Kreutzenberger Winery

Not only wine connoisseurs are sure to satisfy their tastes in the vineyards of Kindenheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, but architecture fans as well. The Kreutzenberger Winery is a classic example of modern architecture. The main building of the family-operated vineyard was designed by Otto Prott in 1929 in the style of the Neue Sachlichkeit, or New Objectivity. Almost eighty years later, the avant-garde flat-roofed building was extended by architect Heribert Hamann, who further developed classical modernist architectural elements in a contemporary way.

With its white plaster finish, the original two-storey building clearly speaks the formal language of New Objectivity. The façade facing the main street of Kindenheim is rounded off with two curving bands of windows, one above the other. The bands, along with the flat roof with its open terrace, recall Bauhaus architecture and also give structure to the planar facades of the building. A cantilevered balcony on the east side and a wide façade projection facing the street next to the winery’s entrance door lend contour to the otherwise cubic building.

From 2004 to 2007, the winery was expanded with an annex and a modern cellar area. The architect responsible for the extension, Heribert Hamann, appended his cube-shaped structure with white, no-frills façade directly onto the main building, with its sober, minimal aesthetics. While touring the cellar, visitors not only experience the architectural features of the complex but can also learn about the various stages of wine production via a virtual “transparent winery”.

In 2007, the expansion of the Kreutzenberger Winery was awarded the first-ever Wine Architecture Prize by the German Winegrowers’ Association, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Viticulture and the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects. The Kreutzenberger Winery is on the list of cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate and stands as a unique example of the influence of the Bauhaus on winery architecture. [KM/DK]