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THE HALLERTAU T he Hallertau, otherwise lovingly known as Holledau or Hollerdau, is the largest integrated hop growing region in the world. It is situated in the heart of Bavaria in an area roughly surrounded by the cities of Ingolstadt, Kelheim, Landshut, Moosburg, FreisingandSchrobenhausen. The Hallertau extends across Upper and Lower Bavaria through the districts of Pfaffenhofen, Freising, Kelheim, Landshut and Eichstätt. Its surface ara is not really defined by clear and specific borders, but comprises numerous independent hop growing areas which are linked, without necessarily bordering directly onto each other. The Hallertau covers an area of approximately 2.400 km², stretching to a maximum of 65 km from east to west and a maximum of 50 km from north to south at its widest and longest points. The southern boundaries of the Hallertau are the municipalities of Nandlstadt and Au in der Hallertau, while the northern boundary - which used to be the river Danube - now extends further north and beyond as a result of the integration of the Altmannstein “sealing” district. Some of the Danube’s tributaries such as the Paar, Ilm, Abens and Grosse Laber and the Kleine Lager – flow through the area. Geographically, the Hallertau belongs mainly to the Danube-Isar hills. Geologically, this is part of the tertiary hill system which was not covered by ice during the Pleistocene age. The uppermost deposits under the topsoil are freshwater deposits dating back to the Miocene age. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME The true origin and meaning of the name commonly applied to this area since the 14th century, has never been fully clarified. The most likely explanation is a combination of the old high German words “Hardt“ (= forest) and “hall“, a derivative of “helan“ (= to hide) into “Hal hart“, meaning woodland with a hidden interior, also possibly described as a wild jungle, to which the name “Au“ has been added. During the early 16th century Johannes Aventinus describes the position of the source of the river Abens, writing “…it springs at around midnight near a village by the name of Haller and also Hollerthaw.”Two kilometers south of the source of the Abens, between the villages of Holzhausen and Hirschbach, south-east of Schweitenkirchen, there is a 3km-long stretch of mixed woodland which still bears the name “Holledau“. On his rural signposts created in 1566, using the keyword Hirschbach, Philipp Apian declares “…the woodland stretching from that point towards the east and then north is calledHallerthaw. Fromthat point onwards almost the entire strip of land all the way to the Ilm bears the same name; it is covered by hills and woodland.“ The official spelling only dates back to 1926, when the name of the small town of Au was changed from “Au bei Freising“ to “Au in der Hallertau“. Another version, which is more likely a fairytale, is the story that a Prince, finding ADVERTORIAL OF BAVARIA THE HEART 68 | Winter 2019 | ontapmag.co.za