The "Sortengarten" in the Moselle village of Zeltingen-Rachtig shines with exotic fruits and shrubs: embedded in famous vineyards.
easy
Distance 1 km
Duration0:23 h
Ascent64 m
Descent63 m
Highest point175 m
Lowest point111 m
In the "Sortengarten" of Zeltingen-Rachtig, Mediterranean and exotic species were planted on a former vineyard in addition to native shrubs and useful woods in order to test whether these woods could establish themselves and adapt to the climatic conditions.
Insights into the hiking tour:
The "Sortengarten" extends over three sub-areas separated by economic trails with a total size of 4000 m². It lies in north-western exposure in the vineyard slope above the village of Zeltingen. On the smallest and steepest area in the lower slope there is shell fruit (walnut, sweet chestnut, hazel). The middle area is divided into a quarter of the genus Sorbus with the berry-bearing tree species rowanberry, cranberry, speierling and service tree. One section is assigned to Mediterranean species and another to exotic non-European woody plants and climbing plants. In the upper area of the variety garden, berry fruit trees can be found on trellises, among other things, long-established fruit trees, some of which are of Mediterranean origin, and traditional fruit varieties adapted to the wine-growing climate.
Author’s recommendation
The WanderGuide offers lots of tips for tours in the Bernkastel-Kues holiday region (available free of charge at the tourist information offices of the holiday region, only in German).
From the Zeltinger market place, where every two years the operetta "Zeltinger Himmelreich" is performed, follow the St. Stephanstraße up into the vineyards. Passing the church and cemetery, you walk along a farm track through an underpass. After the hairpin bend you soon meet the dirt road which branches off into the variety garden. The Moselle trail is also marked here, which leads you steeply up to the edge of the slope, to the Zeltingen Schützenhaus and on to Bernkastel-Kues.
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