The World of Apples

Apple varieties, Poland

Danziger Kantapfel

Described by Knoop in 1760 and grown in Germany under dozens of local names; a parent of Freiherr von Berlepsch

History

The apple was first described and figured by Johann Hermann Knoop in his Pomologia of 1760, under this name and also as Kant appel and Roode Kant2,3,4; Leroy knew of no earlier author3. Its name, Leroy reasoned, showed that it must have come from the old Polish province of Danzig (Gdańsk)3, and the National Fruit Collection records it as thought to have arisen around Danzig1. The Lower Saxony orchard alliance calls its origin unknown4.

By 1859, von Flotow wrote in the Illustrirtes Handbuch der Obstkunde, it had long been known under many names and was widespread in the Netherlands and Germany2. With many other pomologists, he held that Diel had also described it as the Calvillartiger Winter-Rosenapfel, Bentlebener Rosenapfel, Lorenzapfel and Florentiner, among other names, and he noted that in Thuringia it was called Winterrosenapfel or Rother Cardinal, and in Württemberg Rosenapfel, Rother Wulstling or Tiefbutz2. It seemed unknown in France and England2; Leroy brought it to France from Prussia in 1862, calling it much grown throughout Germany3.

The oldest pomologies already class it among the Rosenäpfel, the rose apples4. It needs little warmth, and so is found mostly in maritime to subcontinental regions such as northern Germany and the Netherlands, though it grows throughout Germany4. In 2020 the team behind the Norddeutsche Apfeltage named it their apple of the year, and the Lower Saxony alliance rates it endangered4.

DNA studies show it to be a parent, with Ananas Reinette, of Freiherr von Berlepsch5,6. It is also a parent of the triploid Biesterfelder Renette, and of apples known only from Danish collections, such as Karen Hansen and Spilmoseæble6. Accessions kept in Denmark as Vinterkalvil, from Bornholm, and as Fynsk udvalg II proved to be the Danziger Kantapfel6. Neither study identified its own parents5,6.

The fruit

The fruit is of medium size, sometimes much larger, round and ribbed, and usually a little flattened at the ends2,3; the UK’s National Apple Register of 1971 gives it as truncate-conical, 68 mm wide and 56.5 mm high, with strong ribbing1. The fine, smooth, greasy skin is greenish yellow, washed and streaked with a carmine red that deepens in the sun until fully exposed fruit shows hardly any ground colour2,3. The flesh is whitish yellow with a green tinge or green veins, fine, tender and juicy, with a pleasantly spiced, delicately winy flavour2. Leroy found it fragrant, sweet and acidulous3, and the National Fruit Collection notes that it is often stained red under the skin1.

At Brogdale, Kent, it is picked in early September1. Von Flotow found it often ripe by mid-October, keeping until December, or until February if well stored2; Leroy gave its season as October to December3.

Growing

The tree grows fairly strongly and becomes large, its horizontal branches forming a spreading crown; it bears early and abundantly, but needs good soil for the best fruit2. It is diploid5,6.

Uses

Von Flotow rated it a second-rank dessert apple but a first-rank kitchen apple, and noted that it was said to make good cider2. The Lower Saxony alliance lists it as a culinary and a dessert apple4.

Where the sources disagree

  • Origin. Leroy inferred from the name that it came from the Danzig region3, and the National Fruit Collection records it as thought to have arisen there1; von Flotow said only that it had long been known in the Netherlands and Germany2, and the Lower Saxony alliance calls its origin unknown4.
  • Quality. First quality for Leroy3; a second-rank dessert apple for von Flotow2.
  • Cropping. Early and abundant for von Flotow2; ordinary for Leroy3.

Family tree

Offspring in the atlas

Sources

  1. Danziger Kantapfel (accession 1948-656), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: "Thought to have arisen from the Danzig area, Poland. It was first mentioned in 1760"; "sweet subacid, slightly aromatic flavour"; "Flesh is often stained red under the skin"; a culinary and dessert apple; truncate-conical, 56.5 mm high and 68 mm wide, strongly ribbed (Smith, 1971); picked in early September at Brogdale; the other names listed as synonyms.
  2. Illustrated Handbook of Pomology, vol. 1, pp. 81–82: No. 25, Danziger Kantapfel (in German), v. Flotow, in F. Jahn, E. Lucas and J. G. C. Oberdieck (eds); Ebner & Seubert, Stuttgart; Internet Archive, 1859. Supports: an autumn and winter apple, "schon seit langer Zeit unter sehr verschiedenen Namen bekannt" (long known under very different names) and widespread in the Netherlands and Germany; first given by Knoop under this name, who also called it Kant appel and rode Kant-A.; in agreement with many pomologists, Diel's Calvillartiger Winter-Rosenapfel, Bentlebener Rosenapfel, Lorenzapfel, Florentiner, Rother Liebesapfel and Schwäbischer Rosenapfel the same apple; called Winterrosenapfel or Rother Cardinal in Thuringia, and Rosenapfel, Rother Wulstling or Tiefbutz in Württemberg; "In Frankreich und England scheint er nicht bekannt" (in France and England it seems not to be known); a regular fruit of medium size; skin fine, smooth and greasy, greenish yellow, washed and streaked with carmine that grows more vivid with sun, until wholly sunned fruit shows hardly any ground colour; flesh whitish yellow with a green tinge or green veins, fine, soft, juicy, of a pleasantly spiced, finely winy taste; ripe often by mid-October, keeping until December and, well stored, until February; "Tafel-Apfel zweiten Ranges" but a first-rank kitchen fruit, and said to be a good cider fruit; the tree fairly strong-growing and large, with horizontal branches and a spreading crown, bearing early and abundantly but needing good soil; signed v. Flotow.
  3. Dictionnaire de pomologie, vol. III, p. 181: Calleville de Dantzick (in French), André Leroy, Paris and Angers; Internet Archive, 1873. Supports: the synonyms Roode Kant and Dantziger Kant (Knoop, Pomologie, 1760); fertility ordinary; fruit of medium size, sometimes much larger, spherical, ribbed, usually somewhat flattened at the ends; skin fine, slightly greasy, greenish yellow, amply washed and speckled bright red; flesh whitish, veined green, fragrant and very tender; juice "acidule, sucrée, savoureusement parfumée"; season October to December; quality first; imported by Leroy from Prussia in 1862, "très-cultivé par toute l'Allemagne"; characterised and figured by Knoop in 1760, with no earlier author known to Leroy; "Comme l'indique son nom, ce Calleville doit provenir … de l'ancienne province polonaise de Dantzick".
  4. Apple of the Year 2020: Danziger Kantapfel (in German), Hermann Stolberg, Streuobstwiesen-Bündnis Niedersachsen, 2020-04-24. Supports: chosen as apple of the year for 2020 by the team behind the Norddeutsche Apfeltage; "Sehr alte Sorte, Herkunft unbekannt" (a very old variety of unknown origin), described by Knoop in 1760 and named by him Danziger Kantappel; counted among the Rosenäpfel in the oldest pomologies (the classification of Johann Ludwig Christ); needing little summer warmth and so found chiefly in maritime to subcontinental regions such as northern Germany and the Netherlands, though it occurs throughout Germany; rated endangered (gefährdet); a culinary and also a dessert fruit.
  5. Using whole-genome SNP data to reconstruct a large multi-generation pedigree in apple germplasm, H. Muranty and others, BMC Plant Biology 20: 2, with Additional files 1 and 3, 2020. Supports: Table S1: Danziger Kantapfel diploid (2n), dated 1760; Table S3: Ananas Reinette and Danziger Kantapfel the SNP-inferred parents of Freiherr von Berlepsch; no parents found for Danziger Kantapfel itself.
  6. Cultivar fingerprinting and SNP-based pedigree reconstruction in Danish heritage apple cultivars utilizing genotypic data from multiple germplasm collections in the world, B. Larsen and others, Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 72: 2397, with supplementary tables, 2025. Supports: Table S1: accessions kept as Vinterkalvil (Bornholm) and Fynsk udvalg II in the University of Copenhagen's Pometum, and as Vinterkalvil at the Bornholm museum, sharing the genotype of Danziger Kantapfel (MUNQ 722); Table S5: Danziger Kantapfel diploid, with no parents identified, and a parent of Freiherr von Berlepsch (with Ananas Reinette), of the triploid Biesterfelder Renette (with Reinette des Carmes), and of Karen Hansen (with Hvid Vinter Pigeon) and Spilmoseæble (with Reinette de Hollande), genotypes found only in the study's Danish material.
  • Photograph of Elise Rathke apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Elise Rathke

    Poland, by 1884

  • Fantazja

    Poland, 1944

  • Kosztela

    Probably raised by monks at Czerwińsk in the 16th century; a legend ties its name to King John III's garden at Wilanów

    Poland, 16th century

  • Watercolour painting of Landsberger Reinette apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Landsberger Reinette

    Poland, about 1840

  • Ligol

    Selected at Skierniewice in 1972 from Linda and Golden Delicious; by 2017 the fourth most planted apple in Poland

    Poland, 1972