Location and landscape
Nußloch is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar district in Baden-Württemberg and lies around 10 kilometres south of Heidelberg. The municipal area is at the intersection of the Kraichgau, Odenwald, Upper Rhine Plain and the Southern Bergstraße. It ranges from about 103 metres above sea level in Lichtenau to 317 metres on Hirschberg.
Climate and geology
The municipality describes the climate as balanced and mild. As a result, at suitable natural sites, partly Mediterranean-influenced plant and animal species may occur. The experience trail leads via the Steinbruchweg to the Wilhelmsberg and conveys the geological history of the local limestone deposits. The Wilhelmsberg locality is also located in an area of historical lead-zinc mining; in parts, locally increased levels of heavy metal contamination have been found.
Wine-growing history
Nußloch has a documentarily evidenced tradition of wine-growing. On 31 December 766, the place was first recorded in the Lorscher Codex through the donation of a vineyard to the Lorsch Abbey. For several centuries, wine-growing was part of the small-scale farming livelihoods and was encouraged by the favourable south-western orientation. Historical vineyard areas were located, among other places, on the partly steep western slopes of Schneckenberg, Leopoldsberg, Wilhelmsberg and Neuer Berg. Today, on the Wilhelmsberg adjoining Wiesloch, individual areas of vines are still documented.
Cultivation on the Wilhelmsberg
For wine-growing on the Nußloch Wilhelmsberg, ecological and sustainable approaches to soil care, fertilisation and plant protection are documented. These include sowing grasses to combat pests, grafting vines to protect against a renewed infestation by vine weevil, as well as trials with pergola training in the upper part of the vineyard to reduce sunscald.
