Born of necessity

At the turn of the 20th century, the small vintners of Deidesheim were facing a crisis. Many were heavily in debt due to bad harvests and dependencies resulting from the marketing of their grape juice. ‘Only by setting up vintners’ associations can we put an end to this misery‘, claimed Johannes Mungenast during meetings of the ‘Raiffeisen Association’ representing the interests of agricultural cooperatives. On 16 September 1898, Mungenast invited everyone to the founding assembly at the ‘Bayerischer Hof’ tavern (today’s ‘Ratskeller’ restaurant). 45 vintners turned up to found the Winzerverein Deidesheim (Deidesheim Vintners’ Association) as the first so-called ‘Herbstgenossenschaft’ (autumn cooperative) of the Palatinate region of Germany. This is how the oldest vintners’ cooperative in the Palatinate came into being! In April 1899, a building plot near the station was bought and work started on the construction of wine cellars and a wine press facility in Prinz-Rupprecht Straße. The excavation work was carried out by the members themselves, who had also put up all their assets to serve as collateral. From 1901 until 1905, the management of the association lay in the capable hands of Johannes Mungenast. During a visit to Deidesheim on 4 June 1902, the Bavarian Prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig III of Bavaria, also viewed the premises of the vintners’ association.