Cheers!

The importance of viticulture for the development of the region is shown by the museums on this route. In addition to the history of viticulture, historical and current cultivation and extraction methods as well as the role of the mild climate in the region are highlighted.

 

Bacchus' traces

Weinbau- und Heimatmuseum, Klingenberg

Viticulture has a centuries-old tradition in Klingenberg. In 1261, vineyards "on the high mountain" owned by the inns of Klingenberg were first mentioned. The wine established Klingenberg's fame, but the city owes its former wealth to the clay pit. In two show tunnels the mining methods of the past and present are documented. Graphics and photosgraphs explain the origin of the clay deposit and its degradation. A collection of old mine lamps, ceramics, uniforms and documents provide useful information about the mine. A room on the ground floor houses the entire Röllfeld village smithy with chimney, bellows, anvil, numerous machines and tools. The cooperage and wagon shop are combined in the basement. Both branches of the craft were indispensable for the winemaker. The care of the vines in the vineyard, the grape harvest, the pressing of the grapes and the expansion of the wine until bottling is shown on the ground floor of the museum. A collection of glasses and bottles as well as many photos complete the topic.

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Deutsches Weinbaumuseum, Oppenheim

The German Wine Museum, one of the world's largest and most interesting special museums of its kind, provides a fascinating overview of the two-thousand-year-old tradition of viticulture in Germany. It was opened in 1980 in an old Baroque building in Oppenheim, the city of the Gothic and wine. Within a few years, the museum developed into a wine-growing historic institution and wine-cultural institution of international importance. The altogether thirty different exhibition areas appeal to both wine experts and wine lovers.

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Hochheimer Weinbaumuseum

General maps show the Hochheim vineyards. Components of the soils, such as loess or clay marl, are presented in glass jars The work of the winegrower in the vineyard during a year is shown. There are tools of traditional manual labor as well as newer tools for working the soil, vine grafting, planting and caring for the vines, pest control and harvesting. Despite the use of machines, pruning, trellising and grape harvesting on steep slopes are still done by hand. Hochheim's sparkling wine production dates back to 1832. In the late 19th century, there were seven sparkling wine cellars in the town, of which Burgeff & Co. was the largest in the German Empire. Tasting glasses, plaques as well as the crown of the first Hochheim wine queen remind of the Hochheim wine festival. The museum is based on the holdings of the Otto Schwabe Home Museum. It is housed in a vaulted cellar built in 1902 in the former Frankhof winery.

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Rheingauer Weinmuseum Rüdesheim

The oldest wine-related collection in the world is located in the Rüdesheimer Weinmuseum Brömserburg. In the garden of the castle complex, old wooden and iron spindle presses and a tree press from 1594 are on display alongside wine barrels, barrel carts and wine pumps. Around 2,000 wine-related exhibits from antiquity to the present are shown. Historical tools show how hard the work of the winemaker, cellar master and barrel cooper used to be. Stoneware from the Rheingau, Raeren, Siegburg, Frechen near Cologne and the Kannebäckerland, the Westerwald is represented, so are drinking and dispensing vessels made of glass and precious metal. The showpieces of the collection include precious glasses in which all important European style epochs are represented. Interested visitors will find a considerable collection of prehistoric and medieval excavation objects from the early days of the Rheingau on the top floor of the museum.

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