Photo: BMLFUW/Rita Newman
Weinviertler Schwein
Record Number: 128
Disclosure Date
The pig has played a role in agriculture in what we now call the Weinviertel region for some 3,000 years now.
Photo: BMLFUW/A...
Weinviertler Schwein
(Weinviertler pig)
Abstract or claim
Breeding of Weinviertler Schwein is the result of traditional knowledge of pig breeding and production over centuries in the Weinviertel region of Lower Austria.
The specific feeding scheme and husbandry of numerous different breeds result in pork with a neutral to spicy flavour, and which is juicy and tender.
Name of product, Product class
Pork, fresh meat
Name of region
Weinviertel, Lower Austria, Austria
Field of search
Food and agriculture
Name of information provider
Klaus Bergmann
Fleischerei Bergmann (butcher’s shop)
Michael Mühl
Fa. Stastnik (company)
Name of applicant for title
---
Holder of knowledge or associated resources
Farmers and producers as well as butchers from the Weinviertel
Grantee(s), holder(s), assignee(s) or owner(s) of title, if any
---
Descriptors
- History:
Pigs are one of the oldest animals used in livestock farming. They were first domesticated in Asia around 8,000 B.C., with their use developing independently in a number of different regions, after which they came to Europe.
In the region we now call Lower Austria, bones of pigs have been found in excavations of sites dating back 6,500 years. It is assumed that pigs were already then being kept for nutritional purposes, and not merely as an animal in sacrificial rituals.
The pig has played a role in agriculture in what we now call the Weinviertel region for around 3,000 years now. The highly productive areas of farmland have always served as one of its food sources.
The Celts in the region relished the flavour of pork in their ritual tribal feasts. Delicacies such as Schweinsbraten (roast pork) and the traditional recipe for Blutwurst (blood sausage) make up part of the cultural legacy dating back to this period.
Pigs were very popular in mediaeval times, as they supplied not only meat and bacon but also other materials that could be used, such as soft tissue, fatty tissue, tendons, ligaments and innards. Pigs were kept in forests by swineherds and fattened with acorns and beechnuts.
Until the eighteenth century, pigs had to search for feed in the forests, and were only fed household waste in addition to this. Pigs would have looked similar to wild boars at this time.
Improvements in agriculture led to higher yields, however, and subsequently to better feeding of the animals. It was also at this time that targeted breeding began to develop in England. Global trade brought breeds from Asia and other countries to Europe. The crossing of native English pigs with breeds from Asia and Naples produced the first modern pig breed, the Leicester, in 1770.
Ignaz von Halloy first chronicled the importance of pig breeding in Austria in 1804. At that time, farmers kept sows as their main domestic animals.
Pig-farming and the traditional processing of pork plays a significant role in the Weinviertel area to this day.
- Region:
The hilly Weinviertel region is located in the north-east of Lower Austria. The name ‘Weinviertel’ has been in common parlance for about a century.
The Weinviertel borders Slovakia at the River March in the east, and Moravia (Czech Republic) in the north. It borders the Mostviertel and Industrieviertel districts of Lower Austria to the south, with the frontier defined by the Wagram hill, the Danube and the Marchfeld region. The Manhartsberg mountain forms the border to the Waldviertel region in the west.
The Weinviertel encompasses the administrative districts of Gänserndorf, Hollabrunn, Korneuburg, and Mistelbach, as well as small parts of the administrative districts of Tulln, Horn, Krems-Land and the region surrounding Vienna.
The name ‘Weinviertel’ has been in common use for about a century now.
Production of Weinviertler Schwein stretches across the entire Weinviertel region.
Habitat:
The landscape of the Weinviertel is shaped by wheat farming and viticulture.
The region’s climate and soil conditions produce a flora distinguished by its wide diversity of different plants.
Climate and soil conditions:
The climate is continental with Pannonian influence in the eastern extremes of the region. Summers are usually hot and dry; winters are cold, poor in snow and frosty.
The average annual temperature is 10.4 °C. Annual precipitation is low, at between 500 and 600 mm.
The types of soil found in the Weinviertel vary widely due to the region’s large area. The predominant soils are loess, clay, primary rocks and black earths.
- Weinviertler pig:
Photo: BMLFUW/Rita Newman
The Weinviertler Schwein actually covers a variety of different breeds of pig, including the Mangalitza, Landrace, Large White and a cross of the Landrace and Large White breeds.
The mother and father animals have to be stress-resistant, and exhibit good muscles and attractive fat deposits in the muscle tissue.
Breeding/fattening:
No specific restrictions are set regarding the method of breeding used, other than that it complies with the minimum requirements for the keeping of pigs defined in the Regulations for the Keeping of Animals.
The pigs are predominantly kept in sties. Weaners (piglets up to 10 weeks of age weaned off the mother sow) and fattening or breeding pigs (pigs 10 or more weeks of age up until their first use in breeding or slaughter) are to be kept in groups. During this period, each animal must have between 0.20 and 1.00 m² of floor area available to it to move around, depending on its weight.
Tethering of pigs is forbidden.
Sows and boars are usually kept separately except for the determination of the optimal mating time. The sows are inseminated both artificially and naturally.
Sows produce litters of 4 - 10 piglets twice annually.
Feeding:
The feed used consists mainly of local cereals such as barley, rye and wheat, as well as mineral substances and proteins from peas and whey.
The animals are not fed maize, soya or genetically-modified feed of any sort.
90 % of the feedstuff comes from the farms themselves, while the rest is bought in from farmers elsewhere in the region.
The piglets are separated from the sows after approximately 4 weeks, after which the final fattening phase lasts at least 3 months. They are not fattened in the final weeks.
Transport and slaughter:
Pigs are slaughtered at ages between 4 months and 2 years, depending on the breed in question. The liveweight is between 110 and 130 kg, and the carcass weight between 70 and 115 kg.
The majority of the pigs are slaughtered, and the carcasses cut up, in EU- certified slaughterhouses within the region. About 5 % of farmers slaughter the animals themselves.
Most of the transportation of the pigs is carried out by butchers, with a small percentage of farmers performing this role themselves.
Before the pigs are slaughtered, the farmers comply with a ‘calm time’ of between 8 and 48 hours (with feeding on site) to guarantee the slaughter is stress-free, and the pork is of the highest quality as a result.
After slaughtering, the carcasses are officially checked by veterinarians, when they are classified according to the SEUROP grading scale and the PH value of the meat measured. The meat is then cooled at 2 - 4 °C in the cold storage rooms of the butchers and freshly processed. The carcasses are processed and cut up at the butchers and at the firm Stastnik in Gerasdorf.
Meat description:
Pork from the Weinviertler Schwein is a powerful pink in colour, tender, has a neutral to spicy flavour and is firm in consistency.
The proportion of muscle is between 53 and 60 %, depending on the breed in question.
Quality control:
The farmers and slaughterers, that is the butchers, carry out self-inspections on a regular basis to ensure production and quality criteria are being complied with.
- Marketing:
Photo: BMLFUW/Rita Newman
The meat products are available year-round.
- Proof of origin:
The pigs are identified using official marks (ear tags) and registered in accordance with the Tierkennzeichnungs- und Registrierungverordnung 2007 (Austrian Animal Identification and Registration Ordinance 2007).
An obligation to keep records also applies, from the farmer through the butcher to the point of sale.
Connection between the geographical area and traditional knowledge:
- Weinviertler Schwein includes breeds of pig which have been domesticated
in the region, some for centuries.
- The feedstuff used comes exclusively from the Weinviertel region, and
makes an essential contribution to the unique flavour of the pork.
- The breeding and production of Weinviertler Schwein is the result of
traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation, including
the traditional knowledge and experience of breeders (adapting the
management of herds to environmental constraints, selection of breeds,
the know-how of the pig farmers and the nature of pork production), the
know-how of butchers (animal transportation, experience in slaughtering,
cutting and maturing of the meat), and the experience of the farmers.
- Utilisation:
Weinviertler Schwein is available as fresh pork or in processed form.
Specialities include Weinviertler Kellerspeck bacon, Weinviertler Schinkenspeck bacon, Weinviertler Schinken (ham) and Weinviertler Kürbiskernhauswürstel (pumpkin seed sausage), and traditional pork-based products such as bratwurst, smoked sausage, Saumaisen dumplings, Klobasse sausage, smoked ribs, Kaiserfleisch (cured pork), smoked neck of pork, smoked pork loin, Teilsames (smoked shoulder of pork), blood sausage, liver sausage, collared pork, pork in brine, innards, liver dumpling, Milzschnitten (spleen strudel), liver spread, Lungenstrudel (lung strudel), farmers’ platter, Kellerspeck bacon, farmers’ ham, garlic bacon, smoked ham, belly of pork, and smoked sausage.
- Protection:
-
Key Words
Food and agriculture, traditional knowledge, Austria, Lower Austria, region, Weinviertel, pig, pork, Weinviertler Schwein, Weinviertler pig, Mangalitza, Landrasse, Edelschwein, Landrace, Large White
Bibliography / References
- Maier-Bruck, Franz: Vom Essen auf dem Lande. Verlag Kremayr &
Scheriau, Wien, 2003, S. 144
- Rösener, Werner: Bauern im Mittelalter, C.H. Beck Verlag,
München, 1991, S. 147-149
- Das Weinviertel botanisch betrachtet
http://www.planten.de/2003/11/23/botanik-weinviertel/
- Geschichte/ Herkunft: Von welchem Tier stammt das Hausschwein ab?
http://www.rund-ums-schwein.at/index.php?id=geschichte_herkunft
- Ignaz von Halloy: Das Ganze der Landwirtschaft in einer gedrängten
Darstellung nebst ihrem Verhältnisse zu dem österreichischen Staate, 1804:
http://books.google.at/books?id=xJlEAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA61&dq=Geschichte+der+%C3%B6sterreichischen+Landwirtschaft&lr=&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA2,M1
- Niederösterreich – Der Bereich Weinviertel
http://www.wein-plus.de/oesterreich/Weinviertel_A29.html
- Weinviertel
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weinviertel
- Weinviertel
http://www.weinviertel.at/magazin/00/artikel/14699/doc/d/Weinviertler%20Geschichte.pdf
- Weinviertel
http://www.regionalmanagement-noe.at/uploads/perspektiven_weinviertel.pdf
- Weinviertler Schwein: Produkt
http://www.genuss-region.at/article/archive/24683
- Weinviertler Schwein: Region
http://www.genuss-region.at/article/archive/24682
- Weinviertler Schwein
http://www.genuss-region.at/article/archive/24681
- Weinviertler Strohschwein
http://www.agrarprojektpreis.at/weinviertler-strohschwein..434.htm
- Von der Domestikation der Schweine zur Entwicklung der heutigen
Rassen in Deutschland
http://www.g-e-h.de/geh-schweine/11-domest.htm
All internet references last accessed on 16.06.2009.
Language Code
German
Product of www.genuss-region.at
Ja
Regional contact
Klaus Bergmann
Fleischerei Bergmann (butcher)
Wienerstraße 2
A-3701 Großweikersdorf
Phone: 02955/70313
E-mail: schmidataler@aon.at
www.schmidataler.at
Authors: Daniela Trenker, Eva Sommer, Erhard Höbaus
28.12.2011, Lebensministerium III/4