Weingut Fitz-Ritter History

History of the family and the estate

	The history of the Fitz family is deeply imbedded in the archives of both Palatinate and German history. Although the estate itself was passed on through daughters three times during the more than two centuries since its founding in 1785, thus effecting a change in its name, it has remained in a direct line within the same family.

Some ancestors have been outspoken, liberal politicians, such as Johann „The Red Fitz", who in 1832 led the uprising of local vintners against the reigning King at the „Hambach Festival" in protest against unfair taxation and restrictions on freedom of speech during what is considered by historians to be the „First Hour of Democracy in Germany". In 1837, he was the first to bring Champange to the region.

	Another former estate owner and inhabitant of the house, Rudolph Christmann, was a member of the „First German Parliament" in the Pauls Church in Frankfurt in 1848. Of the 180 members of this historic, founding Parliament, three are related to the owners of this prominent Bad Dürkheim wine estate.
In 2007, Johann Fitz became the owner of the winery in the 9 th generation. Johann has a degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and then studied Oenology after returning to Germany .

His father, Konrad, who ran the winery for forty years in the 8 th generation, also played an active role in regional wine-growing policy and state and city government. He received the seldom bestowed “Golden Insignia of Honor” for valuable service to the city of Bad Dürkheim .

His American Mother, Alice, is active in Marketing and Export for the Winery and travels extensively through the US showing the Fitz-Ritter Wines and Sekt.