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Krems

The town on the left bank of the Danube and west of the river Krems is the centre of the Kremstal wine-growing region in Lower Austria. The town was first mentioned in 995 as "Urbs chremisa". As early as 1305, Krems was elevated to the status of a town and its attachment to viticulture was documented in the town charter by the addition of the words "the honour of the town lies mostly in the vineyards" and the name "Cittá del Vino". At the height of their prosperity, more than 50 wine-growing cooperatives ( Lesehöfe ) of ecclesiastical estates from Upper Austria, Salzburg, Bavaria and Southern Bohemia were economically active in Krems and Stein. In the 13th century, almost half of Krems' vineyards were owned by the church or Roman Catholic monastic orders. With 100,000 litres annually, the town of Krems covered three quarters of Lower Austria's wine exports. At that time, three quarters of the town's population lived from winegrowing.

Krems - von der Donau aus gesehen

In 1875 a viticulture school was founded in Krems. Krems includes the districts of Angern, Egelsee, Gneixendorf, Hollenburg, Krems, Rehberg, Stein and Thallern. In 1614 the foundation stone was laid for the Capuchin monastery and Marian pilgrimage site UND, which lies between Krems and Stein. The Danube overflowed its banks due to weeks of rainfall and became the eponym. At the beginning of construction, it was called "Claustrum ad undam" - the monastery to the Danube wave. Today, the "Weinkolleg Kloster UND" offers wine-interested beginners and professional tasters the opportunity to taste over one hundred wines from all eight Lower Austrian wine-growing regions in the historic cellars.

The vineyards cover a total of around 1,000 hectares of largely terraced vineyards. The leading Austrian grape variety Grüner Veltliner dominates with about two thirds, followed by Riesling and Traminer. The Krems vineyards (Lagen) are among the oldest in Austria. After the Second World War, large vineyards were created, each named after the most famous vineyard. The Pfaffenberg vineyard in the Stein district has been famous since 1230 and used to be owned by the church. Today it is part of the Pfaffenberg vineyard (part of the Großlage Kremstal) with 185 hectares of vineyards, which also includes the Wieden and Wachtberg vineyards. The famous Sandgrube vineyard was first mentioned in 1208; today it is located in the centre of the similarly named Großlage and also designates a well-known brand wine.

Krems

Other vineyards are Altenburg (first mentioned in 1188), Frechau, Gebling, Kögl, Goldberg (the first Müller-Thurgau in Austria was planted here in 1926), Hund and Weinzierl. The traditional regional brand "Kremser Schmidt" was named after the painter and son of the town Martin Johann Schmidt (1718-1801). The latter painted portraits of Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and often had his services paid for in wine. The history of winegrowing in Krems has been comprehensively documented since 1996 in the Winegrowing Museum in the former Dominican monastery founded as early as 1236. The largest producers are the Winzergenossenschaft Winzer Krems and the Stadt Krems winery, which is owned by the municipality. Krems is also home to one of the testing centres for quality wine testing with regard to the granting of the state testing number.

Picture below: © Robert Herbst - Point of View

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