German Wine Queen


The German Wine Queen is the representative of the German wine industry. She is elected, usually in the Palatine town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, for a period of one year. The title is competed for by the regional wine queens of the thirteen German wine regions producing "quality" wine.
The 71st German Wine Queen is Angelina Vogt from Weinsheim in the Nahe region; she was chosen on 27 September 2019 for the period 2019/2020.

History

Beginnings

In 1931 the first German wine region, the Palatinate, crowned its own wine queen. The idea for this "Palatine Wine Queen" came from publisher, Daniel Meininger. At his suggestion, Ruth Bachrodt was elected. She came from Pirmasens in Western Palatinate where, in fact, no wine is produced. Her successor, Cecily Seitz, was elected in 1932 by popular request. In 1933, control of the festival was taken over by Nazi leaders. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the official Gau Photographer sought out the "prettiest young woman associated with the wine industry" on behalf of the very popular Gauleiter of the Palatinate, Joseph Buerckel.
Because the Palatine Wine Queen was Germany's only wine queen, she automatically represented the German wine industry in general as well as the Palatine wine region until 1939, and then again, from 1947 until 1949. In 1949, there was still only one competition but, following the election, Elisabeth Kuhn, later Gies from Diedesfeld, was officially nominated as the German Wine Queen, so that she officially became both the Palatine and German Wine Queen in the same year.

Criteria for candidates

Since 1950, the German Wine Queen has been elected in a separate competition. Each year, every recognized German wine region selects its local wine queen. From these regional wine queens, the German Wine Queen is chosen the following year. Until 1999, it was a condition that the candidates had to be single - they could be neither married nor divorced - and had to come from a family of winemakers. Since 2000, the candidates who apply have only had to have "clear and strong ties with German wines," demonstrated by "appropriate wine-related training and / or a family relationship with the local wine production and / or the qualification as an area wine queen". In addition, applicants must be at least 18 years old on the day of election.

Changing requirements

For about 30 years the wine queens represented the traditional image of the pretty and virtuous maiden in traditional costume, the only significant change being in 1966 when the original sceptre was replaced by a wine glass. As the newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, said in 1950, the candidates were "true daughters of the vineyards, they were of powerful build, healthy and wholesome". Their assessment, at that time, included performing a waltz and giving a speech. Until the late 1950s, the ceremonial duties of the German Wine Queen were mainly restricted to domestic markets. There were appearances at wine festivals during Green Week and at social events such as the awarding of the German Wine Culture Prize. Trips abroad, such as to Belgium or to Spain remained the exception. However, the then Foreign Minister, Heinrich von Brentano, recognized the diplomatic potential for the image of the young federal republic, when he presented Wilma Seyer at the "Diplomats' Wine Festival" in Eberbach Monastery that he had initiated. By the following year, the Palatine, later German, Wine Queen, Christel Koch, traveled to the USA, the first time a wine queen from Germany had done so.
In the 1980s the image of the Wine Queen in public began to fundamentally change, especially with the election of personalities such as Karin Molitor and Petra Mayer. In 1981 the wearing of the dirndl, the traditional dress that had been obligatory for photo calls, was scrapped. From the 1990s, it changed from being a role for young women vintners or those who were linked to the wine trade, to being a career springboard into politics, into marketing, into gastronomy or starting small businesses. Selection is no longer based so much on good looks and dancing skills today; more important, in addition to a knowledge of oenology and winemaking technology, quick wit and eloquence are required as well as proficiency in foreign languages and a knowledge of the export business. As a result, a preparatory seminar for the candidates was introduced in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in 2009.

Selection

Venue

The German Wine Queen competition is arranged by the German Wine Institute whose head office is in Bodenheim. It is traditionally held in the Saalbau festival hall in Neustadt on the occasion of the German Wine Harvest Festival on the Friday of the second festival week in October. However, the venue can be changed on important occasions. In addition to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, other venues have been:
  1. 1952 Freiburg im Breisgau
  2. 1954 Heilbronn
  3. 1957 Würzburg
  4. 1960 Bad Dürkheim
  5. 1963, 2016 Mainz
  6. 1966 Stuttgart
  7. 1969 Offenburg
  8. 1972 Stuttgart
  9. 1975 Stuttgart
  10. 1984 Trier
  11. 1988 Berlin
  12. 1993 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
  13. 1998 Freyburg
  14. 2006 Dresden
  15. 2009 Heilbronn
  16. #In May 2009, the DWI and the Mayor of Neustadt an der Weinstraße signed a contract that stipulates Neustadt as the coronation venue until 2020. This rule may be waived no more than three times per decade, "to give other German wine regions the opportunity to host the coronation in order to respond to special events and celebrations."
  17. 2013 Offenburg, Oberrheinhalle; preliminary round on 7 September; final round for the six remaining regional queens on 13 September.

    Election process

In recent times the election process has changed several times. In 2009, for the first time, the competition was broadcast on a large screen outside the venue. In the first round, 12 of the 13 regional wine queens faced a rigorous oral examination with questions about viticultural and winemaking techniques, as well as wine labelling, packaging and marketing, from a panel of 80 judges. In addition each candidate had to assist - in English - a "confused foreign tourist" visiting Germany's wine country. Only six candidates went through to the second and final round, a televised "gala" attended by 1,300 guests and watched by more than a million viewers, where the 18- to 25-year-olds had to demonstrate they could field questions on wine-making spontaneously. After the competition, the newly elected wine queen and her two princesses were invited by the Minister for Agriculture and the town of Heilbronn to a festival banquet, the so-called "After-Show Party".
During their one-year term of office, the Wine Queen and Wine Princesses advertise German wine at trade fairs, wine festivals and other events. The Wine Queen, in particular, is the ambassador of German wine-growers and their products at some 250 appearances in Germany and abroad.

Results

German wine queens since 1949

The following table lists all German wine queens since 1949:
#YearWine QueenBorn/diedAge when
elected		Wine regionTown of origin
1.1949/1950Elisabeth Kuhn, later Gies1930–201219PalatinateDiedesfeld
2.1950/1951Marie-Elisabeth Pütz, later Steffen192525Moselle-Saar-Ruwer Saarburg
3.1951/1952Gisela KochMittelrheinSt. Goarshausen
4.1952/1953Elisabeth HuberBadenNeuweier
5.1953/1954Mathilde MachwirthNaheGuldental
6.1954/1955Erika HofmannRheinhessenSt. Johann
7.1955/1956Irmgard Mohler1937–198118PalatinateBad Bergzabern
8.1956/1957Margret Hoffranzen, later Wilmes?–2002Moselle-Saar-RuwerMehring
9.1957/1958Karoline Hartmann18FranconiaRödelsee
10.1958/1959Rosemarie Schreck24FranconiaKlingenberg
11.1959/1960Wilma Seyer, later Scholl193920RheingauKiedrich
12.1960/1961Christel Koch18PalatinateUngstein
13.1961/1962Marlies Kaiser22RheinhessenDintesheim
14.1962/1963Marita Heinzen, later Schmitz19AhrAhrweiler
15.1963/1964Inge Schwaab, later HeidenreichMoselle-Saar-RuwerZeltingen
16.1964/1965Marita Bäuerlein20FranconiaVolkach
17.1965/1966Waltraud Hey19PalatinateOberotterbach
18.1966/1967Ilse Theobald22NaheHochstätten
19.1967/1968Ruth Collet, later KutzMoselle-Saar-RuwerReil
20.1968/1969Brigitte Wolf21FranconiaVeitshöchheim
21.1969/1970Marika Gebhardt19RheingauMartinsthal
22.1970/1971Erika Sinß18NaheWindesheim
23.1971/1972Ruth Kröther20PalatinateFreinsheim
24.1972/1973Ulrike Seyffardt, later Neradt1951RheingauMartinsthal
25.1973/1974Ingrid Kurth21AhrBad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
26.1974/1975Doris Emmerich195420NaheWaldböckelheim
27.1975/1976Edelgard Bauer195520NaheKirschroth
28.1976/1977Friedlinde Gurr, later Gurr-Hirsch195422WürttembergUntergruppenbach
29.1977/1978Gisela FaberBadenFreiburg im Breisgau
30.1978/1979Heike Schmitt19RheinhessenNierstein
31.1979/1980Rita Moog, later Moog-FischerMoselle-Saar-RuwerValwig
32.1980/1981Regine Usinger195822RheinhessenNackenheim
33.1981/1982Hildegard WeberPalatinateGönnheim
34.1982/1983Karin Molitor, later Molitor-Hartmann196220FranconiaSommerach
35.1983/1984Carola Geiger, later Geiger-Kaiser196221WürttembergWeinsberg-Grantschen
36.1984/1985Ursula MaurAhrMayschoß
37.1985/1986Mechthild Meyer, later Weis196223Moselle-Saar-RuwerWaldrach
38.1986/1987Helga Drauz, later Drauz-Oertel196719WürttembergHeilbronn
39.1987/1988Jutta Fassian, later Fassian-EmmrichMoselle-Saar-RuwerMehring
40.1988/1989Petra Mayer196622BadenSchliengen
41.1989/1990Renate Schäfer196821FranconiaAstheim
42.1990/1991Birgit Schehl, later Rebholz-Schehl196921PalatinateHainfeld
43.1991/1992Lydia Bollig, later Bollig-Strohm197021Moselle-Saar-RuwerTrittenheim
44.1992/1993Astrid Bechtel197220RheinhessenWorms-Heppenheim
45.1993/1994Sandra Hake, later Frölich197023Saale-UnstrutFreyburg
46.1994/1995Ulrike Neymeyer196826BadenEndingen am Kaiserstuhl
47.1995/1996Julia Klöckner197223NaheGuldental
48.1996/1997Ines Hoffmann197224SaxonyDresden
49.1997/1998Natascha Thoma, later Thoma-Widmann197126BadenEbringen
50.1998/1999Susanne Völker, later Nett197424RheinhessenOppenheim
51.1999/2000Simone Renth, later Renth-Queins197326RheinhessenSchwabenheim an der Selz
52.2000/2001Carina Dostert, later Curman197921Moselle-Saar-RuwerNittel
53.2001/2002Petra Gärtner198021Hessische BergstraßeZwingenberg
54.2002/2003Judith Honrath198022NaheLangenlonsheim
55.2003/2004Nicole Then198023FranconiaSommerach
56.2004/2005Petra Zimmermann198420Moselle-Saar-RuwerTemmels
57.2005/2006Sylvia Benzinger, later Benzinger-Kugler197827PalatinateKirchheim an der Weinstraße
58.2006/2007Katja Schweder198026PalatinateHochstadt
59.2007/2008Evelyn Schmidt198324SaxonyRadebeul
60.2008/2009Marlies Dumbsky198523FranconiaVolkach
61.2009/2010Sonja Christ, later Christ-Brendemühl198425MoselleOberfell
62.2010/2011Mandy Großgarten198722AhrDernau
63.2011/2012Annika Strebel198723RheinhessenWintersheim
64.2012/2013Julia Bertram198922AhrDernau
65.2013/2014Nadine Poss199122NaheWindesheim
66.2014/2015Janina Huhn198924PalatinateBad Dürkheim
67.2015/2016Josefine Schlumberger199421BadenLaufen
68.2016/2017Lena Endesfelder199323MoselleMehring
69.2017/2018Katharina Staab199027NaheOberhausen an der Nahe
70.2018/2019Carolin Klöckner199523WürttembergVaihingen an der Enz
71.2019/2020Angelina Vogt199425NaheWeinsheim

Frequency of winners by wine region

Wine regionYearsNumber
Ahr1962, 1973, 1984, 2010, 20125
Baden1952, 1977, 1988, 1994, 1997, 20156
Franconia1957, 1958, 1964, 1968, 1982, 1989, 2003, 20088
Hessische Bergstraße20011
Middle Rhine19511
Moselle 1950, 1956, 1963, 1967, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1991, 2000, 2004, 2009, 201612
Nahe1953, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1995, 2002, 2013, 2017, 201910
Palatinate1949, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1981, 1990, 2005, 2006, 201410
Rheingau1959, 1969, 19723
Rheinhessen1954, 1961, 1978, 1980, 1992, 1998, 1999, 20118
Saale-Unstrut 19931
Saxony 1996, 20072
Württemberg1976, 1983, 1986, 20184

Literature

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