbrunnen
At this place flax was prepared for its use in clothes production.
This process was called „retzen“ or „rösten“, originally „rotten“.
Flax or linum belongs to the oldest plant fibres people made clothes from.
The glue inside the fibre is dissolved by bacteria and fungus and the parts of
the fibre were separated by the process of breaking, swinging and heckling.
After this, the fabric was spun to a yarn and then processed into linnen.
Two different processes of retting existed: the retting on the ground,
were the stems were put on an meadow for a few weeks to dry.
Another method is the retting fo the flax in cold water in fountains or moats.
There the „Retzenbrunnen“ got it´s name from.