Location and local subdivisions
Heuchelheim-Klingen is a municipality in the district of Südliche Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Landau-Land. The municipality consists of the local subdivisions of Heuchelheim and Klingen and lies on the Klingbach in the southern Pfalz. On the Haardt edge, vineyards surround the settlement; the vineyard Herrenpfad lies above the municipality near Heuchelheim.
Viticulture and wine-growing areas
Viticulture has shaped the municipality for a long time. A municipal brochure from 2019 lists around 400 hectares of vineyard area and about 50 wine-growing businesses. In the official wine-growing areas register for 2024, the Herrenpfad comprises 188.4 hectares in the local subdivision of Heuchelheim and 221.0 hectares in the local subdivision of Klingen. The single vineyard belongs to the Qualitätsweinbaugebiet Pfalz, Bereich Südliche Weinstraße, Großlage Kloster Liebfrauenberg.
The grape varieties grown include Riesling, Spätburgunder, Dornfelder, Portugieser and St. Laurent. Red grape varieties are particularly associated with Klingen, which the municipality refers to as a red-wine village. The Herrenpfad is mainly characterised by calcareous marl soils, including loess clay with limestone inclusions; in addition, sandy and sand-gravel soils with a clay top layer are found. A wine hiking trail set up in 2009 through the wine-growing areas of Heuchelheim and Klingen makes the local grape varieties accessible.
Climate and history
The local climate is described as mild and well balanced. The nearby Palatinate Forest serves as protection from wind and weather. Heuchelheim is documented in the Lorsch records for the year 795 under the names Huchilinheim and Hughlinheim. Klingen is mentioned in 1060 in a papal bull as a municipality of the Weißenburg monastery. Heuchelheim and Klingen were merged into the municipality of Heuchelheim-Klingen as part of the administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969.
