Fritz Zweigelt

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Friedrich (Fritz) Zweigelt (born January 13, 1888 in Hitzendorf near Graz , † September 18, 1964 in Graz) was an Austrian entomologist and botanist . As head of state grapevine breeding in the First Republic and director of the Higher State Teaching and State Research Institute for Wine, Fruit and Horticulture in Klosterneuburg near Vienna, between 1921 and 1945 he was one of the most influential and internationally known personalities in Austrian viticulture. The " Blauer Zweigelt " grape variety named after him is by far the most important red wine grape in Austrian viticulture with an area of ​​around 6,400 hectares. Zweigelt's National Socialist sentiments and activities did not gain public attention until decades later.

Life

1888 to 1933

Born on January 13th, 1888 in Hitzendorf near Graz, in 1912 the man from Styria entered the service of the Imperial and Royal Higher Education and Research Institute for Viticulture and Fruit Growing in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. In 1921 the doctor of entomology was appointed head of the first and only federal grapevine breeding station in Austria. Among the first crosses (ex 1921), the seedling with the breeding number 71 ( St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch ) proved to be very promising early on. Also in 1922 Zweigelt successfully crossed Welschriesling x Orange Grape (included in the Austrian list of grape varieties for quality wines as " Goldburger " in 1978 ) and Blauer Portugieser x Blaufränkisch in 1923 (included in the Austrian list of grape varieties for quality wines as " Blauburger " in 1978 ).

Zweigelt, since 1929 also editor-in-chief of the magazine “Das Weinland”, soon became Austria's best-networked and well-respected wine-growing specialist. Together with all well-known experts from the most important wine-growing countries in Europe, he has been campaigning for the promotion of quality viticulture and the curbing of the cultivation of so-called direct producers since the late twenties . His book of the same name, written together with Albert Stummer (Nikolsburg), is still considered a standard work today.

1933 to 1945

After 1933 Nazi Germany became a place of longing for the (large) German-national and anti-clerical "borderland dwellers". Zweigelt joined the Austrian NSDAP and did not turn away from the party during the “period of prohibition”.

After the annexation of Austria in March 1938, Zweigelt's dream seemed to be able to come true, to be able to bring "his" Klosterneuburg to a new bloom as a sister institution of the much larger state school for viticulture, fruit growing and horticulture in Geisenheim am Rhein. But as much as Zweigelt tried as director and (from 1943) as director to make Klosterneuburg a “National Socialist stronghold”, he initially got caught between the fronts. Not only the partisans of the Austrofascist Dollfuss-Schuschnigg regime wanted to prevent his ascent. Zweigelt was also in the way of rival colleagues who had only recently become National Socialists. Over the summer of 1938, however, he succeeded in ousting numerous unpopular teachers from the school and in replacing them with inveterate National Socialists. As the most progressive viticulture politicians in the world, the National Socialist Germans soon enjoyed international recognition. The climax and end of this development was an international viticulture congress that took place in Bad Kreuznach at the end of August 1939 . Zweigelt was among the participants - now as a Reichsbeamter.

Despite numerous personal disappointments, he stuck to his National Socialist convictions, which were combined with drastic war rhetoric in his speeches to the students, until 1945. The journal “Das Weinland”, which he edited and which has been the mouthpiece of Austrian viticulture since 1929, was discontinued in 1943 on the instructions of the Reich Nutritionist in Berlin. During his life, Zweigelt never got over the death of his only son Rudolf, who had been drafted into the Wehrmacht after studying medicine and fell in East Prussia in October 1944 .

After 1945

After the collapse of the Third Reich, Zweigelt stylized himself as a misguided idealist while he was in detention in Klosterneuburg. Nevertheless, after various interrogations and the examination of witnesses, criminal proceedings were initiated against the former director at the Vienna People's Court at the end of 1945. The fact that the student Josef Bauer (born 1920) had been expelled from the institution after his arrest by the Gestapo as a member of the " Austrian Freedom Movement " of Klosterneuburg canon Roman Scholz was not discussed by anyone at the time.

The criminal proceedings against Zweigelt were discontinued in 1948 on the orders of Federal President Karl Renner (SPÖ). In view of his advanced age , the “ less stressed ” scientist did not return to the public service . Zweigelt spent his twilight years in Graz, where he died a few years after the death of his wife Friederike (Fritzi) on September 18, 1964. The grave is located in the St. Peter city cemetery.

Starting in 2002, every year as part of a Kamptal regional wine tasting, a Dr. Fritz Zweigelt Prize awarded to wineries - most recently in 2015, after which it was abolished due to clear criticism.

"Zweigelt" grape variety

After Zweigelt's long-time employees, Ing. Paul Steingruber and Ing. Leopold Müller, revived grapevine breeding in Klosterneuburg after the war, the St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch crossing stood out: “Magnificent. Excellent color, taste and smell, very nice type of red wine ”. Zweigelt's pupil and admirer Lenz Moser increased the planting material in his nursery and started selling the seedlings in 1960.

The official name "Zweigeltrebe Blau" appeared for the first time in 1972 in the then new catalog of grape varieties for quality wines. In 1978 the name of the variety was changed to "Blauer Zweigelt". At the same time, at the request of HBLA Klosterneuburg, the synonym "Rotburger" was created. This should emphasize the common origin of the new breeds Blauburger, Goldburger and Rotburger / Blauer Zweigelt. In 2018, the “Institute without direct properties” suggested, alluding to Zweigelt's Nazi past, that the grape variety he had bred should be renamed “Blue Monday”.

Fonts (selection)

  • The current state of cockchafer research , 1918
  • The question of yield hybrids in northern viticulture , 1927
  • The cockchafer. Studies on biology and occurrence in southern Central Europe , 1928
  • with Albert Stummer: Die Direktträger , 1929
  • Aphid gall. Histogenetic and biological studies on Tetraneura and Schizoneura gall. The aphid gall in the service of fundamental gall research , 1931
  • The sick orchard: a key to identification , 1934
  • Fundamental to the question of the signs of decay of the vine , 1936
  • First Central European Wine Congress , 1936
  • The fight against pests and diseases in the wintry vineyard , 1938
  • On the question of the phenomena of the French vineyards , 1938
  • From the highlights of my life - work and joy. In: Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 54, 1964, pp. 13-21. doi : 10.1111 / j.1439-0418.1964.tb02912.x

Awards (selection)

Movie

  • Zweigelt - wine and truth. Documentary, Austria, 2011, 57:50 min., Script and director: Gerald Teufel, recitation: Erwin Steinhauer , production: two visions, MediaVilm, ORF , 3sat , series: dok.film, first broadcast: 23 October 2011 on ORF 2 , Table of contents from 3sat and ORF .

literature

  • Daniel Deckers : Under the sign of the grape eagle. A story of German wine . Mainz 2010 (2nd edition Frankfurt / M. 2018), ISBN 978-3805342483 .
  • Daniel Deckers: Friedrich Zweigelt in the mirror of contemporary sources . In: Willi Klinger, Karl Vocelka (Hrsg.): Wine in Austria. The story . Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-7106-0350-1 , pp. 213-225.
  • Ernst Langthaler: Viticulture in National Socialism , in: Willi Klinger, Karl Vocelka (Hrsg.): Wine in Austria. The story . Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-7106-0350-1 , pp. 206-212.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Success story with dark spots: "dok.film: Zweigelt - Wine and Truth" presents. (Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: ORF , 2011, accessed on November 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ Personnel file Dr. Friedrich Zweigelt, questionnaire v. July 23, 1941, BArch R 3601/6340 p. 14.
  3. ^ Friedrich Zweigelt, Curriculum vitae of January 9, 1912 (ÖMinLW personal file). See also Friedrich Zweigelt, From the high points of my life - work and joy, in: Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 54 (1964), pp. 13-21.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Zwölfer, laudation, in: Journal for Applied Entomology Volume 54 (1964), pp. 11-13.
  5. ↑ On the checkered history of the oldest wine-growing institute in the German-speaking area, cf. "Program and annual report of the kk higher educational institution for viticulture and fruit growing in Klosterneuburg, at the same time anniversary publication on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Vienna 1910", "Memorandum for the 70th anniversary celebration of the higher federal educational institute and federal experimental station for viticulture, fruit growing and horticulture in Klosterneuburg" (Klosterneuburg 1939), then Emil Planck, 90 years of higher federal training institute and research institute for wine, fruit and horticulture in Klosterneuburg. Annual report 1945-50. Five years of reconstruction, Klosterneuburg 1950.
  6. ↑ Fritz Zweigelt, The current state of Klosterneuburg breeding (autumn 1924), special reprint from the "Allgemeine Wein-Zeitung" 41 (1924) and 42 (1925). Breeding goals were wine quality, early maturity. Flowering resistance, rot resistance, yield, quality, phylloxera resistance or peronospora resistance; Paul Steingruber, Thirty Years of Vine Breeding at the Higher Federal Training and Research Institute for Wine, Fruit Growing and Horticulture in Klosterneuburg, in: Mitteilungen 1 (1951), pp. 45 f., P. 89 f. and p. 135.
  7. ↑ a b Ordinance of the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of September 20, 1978 (Federal Law Gazette No. 517/1978)
  8. ↑ Franz Wobisch, Dr. Zweigelt - on his 70th birthday, in: Österreichische Weinzeitung 13 (1958), issue 1.
  9. ↑ Cf. the report, probably written by Zweigelt himself, on the international wine and viticulture congress in Conegliano in: Allgemeine Wein-Zeitung 44 (1927), 188-190.
  10. ↑ Friedrich Zweigelt, The Yield Hybrids and Their Importance for European Viticulture, in: International Agricultural Review. Part I: Agricultural Science Monthly, Rome, March 1930, No. 3. It also contains a concise overview of the cultivation of direct producers in all European wine-growing countries. In Das Weinland 3 (1932), 19-21, Zweigelt published a very informative report on the “testing of hybrid wines in Klosterneuburg.” Similar, extremely extensive reports also in Weinland 5 (1933), pp. 29-33; Pp. 68-71, p. 103; Pp. 213-215, pp. 250-254, pp. 291-295 and pp. 367-372.
  11. ^ Albert Stummer / Friedrich Zweigelt, Die Direktträger, Vienna 1929. The book was u. a. awarded a prize by the International Wine Office (Paris). See Das Weinland 5 (1933), p. 10.
  12. ↑ Government Councilor Dr. Fritz Zweigelt (self-disclosure o. D., presumably 1938), People's Court file Vienna City and State Archives Vg 2e Vr 3281/45 Attachment 1
  13. ↑ So Zweigelt about the Austrians in general: ders. Thanks and vow to the Führer, in: Das Weinland 11 (1939), p. 109. About themselves: “Borderland residents know more about the worries and dangers of foreign infiltration by other peoples, they They experienced the humiliation of disenfranchisement, mistrust and constant betrayal of their national rights without interruption, they are therefore also tougher but also more sensitive than others who were never able to fight for their national law in a closed landlocked state. “Fritz Zweigelt, for the celebration of March 13, 1941, masch., In: Volksgerichtsakte Vg 2e Vr 3281/45, Bl. 147–169, quotation Bl. 148f.
  14. ↑ Examination / written record, Police Directorate Vienna / State Police Group XXVI, July 6, 1945, People's Court file Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv Vg 2e Vr 3281/45. Bl. 21-22.
  15. ^ Friedrich Zweigelt: To new work . In: Der deutsche Weinbau 17 (1938), pp. 391–393.
  16. ↑ With a decree of May 28, 1941, with retroactive effect to April 1, 1941, Zweigelt was given “final management” of the experimental and research institute by the Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture. (Personnel file ÖMinLW Bl. 40). He was appointed director on May 27, 1942. Ibid. Page 61.
  17. ↑ Heinrich Konlechner, Dr. Fritz Zweigelt. 30 years at the Klosterneuburger Lehranstalt, Das Weinland 14 (1942), p. 41.
  18. ^ People's court files Vienna City and State Archives Vg 2e Vr 3281/45.
  19. ↑ See Daniel Deckers: In the sign of the grape eagle. A history of German wine (2nd edition). Axel Dielmann Frankfurt / M. 2018, ISBN 978-3-86983-019-3 , pp. 109-147. For Austria see Ernst Langthaler: Viticulture in National Socialism . In: Willi Klinger, Karl Vocelka (Hrsg.): Wine in Austria. The story . Christian Brandstätter, Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-7106-0350-1 , pp. 206–212.
  20. ↑ Archive HBLA Klosterneuburg, Dr. Fritz Zweigelt - personal records.
  21. ↑ See the correspondence of Zweigelt with the Berlin Reichsnährstand. Archive HBLA Klosterneuburg, Dr. Fritz Zweigelt - personal records.
  22. ↑ Oral information from the great-grandson Thomas Leithner, Langenlois.
  23. ↑ Personnel file ÖMinLW.
  24. ^ People's court files Vienna City and State Archives Vg 2e Vr 3281/45.
  25. ↑ On Roman K. Scholz, Klosterneuburg and the Austrian resistance cf. above all: The secret of redemption as a memory, published on the occasion of the unveiling of a memorial plaque for Roman Karl Scholz and the “Austrian Freedom Movement”, Klosterburg o. J. Cf. also the Bucb of his pupil Grete Huber, which was strongly influenced by the personal encounter with Scholz -Gergasevicis, Roman Karl Scholz, Klosterneuburg 2010.
  26. ↑ Josef Bauer was arrested soon after Scholz was arrested in June 1940. A copy of the minutes of the teachers' conference of August 28, 1940, dated September 25, 1945, has been preserved in the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW), Vienna, along with other files relating to the Roman K. Scholz case.
  27. ↑ In the People's Court File Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv Vg 2e Vr 3281/45, the pardon from the holdings of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice (ÖStA BMJ, Section IV, VI-d, 31.212-49) and the personal file preserved in the house of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture There are no indications of Zweigelt's further involvement with these processes.
  28. ↑ ÖStA BMJ, Section IV, VI-d, 31.212-49. On Renner as a “personification of typical Austrian behavior” cf. Oliver Rathkolb, The paradoxical republic. Austria 1945 to 2005, Vienna 2005, pp. 157–163.
  29. ^ Municipal District Office for the 19th District, certificate dated February 18, 1948, ÖMinLW personnel file.
  30. ↑ Viktor Richter, Prof. Dr. Fritz Zweigelt (1888-1964) †, in: Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie, Volume 55 (1964-1965), pp. 100-101. Zweigelt's last public statement is his acceptance speech from 1963 on the occasion of the award of the Karl Escherich Medal. Ders., From the high points of my life - work and joy, in: Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 54 (1964), pp. 13-21.
  31. ^ Paul Steingruber / Leopold Müllner, Thirty Years of Vine Breeding III, in: Communications from the higher federal teaching and research institutes for viticulture, fruit growing and horticulture Klosterneuburg and for apiculture Vienna-Grinzing 1 (1951), pp. 135-138.
  32. ^ Lenz Moser, From 1960: Zweigelt crossings on sale, in: Österreichische Weinzeitung 13 (1958), volume 2., p. 11.
  33. ^ Ordinance of the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of November 26, 1971 (Federal Law Gazette No. 2/1972).
  34. ↑ Ordinance of the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of September 20, 1978 (Federal Law Gazette No. 517/1978)
  35. ↑ Oral. Explanation by the long-time director of HBLA Klosterneuburg Josef Weiss.
  36. ↑ The Nazi past: Zweigelt is to be renamed , ORF , December 10, 2018, accessed on April 24, 2020.
  37. ^ W.-Ba .: Zweigelt, Fritz (1888–1964). In: Society for the History of Wine eV , accessed on November 20, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Zweigelt, Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zweigelt, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian botanist, entomologist and grape breeder
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Hitzendorf , Austria
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1964
Place of death Graz , Austria