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(border) history
History is a grey past ... that keeps coming back to haunt us and still defines us today. Because even though we like to believe that we build our existence freely and independently, this is not the case at all, especially when it comes to a traditional family winery.
We have often mentioned that vineyards think in generations. It gets very exciting when this cross-generational planning is shattered by wars and family crises .
Our winery is only about 20 km as the crow flies from the French border. Today, thanks to Europe, we can easily say: "Oh, great, you can quickly scurry across the border and buy great cheese and real French pâtisseire ." This luxurious indulgence in friendly neighbors is, however, quite new. Because not only during the Thirty Years' War, but also during the First and Second World Wars, some of these areas were directly on the battlefront.
After the Second World War, Saarland (which had previously been French) was awarded to Germany, while Alsace (which had previously been German) was awarded to France. This led to bizarre situations. There are still wineries today whose vines are in France but which (a few meters away) produce wine on German soil. What actually counts as a designation of origin here?
According to the law, a winemaker's wine must be produced under his own roof. But at the same time, the location principle applies, meaning the location of the vine is crucial. So is such a wine a French wine? Or a German wine? That's a real nut that has to be cracked anew every year, because it's not as if the German-French bureaucracy has a solution for this once and for all.
But back to the war period. What is the Irish curse? "May you live in interesting times." Our Grandma Rosa Maria Barbara (who everyone lovingly calls Grandma Rosmarie) can rightly say that she experienced some very interesting times first hand.
She was born as the eldest daughter into the renowned Weidmann winery, which before the Second World War owned a large part of the vineyards in and around Weyher. Her younger brother Otto lived to see his father for just under three years, then their father died in the war, shortly before the birth of their youngest brother Toni. Their mother died in childbirth, and so five-year-old Rosmarie, her three-year-old brother Otto and the newborn baby Toni were orphans.
Photo: Chef Kristine with Grandma Rosmarie
The aunt stepped in, took in the three orphans and raised them in Weyher. That was no easy feat in the middle of the war and in the barren post-war period. In fact, it is thanks to the women of the village that Weyher is still standing, because the tank barriers that the Nazis built to stop the advance of the Allies dragged the women off the streets in a cloak-and-dagger operation so that the battle would not be right on their doorsteps and their villages would be saved from destruction.
Maybe it was need, maybe it was greed, maybe the feeling that it was a fair reward for what had been achieved... in any case, the relatives who had raised the three orphans sold most of the vineyards and the site of their parents' winery in Oberdorf before the three had outgrown their childhood shoes and moved away from Weyher with the profits.
When Rosmarie, Otto and Toni only fully realised the extent of this sale many years later, the family peace was more than disturbed. But Rosmarie is a fighter , an impressive woman. Together with her husband Werner Graf, she rebuilt the winery with the few remaining vineyards at the current location as we know it, Borngasse. Until a few years ago, she and her brother Otto worked actively in the vineyard, only the youngest, Toni, unfortunately passed away in 1989.
Photo: Uncle Otto harvesting grapes in the vineyard
Today, our grandmother is a proud 87 years old, and she is still a strong woman who inspires us. Our winery is based on the achievements of the generations before us. We are aware of this and are grateful for the tireless hard work, the sacrifices and the incredible tenacity with which she and Uncle Otto have overcome setbacks of all kinds, whether internal or external.
Are we as tough? Time will tell. Until now, we have lived in less exciting times, thank God, even if Corona has shaken us up. Today we are a few kilometers from the border and only occasionally remember the French past through language. For example, we in the Palatinate say "Merci" instead of "Danke" and "Trottoir" instead of footpath. A little further north, in the Rhineland, they say "Plümo" (from plumeau) for feather bed. And another expression comes directly from the post-war period: French soldiers liked to invite young girls to visit them in their tents, pronounced "visiter ma tente". The Rhinelanders have adapted the whole thing so that they can also pronounce it and still admonish young people today not to make a "mischief".
And so we live today, based on roots that reach far, far back – just like a vine that draws its strength from deep within the soil. Is that a good thing? Sometimes, we admit, we look with a little envy at the people who move through the world as easily as amoebas, free of history, free of ties, or so it seems. But then a traditional festival comes along, the whole village is on its feet, everyone meets in Weyher, our center of the world , old acquaintances, new friends from all over the world, so familiar and yet constantly new, and suddenly you know: This is where I am. This is where I belong. This is my world. These are my roots. With a history that is anything but grey.
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