Seewinkel

The Seewinkel region on the east side of Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, stuff Austria is an extraordinary example of a traditional human settlement and land use representative of a culture. A complex eco-system and wine cultivation have co-existed for thousands of years.

The European Wine Bloggers Conference 2010 took place in Vienna from the October 22nd to October 24. Wein Burgenland sponsored a post conference to the three DAC appellations of the region, pill Eisenberg, click Mittelburgenland and Leithaberg and asked me to help guide the tour. So it was that I had the honour of showing an international group of bloggers from the UK, USA, France, Norway, Russia, China, Spain, Italy, Greece and Germany a very special part of Austrian wine country. 

But this post is not so much about wine, but about a unique ecosystem of which wine is a part. During the post conference tour we did not visit the east side of Lake Neusiedl and some questions from EWBC participants have risen about the so-called “Seewinkel” region that I would like to help illuminate here.

The Seewinkel was originally understood as only the area around Podersdorf, Apetlon and Illmitz. By looking at a map of the Lake one can see that it is shaped like a shoe horn an in the bend of the lake one finds these three villages famous for their botrytized sweet wines. The area northeast of Seewinkel was called Heideboden and that is still the name of the extensive flat vineyard area stretching from south of Gols to Frauenkirchen. The area southeast was called Hanság. Today the entire region south of Gols, Mönchhof and Halbturn, which mark the ridge of the Parndorf Plateau, stretching south to Pamhagen is referred to as the Seewinkel. This is where Austria’s lowest point of elevation is found.

Unique to the Seewinkel area are the numerous ponds. Around 40 shallow (around a half meter deep) ponds are found that due to their lack of discharge and feed, are high in their salt content. This area is the sunniest and windiest part of Austria with a continental climate strongly influenced by the Pannonian Plains stretching far into Hungary to the east. The sun and autumn fog rising from Lake Neusiedl and the numerous ponds provide ideal preconditions for the development of Botrytis cinerea, otherwise know in the wine world as noble rot. This desirable fungus shrivels grapes concentrating their sugars and flavours for the creation of luscious sweet wines.

The Seewinkel also provides a habitat for numerous birds and other fauna and flora and belongs to the National Park Neusiedler See-Seewinkel and is protected by the WWF. The Seewinkel is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Fert?/Neusiedler See recognized in 2001.

To truly understand the Seewinkel, one needs a little background understanding about Lake Neusiedl and its history.

The Hungarian name for Lake Neusiedl is Fert?, which means “swamp”. It is one of the few steppe lakes found in Europe and the lake is on both Austrian and on Hungarian territory. The lake surface is currently around 320 square kilometres and is source 80% from rain water. The lake is almost completely surrounded by a broad belt of reeds. Due to prevailing north-westerly air flow, the reed growth is significantly less on the east bank than on the west. In Donnerskirchen, the reed belt is up to eight miles wide while opposite in Podersdorf one finds the only relatively reed-free shore. Reed growth did not become prolific until the mid-19^th century. The drastic spread of reeds between 1909 and 1965 to its current 100 km² has been due to the agricultural use of fertilizers and the construction of the “Einser” (Nr. 1) channel which has significantly diminished salinity of the lake.

10-15% of the reed belt is harvested each year. Because the young, one year old reeds are the best for industrial use, this has led to illegal burning of old reed areas to make room for young growth. The regional government is planning a biomass power plant which shall make use of the old reeds. The young reeds are used as building material for stucco, roofing and insulation. Reed matts are also used to dry grapes over a period of 2-3 months before vinifying a local sweet wine specialty called “Strohwein”.

Lake Neusiedl has fluctuated drastically over the centuries – from nearly complete drying out to its largest recorded size of 515 km² in 1768. This has meant that in periods where the lake was small, farms and villages were established in the Seewinkel region which were later abandoned in times when the lake expanded. In times when the lake was nearly dried out it would freeze completely in winter, killing the complete stock of fish. These fluctuations have also meant economic boom and bust for the region.

Between 1775 and 1780, the first channel was constructed through the Hanság region (Seewinkel) between Pamhagen and Esterháza. The lake dried out again over the following 40 years and the Seewinkel area experienced an economic boom. But the channel was small and the lake flooded again and a cycle of repeated fluctuations followed once again. Rice was even cultivated between 1864 and 1870. As the lake and the surrounding soils dried out, the wind spread salty dust in the surrounding villages and vineyards. Salt resistant plants settled in the area that are otherwise found only on sea coasts.

After repeated fluctuations, construction of the Einser Channel began in 1895 and was completed in 1909, but the original intention was not to drain, but to regulate the lake.

After results of conference held in May 1918, Nicholas Esterházy IV decided on June 15, that Lake Neusiedl should indeed be completely drained to make way for permanent agricultural use of the land. His plans were dashed as Burgenland (which had up to then been under Hungarian crown) was annexed to Austria in 1921 and hunters, environmentalists and citizens opposed complete draining of the lake.

Lake fluctuations continued. In 1929, the lake froze completely again and the complete fish stock was once again destroyed. The lake flooded communities in the Seewinkel in 1941.

 A scheme in Mekszikópuszta in 1965 addressed the issues of fluctuation and has since reduced the danger of flooding and slowed the growth of the reed belt.

 Government authorities have commissioned the University of Agricultural Sciences to predict the future of the lake. Extensive desiccation of Lake Neusiedl is expected between 2010 and 2050, partly due to climate change. Work is underway to determine whether a supply of water from the Danube in the north of Lake Neusiedl is possible. One problem is the process of the structural requirements, but the difference in the composition of the two inland waters is also environmentally problematic. Additional nutrients and lower salt content of the Danube water would again accelerate the growth of the reed belt.