Historic terraced vineyards: impressive witnesses of vernacular architecture

ABSTRACT

English

The history of viticulture has been widely studied in Europe. Knowledge of the landscape history of the viticulture once widely practised on terraced slopes is lacking, however. This paper contains an outline of the history of such vineyards. The forces driving the terracing of steep slopes are discussed, as are the advantages of building terraces and of using dry stone walls as retaining structures. The building fabric of historic terraced vineyards located in south-western Germany and in the Swiss canton of Valais was analysed employing a historical landscape analysis. The construction and function of the different elements of the vineyards, and their interactions, were a particular focus. Also presented are insights into how the building fabric may provide indications as to the owners and the construction history of such winegrowing areas. Finally, strategies for the preservation of these terraced vineyards, which are of great value from both a nature and a heritage conservation perspective, are presented, as are the benefits of continued research.

German

In Europa ist die Geschichte des Weinbaus weitgehend gut erforscht. Zu der Landschaftsgeschichte der ehemals stark verbreiteten Form des Terrassenweinbaus bestehen jedoch kaum Erkenntnisse. Der Artikel behandelt die Entstehungsgeschichte dieser Weinberge, zeigt Triebkräfte für die Terrassierung von steilen Lagen und die Vorteile dieser Landschaftsgestaltung sowie der Verwendung der Trockenmauertechnik auf. Anhand einer historischen Landschaftsanalyse wurde die Bausubstanz historischer Terrassenweinberge Südwestdeutschlands und dem Schweizer Kanton Wallis untersucht. Hierbei wurden Fragen über die Konstruktion und Funktion der einzelnen Bauelemente sowie deren Zusammenwirken behandelt. Ferner wird dargestellt, inwiefern, die Bausubstanz uns Hinweise auf die Entwicklungs- und Besitzgeschichte solcher Rebflächen liefern kann. Abschließend werden Strategien zum Erhalt dieser naturschutzfachlich und kulturhistorisch wertvollen Weinberge sowie der Nutzen ihrer Erforschung aufgezeigt.

Keywords:

• History of viticulture
• terraced landscape
• dry stone masonry
• heritage conservation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (Osnabrück), the Bristol Stiftung (Zürich), the Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg (FNR-AFR) and the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Stuttgart regional council) for their generous support for the research undertaken by the team and individual team members. The illustrations were drawn by Lisa Apfelbacher (http://www.lisaapfelbacher.de ), based on templates prepared by Hannes Napp and Claude Petit.

Notes

1. This topic is also broached in numerous other publications, yet the authors provide no indication of the origins of their knowledge, referring only to the known sources or to one another reciprocally (Knüll 1903, p. 122; Hoops 1905, p. 563; Kriege 1911, pp. 6-7; Reinhardt 1911, p. 623; Will 1939, p. 11; Riede 1951, p. 176; Deichmann & Wolf 1956, p. 6; Hahn 1956, p. 17; Winkelmann 1960, p. 22; Gönnenwein 1963, p. 161; Wendling 1966, p. 33; Schmedding 1969, pp. 50-1; Weinhold 1973, pp. 54-7; Welter 1975, p. 118; Haffke 1994; Schmitt 1997, p. 94).

2. In Germany terraced vineyards can be found in the following winegrowing areas: Ahr, Baden, Franken, Hessische Bergstraße, Mittelrhein, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheingau, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen and Württemberg.

3. This does not include the area of earlier terraced vineyards that are no longer managed. A large proportion of these vineyards are now covered by forest and their extent is unknown.