Dec 12
2024

Slopes with stone walls.

The biennial event will be held in Krems in the Austrian Wachau which has a long tradition of viticulture on slopes

The 19. International congress on Drystone Walling will take place in Austria at the wine school Krems from October 25 to 27, 2025. Before, from 20 to 24, an international practitioners’ workshop will be held.

Krems and the Wachau at the Danube valley is a famous vine region in Austria. Terraced viticulture dates back very long, and still today, such transformed slopes made of drystone walls shape the landscape. The Wachau region is Unesco world heritage.

Until the 15. century, it had appr. 2,800 ha of vineyards with stone walls. Remnants can be found in the now tree-covered side valleys, clefts or higher hillsides. They reach from reaching from being completely intact to hidden under soil and slopes.

Since the 1990s, the terraces have been growing again. More than 50 ha have been restored or newly build, initiated by the most famous winery families with their economic potential.

Drystone walling may be art.

During the 19. International Drystone Walling Congress, excursions to recultivation projects and to historic stone huts will be part of the program.

The international meeting aims to continue and strenghten the traditon of drystone walling. In the workshop, experts, wallers, and beginners will create a special object made by drystone walling: “We will build a stone ship that will later serve as a gazebo and give the visitors the feeling of ‚sailing through the gardens and vineyards‘,‘” as said in the program. The venue will be public gardens at the horticultural school in Langenlois.

The congress will “disseminate knowledge of drystone construction as a traditional
art, to develop and conduct research and practical work in this field, and to facilitate the
exchange of experience concerning good practice in the construction, maintenance and development of dry-stone structures,“ the organizers write.

The deadline for proposing lecture topcis or posters is March 31, 2025, to the International Society for the Multidisciplinary Study of Dry stone (SPS) as organizer of the event. Topics should revolve around:
* Impacts from Unesco inscriptions, members‘ actions and innovations;
* Didactics & training: raising awareness, heritage enhancement, professionalisation;
* Edibles from terraces: old and new crops, products and usage;
* Preservation & restoration of structures and landscapes: theories and realities.

International Society for the Multidisciplinary Study of Dry stone / Société scientifique internationale Pour l’étude pluridisciplinaire de la Pierre Sèche

Proceedings of the 2023 Congress in Vaucluse, France

Proceddings of the 2021 Congress in Coatia

Drystone walling for buildings.

See also:

(12.12.2024)