From the Living Museum
Edelborsdorfer
- Origin
- Germany / Central Europe; one of the oldest documented German apples, with references reaching into the medieval or early modern period (associated with the Borsdorf region)
- Era
- Medieval / early modern German
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
Medium fruit with yellow skin and red flush or stripes; firm, aromatic, sweet flesh and good storage. Unique for its great age and status as a historic Central European dessert apple.
Folklore & Name
One of the oldest documented German apples, linked to the Borsdorf region. ‘Edel’ = noble. Historic Central European dessert apple with medieval or early modern roots.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Edelborsdorfer, the noble Borsdorf, is one of the oldest documented German apples. André Leroy (1867) called it "the favourite apple of the Germans," born there "before the 16th century." The earliest record he found was in the Historia stirpium of Valerius Cordus, who died in Rome in 1544: Borsdorf apples were "grown in Meissen (Saxony), and their delicate flavour makes them preferred there to any other variety" 1 (our translations).
Two villages claimed it. Manger (1780) said he had seen many trees near a village on the road from Leipzig to Dresden in 1739, where the farmers told him it had been grown "for centuries." Mayer's Pomona Franconica (1791) said it "takes its name from the village of Borsdorf, in Saxony, where it was probably born" 1.
The competing accounts
- Valerius Cordus (d. 1544), as cited by André Leroy 1: Borsdorf apples grown and preferred in Meissen, Saxony. This is the earliest record Leroy found.
- J.G. Mayer, Pomona Franconica (1791), via Leroy 1: named after the village of Borsdorf in Saxony, where it was "probably born."
- Manger (1780), via Leroy 1: saw many old trees in 1739 near a village on the Leipzig–Dresden road, where farmers said it had been grown for centuries.
- Weber, via Mayer and Leroy 1: the name comes from Brust (chest), because baked Borsdorfs were a remedy for chest complaints.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): a Saxon apple named after the village of Borsdorf and in cultivation by the early 1500s. Leroy weighed these accounts and sided with the village origin; the chest-remedy story is a later explanation of the name.
What we think: stories & traditions
A cure for the chest? (old theory) Mayer reported that Weber thought the name came from Brust, chest, because baked Borsdorfs were once prescribed for lung complaints 1. Leroy sided with Mayer and the village explanation.
Leroy says the apple only became known in France around 1730 1. It's remarkable to think of the same variety being praised in Saxony in the time of Martin Luther.
Sources
- André Leroy, Dictionnaire de pomologie, Vol. 3 (Pommes, A–F) (Paris/Angers, 1867), "Pomme de Borsdorf," pp. 150–152. archive.org/details/dictionnairedepo03lero/page/151
Curious about Edelborsdorfer?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.