Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2013/C 293/08

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs  (2)

‘HÖRI BÜLLE’

EC No: DE-PGI-0005-01040-28.09.2012

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Name

‘Höri Bülle’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Germany

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

3.2.   Description of product to which the name in point 1 applies

The indication ‘Höri Bülle’ (= onion, Latin cibolla) is used in the trade and in general language usage to describe a red edible onion, with a characteristic form and colour, which has been grown on the Höri peninsula for centuries.

‘Höri Bülle’, botanical name Allium cepa, belongs to the genus of leek plants (Allium).

3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only)

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3.4.   Feed (for products of animal origin only)

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3.5.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The whole production of the onion from sowing to cleaning and drying of the harvested bulbs takes place in the defined geographical area. Only seed from own propagation from that area is used.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

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3.7.   Specific rules concerning labelling

The label ‘Höri Bülle’ must be used at all stages of marketing. The label also bears the name and address of the producer and/or his registration number in the protection association, in order to guarantee traceability.

Also the protection association's word mark/image must be used with the text ‘Höri Bülle’ in conjunction with the stylised onion. This also applies to producers who are not members of the protection association.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

At the western end of Lake Constance between Stein am Rhein and Radolfzell there is a peninsula which bears the name Höri and which colloquially is also referred to as ‘Onion Höri’. The peninsula has to be considered historically and economically as a unitary area and is bordered in the north-east by the Zeller See and the south-east by the Untersee. The geographical area includes the municipalities of Gaienhofen, Moos and Öhningen in the Baden-Württemberg rural district of Konstanz, as well as the neighbouring district of Bohlingen within the town of Singen (Hohentwiel).

5.   Link to the geographical area

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area

The growing of vegetables is favoured by the comparatively mild air and ground temperatures during the main growing period, owing to the immediate proximity of Lake Constance which stores warmth. The chernozem-like loess soils and dark marshy soils provide favourable conditions for vegetable growing, which still gives the landscape here its distinctive character. In particular, onion growing in the geographical area has a tradition going back more than a 1 000 years; the first documentary evidence dates from the eighth century (Zimmermann, J. (1967): ‘Vom Zwiebelbau am Bodensee seit 1 200 Jahren — Das Zwiebel — oder Bölleland ‚Höri‘, Zwiebelmärkte in Konstanz, Rorschach und Schaffhausen’ (‘1 200 years of onion growing at Lake Constance — The “Höri” onion country, Onion markets in Konstanz, Rohrschach and Schaffhausen’) in: Hegau. Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Volksmund und Naturgeschichte des Gebietes zwischen Rhein, Donau und Bodensee (Journal of history, dialect and natural history of the area between the Rhine, the Danube and Lake Constance), Heft (Vol.) 1/2 (23/24): 283). Local know-how as regards the preservation of and care for seed and the growing of ‘Höri Bülle’ has been passed down from one generation to the next and plays a significant role in the present properties of the product.

‘Höri Bülle’ is the characteristic agricultural product from this landscape, a fact also referred to in material for the promotion of tourism. From time immemorial, the peninsula has been known by the popular name ‘Zwiebelhöri’: ‘Ein kleiner Strich Landes, kaum anderthalb Stunden lang und nirgends Dreiviertelstunden breit, zwischen dem Schienerberg und dem Untersee gelegen, hat seit urältester Zeit den sonderbaren Namen Höry, Bischofshöri, Zwiebelhöri (…)’ (‘A small strip of land, which takes barely one and a half hours to travel along and nowhere takes more than three quarters of an hour to cross, situated between the Schienerberg and the Untersee has since ancient times been known by the special name of Höry, Bischofshöri, Zwiebelhöri (…)’) (see Bader, J. (publisher) (1840): Badenia oder das badische Land und Volk (Badenia or the country and people of Baden), Kunst-Verlag, Karlsruhe, p. 248).

Numerous indications such as the traditional onion markets at the beginning of the 20th century in the neighbouring towns of Konstanz, Singen and Radolfzell as well as the Swiss towns of Rorschach and Schaffhausen provide evidence of a prominent traditional onion trade. The fertile peninsula at the western end of Lake Constance between Stein am Rhein and Radolfzell with the wooded Schienerberg rising to 708 m is also linked with the names of eminent German painters and poets.

5.2.   Specificity of the product

The variety ‘Höri Bülle’ is among the old regional varieties and is not protected by national or Community variety protection. ‘Höri Bülle’ is propagated solely from itself. Seeds are not commercially available. ‘Höri Bülle’ is distinguishable from other red onion varieties above all by its characteristic form and colour. The thin, soft outer skin has a light reddish-brown colouring which, in contrast to dark red varieties, does not rub off during cutting. In cross section, light red separating layers can be seen between the individual onion skins. The typical flat, bulbous form of ‘Höri Bülle’ is particularly well-suited to plaiting the traditional onion strings. Its somewhat softer consistency makes it very juicy, but also sensitive to pressure and particular care has to be taken when harvesting it by hand in the traditional manner. Fully mechanised harvesting with a conventional harvesting machine is therefore not possible. Instead, a mechanical grubbing-up machine is used carefully to expose the crop to be harvested.

The taste of ‘Höri Bülle’ is characterised above all by its delicate aroma and mild, unobtrusive sharpness. Its sharpness develops during cooking, without the loss of its characteristic red colouring. ‘Höri Bülle’ is well known and because of its origin enjoys a good reputation in the geographical area and beyond its borders. Because of its exceptionally good taste characteristics and its sustainable production method (e.g. seed from own propagation, traditional harvesting by hand, preservation of the Höri cultivated landscape), ‘Höri Bülle’ has been included in the German Slow Food Association’s ‘Ark of Taste’.

Regional literature is rich in poems about ‘Höri Bülle’, such as the paean to ‘Höri Bülle’ by the dialect poet Anna Schreiber Bähr or the poem ‘Uf em Markt’ by the painter and poet Bruno Epple. The works and names of the artists on the Höri have made ‘Höri Bülle’ known beyond the borders of the region.

5.3.   Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The knowledge and the centuries-old tradition of onion growing guarantee the characteristic properties of ‘Höri Bülle’ and justify the product’s good reputation. The region's ties with and high esteem for the centuries-old traditional cultivation of onions are apparent in many spheres of local life. It is expressed, inter alia, in the great importance of ‘Höri Bülle’ for regional cuisine (Gemeinde Moos (publisher) (1996): Kleines Bülle Brevier (Small guide to the ‘Bülle’), text: Erwin Keller, second edition Gemeinde Moos, pp. 26-52).

‘Höri Bülle’ is referred to in numerous festivities and customs, such as the ‘Bülle Festival’ which has been held annually since 1976 on the first Sunday in October in the municipality of Moos, to which specialities made from ‘Höri Bülle’ are central. For this, strings of ‘Höri Bülle’ are to some extent plaited together with yellow onions (Stuttgarter Riesen), the flat form of ‘Höri Bülle’ making it particularly well-suited to plaiting. The dishes served comprise mainly onion products: onion soup, onion cake, ‘Zwiebeldinnele’ and the like.

In the municipality of Moos in the geographical area, the local cry of ‘Rätich, Bülla und Salot — gnua, gnua, gnua!’ has been used at carnival time since 1953 and there is a traditional carnival fools guild called ‘Büllebläri’.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

http://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/geo/detail.pdfdownload/32550

(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3)  See footnote 2.