The garden is a green indoor oasis, right where wine barrels once rolled and grapes were pressed. Oranges and lemons hang from the trees, and the air is filled with sunlight. Charlemagne ruled the world from here, his imperial palace standing just a few hundred meters away. And since that time, the vines from which the deep red wines for which Ingelheim is still famous today are pressed have been grown here in Ingelheim. You can sample around 50 of them here, in the wine shop or restaurant of the Winzerkeller Ingelheim right next to the garden – the Best Of Wine Tourism Award (national and international) for architecture, parks, and gardens could hardly have been better awarded.

"The wine press house was built in 1904, in just one year," says Katharina Ferch. The old tiles of the wine press house can still be seen on the walls, and old photographs show how people once worked here. Proud men in old-fashioned suits, workers in simple work clothes, all posing for the photographer, showing off their work, their achievements. We are standing in the old wine press hall, once home to up to 300 winegrowers from the region—today a beautifully designed garden.

Until a few years ago, the Ingelheim wine cellar was a cooperative founded in 1904 for the many small part-time winegrowers with their tiny vineyards. The cooperative offered help with cultivation and marketing the wines, which provided income and survival for many small winegrowers. "Many were part-time winegrowers," says Ferch. At its peak, 300 winegrowers were members here, but after World War II, membership numbers declined as more and more part-time winegrowers gave up their vineyards to work in industry in the Rhine-Main area—not least at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer.

In 2011, the winegrowers' cooperative was dissolved, with only three or four active winegrowers remaining. The many private wineries, where they produce ultra-modern, mineral and fruity wines from the limestone soils of the Ingelheim slopes, had long since become the strongholds of innovative wine culture. The town of Ingelheim bought the winegrowers' cellar as the perfect location for a central wine shop. "There has always been a restaurant here, and a dance floor," says Ferch, "many Ingelheim residents had their first dance lesson here."

Ferch grew up in Ingelheim, and today the cultural studies graduate heads the marketing and communications department of the municipal Ingelheimer Kultur und Marketing GmbH (IKuM). "The idea for a central wine shop had been around for a long time," says Ferch. A place to meet winemakers, taste their products, and experience wine culture—that's exactly what the Winzerkeller now offers. Right next to the entrance, the tourist information office provides tips and brochures, and the room opens up to the wine shop, where wine bottles await on modern iron shelves along the old stone walls. Twenty-four winemakers and a distillery became partners here to jointly run the wine shop.

It took three years and around ten million euros to transform the old wine press house into an impressive space for wine and culture. The garden fills the old wine press hall in the middle, while on the left, a stylish yet cozy restaurant serves delicacies and, of course, wines. On the walls, liquid delicacies from the individual winemakers await in small safes.

In the basement lies a beautiful old vaulted cellar, an atmospheric space for weddings, meetings, or wine tastings. At the very back, there are about a dozen old concrete tanks built into the walls—remnants of the old wine cellars. “We’re currently setting up this area for guided tours on the history of wine,” said Ferch. The new Winzerkeller opened its doors in May 2019, and the restaurant launched in November—much of it is still a work in progress. The Ingelheim Film Music Festival is set to take place here this fall, and the first wine events have been scheduled—the Winzerkeller is quickly becoming the new hotspot for wine and culture in Rheinhessen.