Hallertau Hop Cultivation Is Traditionally Dated to 736

The beginning of hop cultivation in Bavaria’s Hallertau region is traditionally dated to 736. Local traditions identify either Geisenfeld or Gründl near Nandlstadt as the site of the earliest Hallertau hop garden, and the year has become a conventional starting point in accounts of the region’s hop-growing history. The date should not be understood as secure contemporary documentary evidence. The Society for Hop Research states that surviving documentary evidence for Hallertau hop cultivation begins only in the ninth century, while other historical references identify evidence from 768 in the wider region. The traditional date of 736 nevertheless represents the long association between hops and the Hallertau, which later developed into one of the world’s most important hop-growing regions.