Mehrere Gäste sitzen an drei Tischen im Gastgarten des Restaurants Waldschänke der Familie Grabmer in Grieskirchen.

Where the apple and the pear get cosy

A landscape made for enjoyment, people who know a thing or two about making cider and about life: in the Quellenviertel, everything that belongs together comes together.

It’s quite possible that this was where Adam took a bite out of Eve’s sweet apple. Of course, it could just as easily have been a pear, of which there are so many hanging from the trees in the Quellenviertel.

One thing is certain: the gently rolling landscape has something of paradise about it, especially in spring, when the trees are dressed in white and pink and their blossoms accompany every walk and every cycle ride. In autumn – the true season of celebration – they are then clad in rich shades of red and yellow: this is when the harvest is brought in, and apples and pears are turned into juice and later into cider, that drink which has been part of the region’s culinary culture for generations and embodies the flavour of the Quellenviertel.

St. Georgner Obstbaumallee in Grieskirchen: An expansive, sun-drenched landscape with yellow-flowering rapeseed fields stretching to the horizon. In the middle of the meadow are several green-leafed trees that lend the scenery a picturesque touch. The cloudless blue sky and the clear atmosphere create an overall idyllic and harmonious picture.

St. Georgner Fruit Tree Avenue

The cider shapes the landscape

After all, not all cider is the same. It can be made from pears, from apples or – and this brings us to the typical cider from the Quellenviertel – from a blend of both. Particularly popular are the Speckbirne and the Landlbirne, two native Upper Austrian varieties with family trees stretching back centuries. Small, yellow and round, they are harvested late in the year and delight passers-by with their appearance.

For it is the cider fruit trees that characterise the Quellenviertel area. Standing alone or in pairs, they are trained on espaliers, line paths and roads, and cover meadows and slopes. Young trees mingle with old ones, small ones with large ones.

It is therefore hardly surprising that this is also home to Austria’s longest fruit tree avenue in Austria is to be found here. More precisely, in Grieskirchen, where hundreds of trees line a walking path some three kilometres long. The fact that you can stroll beneath their mighty canopies and enjoy the view is thanks to a clergyman who, just over a hundred years ago, had the divine inspiration for this special avenue.