The year is 862 AD. Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of the West at the turn of the century. The concept of algebra has only existed for a generation or so. The Viking chieftain Rurik leads his band of Varangians into what will eventually become Imperial Russia. And in the Mosel Valley of present-day Germany the Abbey of Stavelot begins producing wine.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Captivating History | 2022-11-19 18:15:04 |  567 Views |
The Oldest Companies in the World: Staffelter Hof Winery (862) #shorts
When you think of wine the idea of age comes to mind. There is a certain allure or prestige associated with older wines. And while much of the attention is focused on historic regions like France and Italy which have officially designated areas of origin for wine Germany remains a staple of “Old World” wines. This is evident in the staying power of the Staffelter Hof (formerly Stavelot) winery which has recorded evidence of winemaking going back over 1100 years. So what is the story of this establishment? How has it remained in business to this day? And crucially is the wine any good?
A wine or winery that lasts for generations is something that is truly amazing. Yet it is nothing short of astonishing to keep a winery in production for over 1100 years. But that is exactly the case with Staffelter Hof the oldest winery in the world that is still in operation and one of the oldest continuously run businesses in the world. The first documented record of this winery comes from a manuscript written in 862 AD in which King Lothar II donated the Chapel of St. Peter along the banks of the Moselle to the Abbey of Stavelot along with the "wine lease" that was attached to the chapel. The reason given? Simply that the abbey had no wine. ("Ob exiguitatem vini" as the manuscript stated.)
Since the Christian faith is traditionally closely linked to wine it is perhaps no surprise that many abbeys and monasteries throughout Europe in the Middle Ages were church-sanctioned wineries. After all wine was essential for holding a proper church service. Such was the case for much of Staffelter Hof’s history where it was run by either the church or the state government until 1805 when the land was purchased by Peter Schneiders. Since then Schneiders’ descendants have kept the winery in the family and passed it down through the generations to this day.
