We spent many hours with Georg Prinz zur Lippe, owner of Weingut Schloss Proschwitz - Prinz zur Lippe, on the tour. We started with a Sekt at the Weinbergshäuschen (a little house in the vineyard), overlooking the city of Meissen. From there, we moved to Schloss Proschwitz, where Prinz zur Lippe gave us a tour of the chateau. The next stop was the winery. The winery also has an excellent restaurant, the Lippe'sches Gutshaus, where we had dinner. Georg Prinz zur Lippe joined us for dinner.
During the dinner, of course, we had more time to talk about the Sachsen wine region, the history of Weingut Schloss Proschwitz - Prinz zur Lippe and the tumultuous years after the Russian occupation of East Germany and after the reunification of the 2 Germanys.
Sachsen (Saxony)
Sachsen, located in the former GDR, is the easternmost German wine region and extends some 35 miles north and south of Dresden along the Elbe River. Most of the region’s vines are planted on terraces along the River Elbe, and being at such a gradient, a lot of the work is done by hand. For 8 centuries, vintners here have mostly planted Müller-Thurgau and Riesling, earning a well-deserved reputation for excellent dry whites.
Meissen porcelain, known locally as “white gold,” is one of the things Sachsen is best known for, being the first place in Europe to make china in the early 18th century.
See: Schiller's Favorite Winemakers in Sachsen (Saxony), Germany
Annette Schiller: This region tickles all your senses with its unique voluptuous baroque architecture, a rich history, its wealth of art, and love of all the good things in life.
Weingut Schloss Proschwitz - Prinz zur Lippe
The zur Lippe family was first mentioned in the early 12th century. The family belonged to the reigning dynasties in Europe until 1918. For more than 300 years, the family branch of Georg Prinz zur Lippe lived in Sachsen and produced wine. However there is a 45 year long interruption, when in 1945 the Russians occupied the eastern half of Germany and disappropriated and expelled the zur Lippe family.
Immediately after Germany’s reunification Georg Prinz zur Lippe started to buy back his family’s wine estate and ancestral residence, the Proschwitz castle. Since then he has restored the castle to its former glory, and invested heavily to build up the winery to become a state of the art wine producing estate. With 90 hectares under vine Weingut Proschwitz belongs to one of the larger wineries in Germany and is the largest privately owned one in Sachsen. Great care is given to sustainable techniques in the vineyard to enable future generations to continue to produce outstanding wines.
Thirteen grape varieties are grown on the estate: Pinot Gris 20%, Pinot Blanc 12%, Müller-Thurgau 11%, Elbling 8%, Pinot Noir 8%, Riesling 8%, Dornfelder 7%, Goldriesling 7%, Scheurebe 8%, Traminer and others.
Weingut Schloss Proschwitz also has a hotel and restaurant (the Lippe'sches Gutshaus). The family’s 18th-century palace hosts conferences and weddings.
The Communist Period and German Reunification
Before the 2. World War, the von Lippe family was one of the richest family in Saxony, with holdings in various sectors, including wine making. When the Soviet Red Army invaded eastern Germany in 1945, the parents of Georg Prinz zur Lippe were expropriated and imprisoned. Fortunately, although the communists hated royalty and routinely executed royals they captures, they were not murdered, but – after a period of imprisonment in Saxony - were able to leave to the western part of Germany. There, as a refugees without any means (lie so many others, including my parents), Christian Prinz zur Lippe had to start a new live. Initially, he took a job as a gardener. Obviously, his son, Georg Prinz zur Lippe was not raised in abashed luxury. Georg Prinz zur Lippe pursued a successful career as an agricultural engineer.
Then, the Berlin Wall fell. Christian Prinz zur Lippe suggested that Georg attempt to recover the family’s property in East Germany. But because the property had been expropriated by the Soviets – and not by East Germany during the GDR period – Georg Prinz zur Lippe did not benefit from the restitution law and did not get any of the assets back from the German Government. Instead, be borrow large sums of money and bought the former property back from the current owners. Eventually, he managed to buy back a large portion of the family’s original vineyards.
The story did not end there, however. Georg Prinz zur Lippe was not welcomed with open arms back to his ancestral home. In the minds of many East Germans, “the Georg Prinz zur Lippe family was still the incarnation of evil,” the Prince explained.
“People weren’t happy to see me and I got anonymous threats on the phone,” Georg Prinz zur Lippe said. “The callers said: ‘we got rid of our princes once, and we’ll do it again.’ My car tires were regularly slashed.”
Locals feared they would lose their homes, even though the German Government didn’t return properties seized under orders of Soviet leader Josef Stalin between 1945 and 1949 to former owners like the zur Lippe family.
Fortunately, the local resistance diminished over time, as Georg Prinz zur Lippe started to win the local people over. The sympathetic mayor of the town of Zadel offered to sell Georg Prince zur Lippe a courtyard of historic but dilapidated buildings for their winery. “Over the years a total of 800 people have come forward to sell us small parcels of land that was once ours” said Georg Prinz zur Lippe.
After extensive renovations, Georg Prinz zur Lippe opened a Weingut Schloss Proschwitz there, including a restaurant, where we had dinner with Georg Prinz zur Lippe. Weingut Schloss Proschwitz was the first in Sachsen to be admitted to the prestigious VDP, Germany’s association of about 200 elite winemakers.
Dinner at the Lippe’sche Gutshaus
The winery also has an excellent restaurant, the Lippe'sches Gutshaus, Schloss Proschwitz, where we had dinner; Prinz zur Lippe joined us for dinner. During the dinner, of course, we continued to talk about the Sachsen wine region, the history of Weingut Schloss Proschwitz and the tumultuous years after the Russian occupation of East Germany and after the reunification of the 2 Germanys.
Falstaff: In the historic, stylishly renovated and well-furnished Lippesche Gutshaus of Schloss Proschwitz, you find regional and while refined dishes made from fresh ingredients on the menu. The exquisite wines of the prestigious winery Weingut Schloss Proschwitz go very well with the superb food.
The Lippe’sche Gutshaus also has 10 rooms and 2 apartments.
Bye-bye
Thanks Georg Prinz zur Lippe for a great tour and dinner.
Postings: Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Art, Culture and History (Published and Forthcoming Postings)
Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Art, Culture and History
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