‘Gravensteiner’

This apple cultivar originated before 1669 in Holstein, the borderland of Germany and Denmark. The Danes call it ‘Gråsten’. The cultivar became known worldwide, from Scandinavia to California, where it is a summer apple. Now it is mostly planted in home gardens, where the large, tasty fruits are used for dessert and cooking. In Latvia ‘Gravensteiner’ is an early winter apple lacking winter-hardiness and productivity, as it is poorly suited to our climate. But very often by the name “Gravenstein” the Latvians mean a different cultivar – ‘Rudens Svītrainais’ or ‘Streifling Herbst’, by another name ‘Livländischer Gravensteiner’. It is a highly winter-hardy and widely grown Baltic variety, ripening in autumn and with short storage. You may see it in the same section of the orchard.