In the Vienna Woods

Young Brenner “prince” crowns fruit queens

The parents stand by their Jakob as guardian angels of the wild service tree production.(Bild: Attila Molnar)

Jakob Mayer's wild service trees from Michelbach are up to 300 years old - they give him plenty of valuable fruit ...

I practically grew up under a wild service tree, because my grandfather used to collect the precious wild service trees for grafting on our farm," smiles the young guardian of the special Vienna Woods groves, now in his sixth generation.

Gnarled Methusalems
Each of the gnarled Methusalems gives him 60 to 100 kilograms of fruit in a good harvest year. And it takes 25,000 berries to make one liter of brandy. Harvesting and refining requires love and patience. A berry weighs just 25 grams and is as light as a feather.

"The whole family helps. Because we have to literally rub down the treasures, which are considered a panacea for many ailments, one by one to extract them," explains the likeable fruit "prince".

Jakob offers his valuable brandies directly from the farm.(Bild: Attila Molnar)

The work of rescuing floral rarities is embedded in his own association with 40 idealistic, like-minded farmers from the entire Vienna Woods region. The wild service tree queens are easy to recognize. Because they tower up to 18 meters high into the sky of the Mostviertel like lonely guardians of the ancient cultural landscape - and hopefully for a long time to come ...