XtraBlatt Issue 02-2020

ON-FARM
KNEER FAMILY, BAD DITZENBACH, GERMANY
REAL PROFESSIONALS
Florian (l) and Moritz Kneer together manage Oberberghof farm in Bad Ditzenbach.
Some words are often misunderstood.
The word “amateur”, for instance. In the
correct sense, an amateur is someone who
does something for the love of it. This is
an entirely fitting term for brothers Moritz
and Florian Kneer. But they easily earn the
title of farming professionals too ... even
although their main business is building
windows.
Oberberghof is a well-kept horse farm
on the outskirts of Bad Ditzenbach,
nestling amid the Swabian Alb foothills.
Enthusiasts of rural architecture would
recognise right away some of the farm
buildings originally fulfilled another purpose.
This is confirmed by Florian Kneer
who runs the farm with brother Moritz.
“From our mother’s side we come from a
family which, as was earlier quite common,
ran a hostelry and butcher’s business along
with the farm. By 1962, our grandfather had
established a beef herd as main enterprise
on Oberberghof. Later, horses were brought
into the business and, after his successful
graduation in horse husbandry at the
Baden-Württemberg State Stud Farm in
Marbach, he specialised completely in this.”
Florian and Moritz took over in 2004, with
Florian manager of the non-agricultural
side and Moritz the person usually found
around the farm.
“We farm around 75 ha here”, explains
Moritz Kneer. “Most is pasture, mainly on
steep slopes. We only have about a hectare
of arable land, along with some woodland.
We have 25 horseboxes with 16 of these
rented out to private horse owners. Riding
is a hobby for most of our customers and
the same applies to us. We’re open minded
about breeds. We keep mainly warmbloods.
A rare breed is represented here by
our Altwürttemberg horse. Additionally,
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