Guntersblumer Himmelthal (Heaven’s valley of Guntersblum)

High, higher, heavenly in Guntersblum

The term Himmel - also common in naming - indicates good cultivated land or high altitude sites. The Guntersblum single vineyard Himmelthal actually is located bit higher, closer to the sun and thus perfect for grapes of higher ripeness. A wide variety of grape varieties thrive on fertile loess soil, such as Pinot Gris or red varieties like Pinot Madeleine, Piot Meunier and Dornfelder. The Protestant parish church there also is heavenly. Not one, but two towers rise up to the sky. This church is one of the rare so called “Heidentürme” (engl. pagan towers), built around 1102 after the 1st Crusade to the Holy Land. 

> To the other single sites of Guntersblum: Bornpfad, Kreuzkapelle and Steig-Terrassen 
> Information about the Heidenturm Guntersblum: https://www.regionalgeschichte.net/bibliothek/aufsaetze/kotzur-heidentuerme-rheinhessen.html#c68805 
> To the blog entry about the Heidentürme in Rheinhessen: https://blog.rheinhessen.de/orient-rheinhessen-heidenturmkirchen/ 
> On the photo at the hedge the attentive viewer sees a red device. This is used for starling defense. With a loud bang the birds are driven away.