August-Wilhelm Freiherr von Babo
His son August-Wilhelm Freiherr von Babo (1827-1894) is certainly the best known of the family. He followed in his father's footsteps, enjoyed a comprehensive agricultural education at several universities (e.g. Heidelberg) and took over the management of an experimental winery in Karlsruhe. In 1860 he followed the call to Klosterneuburg near Wien and became the first director of the Klosterneuburger Weinbauinstitut in Lower Austria, founded in the same year. Based on the saccharometer invented by Carl Joseph Napoleon Balling (1805-1868), Babo developed the Klosterneuburger Mostwaage (KMW) in 1861. This plummet is still the official instrument for determining must weight in Austria today.
In 1869 he founded the first regularly published wine journal in Austria, "Weinlaube". It still exists today as the "Österreichische Weinzeitung". Later he published a wine calendar, which is also still published today as the "Österreichischer Weinbaukalender". He became known and famous for his lectures, known as "Feldmessen" and often held in vineyards, where he passed on his extensive knowledge to the winegrowers. On his many journeys through the countries of the Monarchy he collected many of the grape varieties of the time (in 1869 there were over 60) and made many experiments with them. From 1881 to 1883, together with his son-in-law Edmund Mach (1846-1901), he wrote the "Handbuch des Weinbaues und der Kellerwirtschaft" (Handbook of Viticulture and Cellar Management), which, with five editions, became the standard work for several generations of winegrowers.
Phylloxera plague
In 1867, Babo received an assortment of American grape varieties as a true Danaer gift from his friend Jakob Ludwig Schiebler, formerly Ebermann (1810-1882), the horticultural director in Celle-Hannover. Babo immediately began to experiment with them. There had already been the first alarming news from France about phylloxera, but no one knew at the time that the pest had come across the pond with American vines. In January 1870 a first report about phylloxera appeared in the "Weinlaube" and in the same year the first damage occurred in Klosterneuburg vineyards (at Liebertsacker, at "Gelber Bankl"). Later, when the contaminated American vines were identified as the cause, Babo was unjustly blamed for this and accused of having introduced phylloxera into Austria.
There were virtually "vintners' revolts" against him and his institute when the first vineyard grubbings were ordered by the state and many winegrowers perished. At times he had to make his way to the institute under gendarmerie protection in order to be safe from the anger of the enraged vintners. Babo took up the fight against phylloxera. But all measures, such as injecting petroleum and carbon disulphide into the soil or stretching fine-meshed nets over the vineyards to catch the flying aphids, were unsuccessful or far too time-consuming and costly. By 1880, almost all the vineyards in Klosterneuburg were infested with the pest and most of them had to be uprooted.
Grafting as a solution to the problem
As an alternative, Babo suggested the cultivation of tobacco plants and tomatoes (Austrian: Paradeiser). This failed, however, because tomatoes were not even known at the time Wien. However, another initiative was very successful, Babo promoted the cultivation of ribisl (currants) and cherries for the production of wine. In 1874, the situation was already so bleak that a "phylloxera commission" was set up to track down the phylloxera herds. Then, around this time, the solution to the problem finally came from France, namely the grafting of European scions onto American rootstocks, so-called grafting. In 1876 Babo, or rather the Klosterneuburg Institute, recommended to the local winegrowers that this procedure be generally applied. At the institute, 2,000 cuttings of the American variety Taylor were planted and propagated and these rootstocks were made available to the communities.
Mildew plague
In 1889, the fungal disease downy mildew appeared for the first time in Klosterneuburg. Along with phylloxera and powdery mildew, this plague was also introduced from North America. Two years later, this deserving man died and was honoured with a bust erected in the garden of the viticultural school Klosterneuburg in 1927.
Baron Max von Babo
Finally, his son Baron Max von Babo (1862-1933) is also worth mentioning. As Austrian consul in China, he played a decisive role in the foundation of the Yantai Changyu winery, which still exists today.
Picture left: Society for the History of Wine
Picture middle and right: Klosterneuburger Kultur-Gesellschaft
