From the Living Museum
Purpurroter Cousinot
- Origin
- Probably the Netherlands (described by Knoop in 1766); later grown mainly in Germany
- Era
- Described 1766
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
The name means ‘Purple-red Cousinot’. Distinctive purple-red coloration. Interesting as a colored Central European type that has remained little-known in English-speaking collections.
Folklore & Name
Probably Dutch in origin, and later spread mainly through Germany 1. ‘Purpurroter Cousinot’ = Purple-red Cousinot. Name describes the distinctive purple-red coloration. Little-known in English-speaking collections.
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
Purpurroter Cousinot, the purple-red Cousinot, is the apple André Leroy (1867) described as Cousinotte rouge d'hiver. He said France had received it from Germany only five or six years earlier, but that the Dutch nurseryman Herman Knoop had described it in 1766 "as one of the most esteemed of his country, where I believe it originated." Leroy stressed that it is not the same as the early summer apples called Cousinette in old French books 1 (our translation).
The competing accounts
- André Leroy, 1867 1: described by the Dutch nurseryman Knoop in 1766 as one of the most valued apples of his country, "where I believe it originated" (our translation); France got it from Germany only about 1861.
- Its usual name today is German, and Diel propagated it in Germany from 1828 1, so it is often called a German apple.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): Dutch, of the 1700s or earlier, later spread mostly through Germany. The 1766 Dutch record is the oldest, though Leroy offered it only as his belief.
What we think: stories & traditions
A tangle of names. Leroy complained that German growers "helped to confuse its history" with their many nicknames. In 1828 the pomologist Diel received it from Landsberg an der Warthe labelled "Red Reinette," recognised it as a true red Cousinot, and propagated it under that name 1.
So although it is grown today under a German name, the oldest record points to the Netherlands. Its deeper origin is unknown.
Sources
- André Leroy, Dictionnaire de pomologie, Vol. 3 (Pommes, A–F) (Paris/Angers, 1867), "Cousinotte rouge d'hiver," pp. 245–246. archive.org/details/dictionnairedepo03lero/page/245
Curious about Purpurroter Cousinot?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.