Location and landscape
Graitschen near Bürgel is a municipality in the Saale-Holzland district in Thuringia and lies in the Gleistal valley of the region Saale-Unstrut. The settlement is situated at the foot of the Alte Gleisberg hill. The surrounding area is characterised by elevated Muschelkalk escarpments and valley floors.
Geology and history
North of Graitschen and on the Alte Gleisberg, the geological layers pass into formations of the Lower Muschelkalk. A documented geological outcrop contains Triassic Chirotherium sandstone and deposits of gypsum.
Graitschen was first mentioned in writing at around 1146. Archaeological investigations on the Alte Gleisberg and in its vicinity provide evidence of traces dating from the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age.
Vine-growing in the Gleistal
Vine-growing in the Gleistal has been documented since the Middle Ages; for Graitschen, the oldest documented reference to vine-growing dates from the year 1285. Historically, the Bürgel monastery in Thalbürgel and the local manor house owned vineyards in the Graitschen district. In the 15th and 16th centuries, vine-growing reached a documented peak period.
An imposing winery building in Graitschen was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War. After the wars, the areas under vines declined; phylloxera, wine imports and competing crops intensified the downturn. The last local harvest is reported to have taken place at around 1910.
A small vineyard
Since 1988, the Ratz family has been cultivating a small vineyard with around 170 Müller-Thurgau vines on roughly 400 square metres. The historical wine from the area is documented as Graitschener Landwein.
