In the extreme east of Lower Austria, directly on the border with Slovakia, lies the small town of Marchegg, the largest planned town founding in Lower Austria. Military-strategic considerations had persuaded King Ottokar II to found Marchegg in 1268, at that time in the immediate vicinity of Hungary. A castle complex with a moat and drawbridge was built in the north-west of Marchegg, and the town was secured by a town wall. Today Marchegg's border location is seen as an opportunity, it is now possible to establish close economic and cultural contacts with neighboring Slovakia; Efforts on the Austrian and Slovak side to protect the flora and fauna of the March-Thaya floodplains have an additional unifying effect.
The town of Marchegg was initially headed by the respective sovereign, a function that passed to the burgraves from the 14th century. The princely possessions had been repeatedly mortgaged since the beginning of the 14th century. In 1630 Marchegg was inherited by the Palffy von Erdöd family and remained in the possession of the noble family until 1848.
In the shadow of the metropolises of Vienna and Pressburg, Marchegg developed only hesitantly from an economic point of view. Marchegg also had no economic hinterland of any importance and was also at a greater distance from the important long-distance roads. A wine toll has been Marchegg's main source of income since the 14th century. The majority of the citizens made their living from farming, and mills were already being operated in the 13th century. The first factory was founded in 1876, the Tschinkel company produced coffee substitutes from chicory beets. The opening of the border to the east had a positive effect on the Marchegg region. In 2001, the "Ecoplus Business Park Marchegg" was created in the middle of an economic area between Vienna and Bratislava that extends beyond the border with Slovakia.
(c)Memory of the country