An excursion into the past

The coats of arms of the long-established wineries, including the oldest family-owned vineyard in Germany (Salm vineyard, Wallhausen), bear witness to a wine culture on the Nahe which has existed for centuries.

In the Roman Hall in Bad Kreuznach, wine glasses and vine knives are on display, documenting the enjoyment of wine in the palatial Roman villas.

From the early Middle Ages onward, the monasteries cultivated wine systematically along the Nahe River, and the oldest document of the Lorsch Monastery from 766 mentions the village of Norheim. Having originated in the time of Charlemagne, the measure “Stütze” (10 liters), as well as the winegrower’s right to operate a wine tavern, still exist even now.

The first wine to be exported from the Nahe region was called the “Monziger Fire Wine” (around 1500), which was loaded onto Rhine ships using the Bingen crane. The oldest preserved vines in Germany (White Orlean) date back to the same period. In a protected, hidden corner of the Nahe region, they have survived all extreme climatic conditions and the devastation of war.

From 1901, the Prussian domain near Niederhausen, today the Hermannsberg Estate, raised wine growing to the next level.

From 1971, the Nahe region was an independent wine cultivation area; prior to that, the wine was marketed as Rhein wine.

Today, on sites that have been cultivated for centuries, elite noble wines ripen today thanks to the interplay of tradition and the most modern technology.