The World of Apples

Apple varieties, Austria

Ilzer Rosenapfel

A perfumed chance seedling of about 1840 from eastern Styria, by 1920 one of the region's main apples

History

The Ilzer Rosenapfel arose by chance about 1840 at Ilzberg near Puch, in eastern Styria1,2,3. Koloman Größbauer named it and recommended it to the Stocker nursery near Fürstenfeld, through which it spread1,2. It seems to have spread quickly: although it was not on Styria’s official list of standard varieties in 1910, by 1920 it was one of the main apples of eastern Styria, where it is still common1,2. Trees are found throughout Styria and in southern Burgenland but seldom elsewhere, so that it has remained a regional variety1,3. As Ilzer Weinler it was sold at the Vienna market, where it is still, though rarely, offered before Christmas1.

Demand for its fruit for juice and cider has led to more planting on clonal rootstocks in commercial orchards1,2. Slow Food Austria has taken it into its Ark of Taste3.

In a 2020 study of SNP data, the Ilzer Rosenapfel and Weisser Winter Taffetapfel proved to be parent and offspring; as Weisser Winter Taffetapfel is the older apple, dated to 1800 against 1840, the study took it to be the parent4. The other parent was not identified4.

The fruit

The fruit is small to medium1,2; Arche Noah’s sample measured 53 mm high and 65 mm wide, with broad ridges running from the eye to the stalk1. The smooth, glossy, tough skin is green-yellow at picking and light yellow in store, flushed pink to dark red over up to 95 per cent of the fruit, with darker stripes, and bloomed white on the tree1; the depth of colour varies with site and ripeness2. The flesh is white to greenish white, sometimes red under the skin, firm, dense and juicy1,2. It tastes sweet-sour and harmonious, with a perfume typical of the variety1,2,3; Arche Noah calls it ein Rosenapfel, a rose apple1. Its sheet gives 14.3° Brix in October, with a sugar-to-acid ratio of 13 to 11.

In Styria it is picked from early to mid-October1,2. It is eaten from November and keeps until March in a natural store and until May in a cold store, staying firm and crisp1,2.

Growing

On seedling rootstocks the tree is vigorous, with a tall, pyramidal crown1,2. It is robust and resistant to scab, and only slightly prone to mildew in warm sites1,2. It likes deep, fertile, rather heavy soils with plenty of water and suits high ground; on light, dry soils the fruit stays small1,2, a drawback that heavy crops make worse1. It flowers mid-early, crops well and is diploid1,3,4.

Uses

Arche Noah recommends it both for dessert and for the kitchen, and as well suited to direct sale; a single-variety juice made from it was judged very good1. The Styrian chamber of agriculture calls it a versatile dessert and culinary apple, well suited to juice and cider2.

Where the sources disagree

  • Koloman Größbauer. Arche Noah says he named the apple and recommended it to the Stocker nursery1; the Styrian chamber of agriculture says he discovered it and spread it through that nursery2.
  • Season. Picked early to mid-October for Arche Noah and the chamber of agriculture1,2; ripening in mid to late October for Slow Food3.
  • Shape. Mostly flattened, even boxy, for Arche Noah1; mostly round, sometimes flat or angular, for the chamber of agriculture2.

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

Ilzer Rosenapfel
Where Ilzer Rosenapfel came from.

Sources

  1. Ilzer Rosenapfel: fruit variety sheet 2016 (in German), Bernd Kajtna and Roland Gaber, Arche Noah, Schiltern, 2016. Supports: a winter apple, also called Ilzer Rose, Ilzer Weinler and Weinler; arose about 1840 at Ilzberg near Puch (eastern Styria) as a chance seedling; named by Koloman Größbauer, who recommended it to the Stocker nursery near Fürstenfeld; not yet in the Styrian standard list of 1910, but in 1920 one of the main varieties of eastern Styria, where it is still often found; trees widespread in Styria and southern Burgenland but rare elsewhere, "eine Regionalsorte" (a regional variety); sold at the Vienna market as Ilzer Weinler, today very rarely offered before Christmas; demand for fruit for juice and cider leading to more planting on clonal rootstocks in commercial orchards; fruit small to medium, 53 mm high and 65 mm wide, mostly flattened, irregular in section, with broad ridges from eye to stalk; skin smooth, glossy, tough, not greasy, green-yellow at picking and light yellow in store, flushed pink to dark red with dark red stripes over up to 95 per cent, bloomed white on the tree; flesh white to greenish white, partly reddened under the skin, firm and dense, sweet-sour, harmonious, juicy, "sortentypisch parfümiert (ein Rosenapfel)"; 14.3° Brix in October, sugar to acid 13 to 1; picked early to mid-October; eaten from November to March from a natural store and until May from a cold store, staying firm and crisp; mid-early flowering; diploid; vigorous on seedling rootstocks, with a tall, pyramidal crown; robust, "schorffest" (resistant to scab), slightly prone to mildew in warm sites; likes fertile, heavy, well-watered soils and suits high ground, the fruit staying small on light, dry soils; good yields; a very recommendable dessert and culinary apple; small fruit its drawback, especially with heavy crops or on dry sites; a single-variety juice judged very good.
  2. Ilzer Rosenapfel (in German), Anna Kleinschuster, Landwirtschaftskammer Steiermark, 2025-12-10. Supports: a local variety of eastern Styria that arose about 1840 as a chance seedling on the Ilzberg near Puch; "Entdeckt wurde die Sorte von Koloman Größbauer" (discovered by Koloman Größbauer), who spread it through the Stocker nursery in Fürstenfeld; about 1920 one of the main varieties in eastern Styria; valued for its aroma and keeping; small to medium fruit, mostly round, sometimes flat or somewhat angular; skin smooth and very glossy, greenish yellow, with a red flush from pale pink to deep dark red, varying with site and ripeness; flesh white to greenish white, sometimes slightly red under the skin, firm and juicy, with a characteristic perfumed aroma; on seedling rootstocks vigorous with a tall, pyramidal crown, and grown for processing as spindles on weak rootstocks in commercial orchards; robust, with comparatively low susceptibility to scab and mildew; prefers deep, fertile, rather heavy soils with enough water, the fruit staying smaller on light, dry sites; picked early to mid-October; eaten from about November, keeping until March in natural storage and until May in a cold store; a versatile dessert and culinary apple, well suited to juice and cider.
  3. Ilzer Rosenapfel, Ark of Taste (in German), Slow Food Österreich. Supports: listed in Slow Food Austria's Ark of Taste; arose by chance at Ilzberg near Puch; also known as Ilzer Weinler; still grown in Styria and southern Burgenland but little known outside its home region; small to medium fruit with a smooth, glossy, tough, green-yellow skin coloured pink to dark red; juicy, white to greenish-white flesh, sometimes reddish under the skin; very productive; ripening rather late, in mid to late October, and keeping well; sweet-sour and harmonious, good for single-variety juice or cider.
  4. 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, 4 and 6, 2020. Supports: Table S1: Ilzer Rosenapfel diploid (2n), dated 1840 (source 159, the Arche Noah sheet of 2016, Additional file 4); Table S5 (Additional file 6): Ilzer Rosenapfel and Weisser Winter Taffetapfel a parent–offspring pair with no second parent identified, oriented by their dates (1840 and 1800) with Weisser Winter Taffetapfel as the parent.