The Riesling Revolutionary

Many of you will be familiar with the decision by the State Parliament of the Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany to approve the construction of the “Monster in the Mosel”. For those of you who are not, what you will find below is a tale of sadness and woe, of lobbying and special interests, of political turncoats and misplaced trust. It is the story of how the monstrosity that is the Hochmoselübergang was given the green light.

I should make it clear that I do not intend to dwell on the arguments for and against the construction of the Mosel bridge but rather I felt it important to be on the record in showing my resounding support of what the pro-Mosel supporters have achieved and express my deep sadness that this project was given the go ahead.

So, in May of this year, the State Parliament of Rheinland-Pfalz announced that it had approved the construction of the Hochmoselübergang or Upper Mosel Crossing.

The idea for this construction was a brain child of the Cold War as a means of moving military personnel and equipment between German army bases. But due to a lack of private financial investment the project thankfully failed to ever fully get off the ground. That was, however, only until 2008, when as part of the German Government’s financial stimulus package following the global economic crisis, public funds were made available so that the project could commence.

It followed that work began on the project in 2009, which comprised the construction of a new stretch of motorway (the “B50 neu”) which will run through the idyllic Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard, cross the Mosel river via a 1.7 km long and 160m high concrete bridge (the Hochmoselbrücke) and continue directly along the top of the vineyards of Zeltingen-Rachtig, Wehlen, Graach and Bernkastel. The before and after pictures (right) speak for themselves.

The decision to allow the project to move forward was met with disbelief and outrage amongst the local community. Heroic efforts were made by winemakers, journalists and residents alike to convince the politicians to abort a project which would undoubtedly lead to the permanent scarring of some of the world’s most picturesque vineyards and also potentially deprive certain vineyards of sunlight as well as threatening underground water supplies. A group was even set up – the Pro-Mosel group – to lobby for the abolition of the project. A special mention should also go out to Hugh Johnson, who led a noble charge to halt the progress of the project (see video below).

As a result of this public outcry, as well as strong lobbying from Alliance ‘90/The Greens, Germany’s green party and long time opponents of the Mosel bridge, work on the bridge temporarily stopped in early 2009. Things took an even brighter turn in March 2009 when Alliance ‘90/The Greens won 15.4% of the vote in Rhineland-Pfalz, the State in which it was proposed that the Upper Mosel Crossing would be built.

Following this success for the Alliance ‘90/The Greens in the State elections, the decision was made to form a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) in Rhineland-Pfalz, raising hopes that they would be able to stop plans for the Upper Mosel Crossing once and for all.

What followed is a cruel and sad reminder of the fickle nature of our political age. Fearing that the SPD (and in particular Kurt Beck, the SPD State Premier in Rhineland-Pfalz and fierce supporter of the Mosel bridge) would reject a coalition with Alliance ‘90/The Greens in favour of the CDU, Alliance ‘90/The Greens made a spectacular U-turn and chose to support the SPD’s proposals for the project to continue.

Unsurprisingly, this was met with astonishment and dismay amongst many of the Rhineland-Pfalz locals, as it was these very people who had made it possible for Alliance ‘90/The Greens to achieve their 15.9% (compared to 4.6% in 2006). They had fought nail and tooth to prevent the building of the bridge and voted for Alliance ‘90/The Greens on the basis that they too were opponents of the bridge. This misplaced trust is poignantly captured by the moving words of Mosel winemaker Ernie Loosen, who was quoted as saying: “I convinced my whole family to vote for the Green party. My poor mother, who is coming from a family that is three generations Christian Democratic Union. My great-grandfather had even been a member of parliament for the CDU.”

And so, despite the brave efforts of many individuals and organisations – from leading winegrowers in the Mosel region such as Ernie Loosen and Manfred Prüm, to journalists such as Hugh Johnson and Stuart Pigott and even UK supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Asda – work has now commenced on the Mosel bridge.

It has been mooted that a petition would be made to the E.U. on the basis that the construction site is an area with unique environmental and cultural qualities. But as time ticks on, it appears as though the opposition’s options are regrettably wearing thin.

I have no idea what Pro-Mosel and their allies may have up their sleeves, but whatever it may be, they can be sure to have the support of the Revolution!