German Wine Route

The German Wine Route is one of the oldest tourist roads in Germany and runs on or parallel to the federal highways 38 and 271 through the vineyards of the Palatinate, which lies in the same region in the southeast of Rhineland -Palatinate and the second largest wine region in Germany is.

The road is about 85 kilometers long and approximately directed from south to north. It ranges from the German Wine Gate in silence law stream at the French border to the house of the German Wine Route in Bock home on the edge of Rheinhessen.

• 4.1 German Wine Route
• 4.2 Other tourist wine routes

Geography

The front Palatine hills, in which the German Wine Route is embedded, is the main part of the jobs created by tourism marketing holiday region German Wine Route. Geologically, it represents a part of the western scarp of the grave breach in which the Upper Rhine flows. The fracture zone is bounded to the west by the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest, the Haardt, to the east lies the Upper Rhine Valley. The width of the hills is up to 15 km, its altitude varies around 150 meters.

At the beginning of the German Wine Road is on the border of French Alsace since 1936, the German Wine Gate, at the end for Rheinhessen out since 1995, the House of German Wine Route. Along the route there are numerous well-known wine villages. Many carry a " on the Wine Route ", which has consistently attribute replaces the former "at the Haardt ". The towns on the wine route are identified in the article about the Palatinate wine region.

Sometimes carry local roads on which the German wine road runs, still the prescribed time to set up street names wine route, such as in the districts of Hambach and Diedesfeld of Neustadt on the Wine Route, or even in the town of Bad Durkheim.

The German Wine Road is marked by a square yellow sign that a triangular stylized grape shows between the two parts of the name " German " and " Wine Route ", which consists of ten berries.

Climate and vegetation

Vineyards against the backdrop of Weinbiets

Southern Wine Route in Gleisweiler

With over 1800 hours of sunshine annually, the area around the German Wine Route has a climate that is almost reminiscent of the Mediterranean countries, sometimes the area is advertised even as " Tuscany of Germany ". Due to this mild climate thrive here in the wild figs, kiwis, pine, cypress, palms, bananas and chestnuts. The Wine Route is also known by the almond trees that line the stand to the right and left and here usually begin in late February / early March pink or white blossom. Then in Gimmeldingen the almond blossom festival is celebrated.

However, the typical greenhouse on the German Wine Route is the vine, which the regional agriculture characterizes almost exclusively. Lack of rain heat as mentioned, due to the west upstream Palatinate Forest, mitigating night late frosts because of the steep slopes, accelerate the outflow of cold air masses in the Rhine valley: Introduced by the Romans shortly after the Christian era, the vine found ideal conditions.

Economy

Holiday Region German Wine Route

The German Wine Route is now a term that on the opposite side of the Rhine not only the name for one block is similar to the mountain road, but has also established itself as an advertising term holiday region German Wine Route; it is thus also a buzzword for the tourism, which has always been in this area closely related to viticulture. For the location in the southern Palatinate southern half of the German Wine Road, a separate additional marketing term was coined in the last quarter of the 20th century - Southern Wine Route.

The supposedly located exactly between silence law Bach and Bock Home Wine Road center in Neustadt- Diedesfeld with the address Wine Route 612 is exposed touristy, especially since there a bed and breakfast is run.

Parallel to the German Wine Route runs as Radfernweg the bike path German Wine Route. As the highway begins in silence this law Bach and ends in Bock 's home. It has a length of 95 km; added 35 kilometers of additional " scenic routes " involving laterally located targets.

The Palatinate wine trail is 153 miles long and ten reported daily stages of the longest premium hiking in the Palatinate. He leads in south-north direction of silence law stream after Neuleiningen. The Opened in spring 2011 Hiking repeatedly switches back and forth between the wine region on the German Wine Road and the eastern part of the Palatinate Forest.

Since 1985 - with the exception of the year 1986 - is held on the last Sunday in August, the experience day German Wine Route. The wine route is eight hours closed to motorized traffic. Many clubs and wineries operate on this day taverns along the wine route, and depending on the weather use up to 300,000 cyclists and inline skaters the deal for a trip.

Wine festivals

Between March and October, numerous wine festivals. The largest are the Dürkheimer sausage market ( in September ), the German wine festival in Neustadt on the German Wine Queen is chosen, and the festival of spring whites in Landau (both in October). Nationwide broadcasting have, for example, the Gimmeldinger Almond Blossom Festival (March or April ), the Kändelgassenfest in Großkarlbach, the city wall hard in Freinsheim (both in July ), the Deidesheimer billy goat auction on Tuesday after Pentecost or - two weekends in June / July - the donkey skin hard in Mußbach. The official wine festival calendar, which is set up each year and all the wine festivals and other events in the holiday region lists, is a standard feature of every Palatine and convivial guest.

For strangers are unfamiliar Schopp the glasses from which the wine is drunk at festivals along the German Wine Route. Unlike other wine growing areas namely not 0.25 -liter jars, but 0.5 -liter glasses are used. Typical of these are the so-called Dubbegläser ( pfälzisch for " polka dot glasses " ) which taper from top to bottom and outside round depressions " Dubbe " exhibit. In particular, after three to four pints know even the novice, why such glasses are handy as rod lenses: you can hold on much easier.

History

German Wine Route

Since 1935 the German wine route runs through the wine region of the former " Rhenish Palatinate ", which today only " Palatinate " is, making it the oldest of the wine roads in this country.

After the First World War, the economic situation in the German wine-growing regions 1918-1930 was marked by the French occupation. On the part of France was subject to trading in the free territory of the Reich economic barriers; also had the German wines in France a very low level of awareness. After a lying two and a half times higher than the average in the Pfalz wine harvest in 1934 led to a dramatic fall in prices, which brought many wineries in physical distress. With the establishment of the German Wine Route in 1935 succeeded the Nazi rulers, within a short time to increase tourism and wine sales without large costs were incurred; the effect persists to this day. With the name of German Wine Route was one stretch of road that joined the most wine-growing villages along the Haardt each other, with all town links have been changed on this route in Wine Street. Located on the new German Wine Route villages could lead from now on, the addition of the wine route.

On October 10, 1935 took place on the chosen route instead of a sightseeing tour, in which road sections that were in poor condition, were repaired directly. On 19 October 1935, the German Wine Route by then Gauleiter Josef Bürckel in Bad Durkheim was officially opened with a ceremony. His speech was entitled " fight and people - Wine and truth." On October 20, a Sunday, when Germany far the Feast of the grape and the wine was committed, was followed on the German Wine Route an inaugural ride of silence after Bock home, attended by about 300 motor vehicles under the leadership of Gauleiter. For the opening - the controlled press wrote of " consecration " - were as temporaries a wooden Torattrappe in silence and a built papier-mâché in green city. The stone Weintor in silence instead of wood was then built in 1936. The originally planned Weintor northern counterpart, was not realized until six decades later and in a different form, namely, as the House of German Wine Route in Bock 's home.

The spectacular opening was followed by some supplementary project, which were only partially implemented. So designed the department folk art of the Palatine Landesgewerbeanstalt in Kaiserslautern uniform signage that was never installed. In January 1937 there was the call " At each house a vine " to decorate the German Wine Route with matching grape varieties, which had to order for their places in the fruit and wine school ( Town) the mayor. Furthermore, wine partnerships of riparian towns on the German Wine Route with other German cities were closed.

Other tourist wine routes

Before modern transportation made ​​it possible to combine tourism and the marketing of wine together, was the German word "wine road " an abraded form of " street car ", and medieval wine roads led through areas with no significant viticulture. The establishment of the railway in the Arad Wine Route 1906, which was called in Hungarian literally " railway of Arad Vineyard streets," but makes it clear that began at that time to establish wine roads of tourist valorisation of wine regions.

Since 1953, France has had as a kind of southern continuation of the German Wine Route, the Alsace Wine Route (French: Route des vins d'Alsace ). The Route Touristique du Champagne is presented in German as Champagne tourist route.

There is a cross-border partnership between the district of Bad Durkheim, in which lies the northern part of the German Wine Road, and in 1964 established South Tyrolean Wine Road in Italy (Italian Strada del Vino the Alto Adige).

Over the years, numerous other wine routes have been reported in other wine regions in Germany and abroad: