Weinstrasse wine route: Dark past, bright future

By John Malathronas, for CNN
6 minute read
Updated 10:06 PM EDT, Sun October 18, 2015
Created in October 1935, the Weinstrasse celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2015. The 85-kilometer route was designed to connect the main wineries on the left bank of Germany's Rhine river.
World's oldest wine route —
Created in October 1935, the Weinstrasse celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2015. The 85-kilometer route was designed to connect the main wineries on the left bank of Germany's Rhine river.
John Malathronas
Neustadt is the wine metropolis of the Weinstrasse, full of half-timbered houses next to baroque buildings and a church divided into Protestant and Catholic halves.
Neustadt —
Neustadt is the wine metropolis of the Weinstrasse, full of half-timbered houses next to baroque buildings and a church divided into Protestant and Catholic halves.
John Malathronas
In September, the small town of Bad Durkheim holds an annual Oktoberfest event to celebrate local wines. It claims to be the biggest wine festival in the world, with 600,000 visitors every year.
Drinking music —
In September, the small town of Bad Durkheim holds an annual Oktoberfest event to celebrate local wines. It claims to be the biggest wine festival in the world, with 600,000 visitors every year.
John Malathronas
Despite the popularity of the festival and the wine trail within Germany, little is done to promote it internationally.
Street food —
Despite the popularity of the festival and the wine trail within Germany, little is done to promote it internationally.
John Malathronas
The reason for its lack of fame? The Weinstrasse is known as "a stroke of genius with a problematic provenance." There's a clue as to why hidden in Bad Durkheim's church, the Ludwigskirch.
Ludwigskirche —
The reason for its lack of fame? The Weinstrasse is known as "a stroke of genius with a problematic provenance." There's a clue as to why hidden in Bad Durkheim's church, the Ludwigskirch.
John Malathronas
Ludwigskirche features a mural of the Crucifixion. Look closely and one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus bears a remarkable resemblance to Adolf Hitler. This was possibly an anti-Nazi statement made by the artist who created it. The Weinstrasse was the brainchild of prominent local Nazi Josef Burckel.
Hitler mural —
Ludwigskirche features a mural of the Crucifixion. Look closely and one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus bears a remarkable resemblance to Adolf Hitler. This was possibly an anti-Nazi statement made by the artist who created it. The Weinstrasse was the brainchild of prominent local Nazi Josef Burckel.
John Malathronas
Burckel conceived the Weinstrasse as a way to promote German wine at a time when a wine surplus was drastically impacting prices. It worked. Today the route still winds through the same well-kept villages, such as Wachenheim.
Wachenheim village —
Burckel conceived the Weinstrasse as a way to promote German wine at a time when a wine surplus was drastically impacting prices. It worked. Today the route still winds through the same well-kept villages, such as Wachenheim.
John Malathronas
In the town of Schweigen, at the southern end of the Weinstrasse, Bruckel had a "Wine Gate" erected. The gate still bears graffiti from when U.S. forces occupied the area at the end of World War II.
The Wine Gate in Schweigen —
In the town of Schweigen, at the southern end of the Weinstrasse, Bruckel had a "Wine Gate" erected. The gate still bears graffiti from when U.S. forces occupied the area at the end of World War II.
John Malathronas
At 37, Andreas Grimm is one of a new, younger generation of wine makers in the region. His family own vineyards in Schweigen.
New wave —
At 37, Andreas Grimm is one of a new, younger generation of wine makers in the region. His family own vineyards in Schweigen.
John Malathronas
Hans-Christian Stolleis, 23, works at his family's <a href="http://www.stolleis.com" target="_blank" target="_blank">vineyard</a>, which once produced wines by appointment to the Bavarian Court and now grows, among others, a rare Auxerrois -- a slightly sweeter version of Pinot Blanc.
Family business —
Hans-Christian Stolleis, 23, works at his family's vineyard, which once produced wines by appointment to the Bavarian Court and now grows, among others, a rare Auxerrois -- a slightly sweeter version of Pinot Blanc.
John Malathronas
Dark past, bright future: Germany's Weinstrasse wine route

Story highlights

Established in 1935, Germany's Deutsche Weinstrasse is the world's oldest wine trail

The trail was originally founded by the local Nazi party chief to attract wine tourists

A new generation of winemakers is reviving interest in the trail, which passes through 37 towns and villages

CNN  — 

There are many roads dubbed “‘wine routes:” from the Napa and Sonoma trails in California to Stellenbosch in South Africa and the Murray River Valley in Australia.

However, the first wine route was the Deutsche Weinstrasse, established exactly 80 years ago in the region of Pfalz (Palatinate) and passing through 37 towns and villages in Germany.

Bad Durkheim is where I begin my drive.

It’s a modern German village saved by a large botanical garden, a medieval abbey and the ruins of a 13th-century castle. Just north of the town lies the tidy, sleepy village of Kallstadt, from where Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich emigrated to the United States with his wife.

I’ve arrived in the middle of September, when Bad Durkheim stages the Wurstmarkt, which claims to be the biggest wine festival in the world with 600,000 visitors every year.

Hidden artwork

Looking at the tents full of drinkers on long benches, the oompah bands and the funfair rides, I’m reminded of the Oktoberfest. How come so few people outside Germany know about the Weinstrasse and its festivals? The Germans seem reluctant to advertise it.

Why? A clue lies almost hidden in Bad Durkheim’s church, the Ludwigskirche, where a mural behind the altar depicts the crucifixion of Jesus.

Amazingly, no one noticed at the time it was painted that one of the thieves who was crucified with Jesus looks unmistakably like Adolf Hitler, pencil mustache and all.

The artist, Paul Thalheimer, painted this in 1935 before he was forced to flee from Nazi Germany, where he was later banned as a degenerate artist. His apparent act of defiance coincided with local Nazi party chief Josef Burckel’s brainwave to make the area a center for wine tourism.

This backstory has led to the Weinstrasse being known as “a stroke of genius with a problematic provenance.”

Back in 1935, Burckel faced two problems.

Firstly, the wine trade in the surrounding Pfalz region was in the hands of Jewish merchants who were forbidden to work in the Third Reich. Secondly, bumper harvests in 1934 and 1935 led to a collapse in prices.

Wine dream

So Burckel dreamed of a wine route connecting the main wineries on the left bank of the Rhine. It ran for 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the village of Bockenheim to Schweigen on the French border.

Burckel inaugurated the Weinstrasse with a speech in Bad Durkheim on October 19, 1935.

He followed that with an 800-strong motorcade the next day and a heavy wine promotion in German cities. The concept was a hit. Wine sales soared.

World’s best wine trails and tours

Today, the Weinstrasse is as idyllic as it was then, passing by sloping vineyards in the shadow of almond, fig and sweet chestnut trees. It winds through well-kept villages with narrow cobblestone streets, looked upon by stone houses and balconies with overflowing red geraniums.

Deidesheim is the most strikingly picturesque village on the route home to the venerable von Buhl winery.

“Pfalz has had a checkered record of wine production,” says Klaus Kusters, the retail manager, while pouring an excellent Riesling. “After the war they went for quantity, and quality hit rock bottom. The 1970s and 1980s were the days of Blue Nun and Black Tower, supermarket wines marketed via TV adverts in the U.S. and the UK.”

“Yields were astronomical – up to 18,000 bottles per hectare, whereas nowadays they are restricted to a maximum of 9,000. Fewer grapes, stronger flavor.”

Happy accident

Bumper crop: The Weinstrasse was created as a way to sell off wine in a time of plenty.
Bumper crop: The Weinstrasse was created as a way to sell off wine in a time of plenty.
John Malathronas

The 1990s were the turning point for Pfalz wines. The growers realized that they have to compete worldwide on quality alone. The EU also forced Germany to end its restrictive practices.

Earlier a wine producer had been prosecuted for the very German offense of growing Chardonnay in a Riesling area. Neustadt is the wine metropolis of the Weinstrasse, full of half-timbered houses next to baroque buildings and a church divided into Protestant and Catholic halves.

Hans-Christian Stolleis is only 23, but already active in his family’s wine business in the outskirts of Neustadt.

He’s just back from Berlin where the family wines were served at the German President’s “Burgerfestival,” a 6,500-strong party where German citizens are honored for their commitment to civil service.

The Stolleis vineyard, once producing wines by appointment to the Bavarian Court, now grows, among others, an exceptional rare Auxerrois, a slightly sweeter version of Pinot Blanc.

“In 1957 we planted Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois was mixed by accident,” explains Stolleis. “Some grapes kept maturing earlier. Fifteen years ago we finally analyzed their DNA and discovered the two different varieties.”

Generation Pfalz