1 minute read
Grapes and stones
Reinhard Antes is passionate about minerals. But not just beautiful stones, he loves grapes too. He is the current chairman of the local wine cooperative and for years he was cherishing a dream: to share his passion with other people. He wanted to build a special trail through hills and vineyards, a geological wine trail that would demonstrate the close relationships and interconnections between wine, grapevines, soil and rocks in his home region. Hearing about the idea, Geo-Naturepark became immediately excited and the result is now an almost 7 km hiking trail with more than 70 stations on the hills of Heppenheim.
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On the path you wander through five German wine regions while enjoying the beautiful landscape. From the info boards you can learn about grape varieties, geology, climate, history, and the flora and fauna of the region. To make the trail even more interesting, on the way you will also come across great sculptures and artworks made by local artists. You can see and be inspired by “The guardian of the vines” (sculpted by Richard Lulay) the large sandstone hands which are protecting a grape to remind us of the next generations, and the genetic resources we have to preserve for them. Or you can stop at another one called “Wine is born between sandstone and granite”. The sculptor Eva-Gesine Wegner worked on this sculpture for two months followed by the curious eyes of the passers-by. She worked without a preliminary draft, but rather intuitively followed the stone, the topic and the circumstances and conversations on site - the result was open to everyone until the last moment.
It’s also good to know that while you are visiting the trail and enjoying nature, the sculptures or the wines, Reinhard Antes and his colleagues are working on the reintroduction of old climate-resistant grapes, trying to maintain the genetic diversity of the local varieties, especially the historic "Red Riesling".4
U-Boot (Submarine) by Roger Rigorth
