Georg Scheu

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Julius Georg Scheu (born June 21, 1879 in Krefeld , † November 2, 1949 in Alzey ) was an important German grape breeder and winemaker . He is considered a pioneer of quality-oriented modern viticulture in Germany.

Live and act

Georg Scheu completed his horticultural training in Hanover and worked as a horticultural technician in Munich and Schierstein . Around 1900 he went to the Geisenheim teaching and research institute in the Rheingau and then completed his training at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Bromberg.

In this time developed Georg Scheu his love of the vine and viticulture , which led him in 1909 as a district fruit-growing technicians to Alzey. There he was appointed by the committee of the Chamber of Agriculture for the province of Rheinhessen to be the first director of the newly founded vineyard school . This was expanded under his direction to a large state vine cultivation institute .

Although Georg Scheu also published a leaflet on August 26, 1915, a leaflet on how to use fruit and vegetables during the war with recipes for cooking apples , quince , pumpkin , beans  ... "that the starvation plan of our enemies will be put to shame", but it was his most important activity research work in the fields of grape varieties , grape breeding and vine diseases .

In 1921 he discovered leaf roll disease in grapevines. In 1935 he published his findings on this vine disease in the magazine "Der Deutsche Weinbau". The cause of the transmission from healthy to diseased Vitis vinifera vines attributed Scheu to a virus that can be transmitted by juice. This is counted as a pioneering achievement in this area. The Fanleaf virus was only detected in 1966.

His contribution to the improvement of the vine material as well as his knowledge of chlorosis in grapevines is also commendable. Scheu contributed significantly to the development of the scientific and practical principles of vine research in the first half of the 20th century.

In addition to his research activities, Georg Scheu also dealt with the problems of winemakers , which he characterized as "winemaking distress". The provision of healthy planting material for viticulture and the improvement of rearing and cultivation methods in Rheinhessen were among his tasks. Georg Scheu was actively involved in the organization and development of nurseries. Later he turned to clone selection , maintenance breeding and breeding of new grape varieties that should produce higher yields and better qualities. His publication Mein Winzerbuch , first published in 1936, is a practical book for winemakers that has been a standard work for several decades .

Georg Scheu is considered the most successful German vine grower. His selections are internationally recognized. He succeeded in a number of important new breeds , the Scheurebe ( seedling 88 in Austria ) is the best known and also the most commercially successful. In 1916, Scheu selected the variety that was later named after him. With this vine he succeeded in one of the highest quality new white wine varieties of the 20th century. The vine, also affectionately called Scheu by wine connoisseurs , has firmly established itself in Germany and Austria in the segment of premium wines and noble sweet wine rarities. It is not a copy of the Riesling and is able to produce independent plants with a sophisticated taste spectrum and a long shelf life.

Vine cultivation

From 1909 to 1947 Georg Scheu was head of the State Institute for Grapevine Breeding in Alzey, which resulted in important contributions to research into various vine diseases and the new crossings of the following grape varieties:

Works

  • Georg Scheu, Wilhelm Schottler: The jaundice of the vineyards in the province of Rheinhessen and its connection with the soil conditions. In: Work of the Chamber of Agriculture for Hesse. Issue 35, Chamber of Agriculture for Hesse, Darmstadt 1925.
  • Georg Scheu: My winegrowers book. Reichsnährstand Verlags-Ges.mbH, Berlin 1936.
  • Georg Scheu, Heinz Scheu: My winegrowers book. Part 1. 1st edition, Meininger, Neustadt / Haardt 1950.
  • Georg Scheu, Heinz Scheu: My winegrowers book. Part 2. Additional considerations and practical experience. 2nd edition, Meininger, Neustadt / Haardt 1954.

Awards and honors

The city of Alzey named the Georg Scheu plaque after Georg Scheu , which is given to a person who has rendered outstanding services to the wine and wine culture of Rheinhessen. The plaque will be awarded at the Alzeyer wine festival on the third weekend in September, on the wine and sparkling wine terrace as part of a representative wine tasting.

Since 2001, Georg Scheu has been awarded a clone breeder award, the Georg Scheu Prize Rhineland-Palatinate .

In Worms-Pfeddersheim a plaque commemorates Georg Scheu.

literature

  • Otmar Bauer: Georg Scheu, the old master of vine breeding. In: Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Alzey-Worms , 27. Alzey 1992, p. 174.
  • Otmar Bauer: A (so far) unique vine. In: Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Alzey-Worms , 31. 1996. Alzey 1995, pp. 150–152.
  • Otmar Bauer: A memorial for Georg Scheu. In: Der Deutsche Weinbau , 46. Mainz 1991, pp. 685–686.
  • Otmar Bauer: The State Institute for Vine Breeding in Alzey. In: Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Alzey-Worms , 28. 1993. Alzey-Worms 1992.
  • Otmar Bauer: The new breeders at the State Institute for Vine Breeding in Alzey. In: Festschrift: 700 Jahre Stadt Alzey , Alzey 1977. (Alzeyer Geschichtsblätter. Special issue 7.), pp. 254–260.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon. Hallwag Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7742-0914-6 , p. 662.
  2. ↑ a b c Personalities of Wine Culture, Society for the History of Wine, last accessed on November 3, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Harald Schöffling: Pioneers of clone breeding in grapevines in Germany. 125 years (1876–2001) German clone breeding. In: Society for the history of wine (Hrsg.): Writings on wine history. No. 138, Wiesbaden 2001, pp. 26-29, ISSN  0302-0967 .
  4. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Remembrance of viticulture pioneer - Pfeddersheim wine lovers donate memorial plaque for Georg Scheu ) In: Wormser Zeitung , 6 August 2009@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wormser-zeitung.de
personal data
SURNAME Shy, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scheu, Julius Georg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German vine grower and winemaker
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Krefeld
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 1949
Place of death Alzey