The Pastorius House in Sommerhausen has been home to the winery with hotel garni of Artur and Elfriede Steinmann for 100 years. In 1916 Steinmann's grandfather Karl was able to purchase the magnificent mid-17th century half-timbered house, to which a half-timbered extension was added around 1825. At that time, Steinmann had returned home from the war seriously injured. In the years that followed, he laboriously built an existence for his family and himself with a fruit trade, small farming and hedge management. In 1960, Karl Steinmann Jr. converted the small farm entirely to viticulture and in 1982 was able to hand over a fairly well-running business to his son Artur.
Independence from large-scale marketers and reconciliation with nature, respect for the history of the home region and its people, and the highest esteem for the family are just a few of Artur Steinmann's maxims in life. The successful winemaker is also a bit of a free spirit, because he doesn't believe in anything industrial, for example, when it comes to wine. In the Sommerhäuser vineyards or in the vineyards of Frickenhausen, Steinmann grows Silvaner and Riesling grapes, Müller-Thurgau and various red wines. The new building of a vinotheque at the Sommerhäuser Plan, completed in May 2015, is due to the desire for an appropriately contemporary presentation of Steinmann wines. An old outbuilding was demolished to make room for a discreetly modern pavilion for the wine. This was done so prudently that even the historic red sandstone slabs hidden under the foundation could be saved intact. Oak wood and shell limestone in combination with frosted concrete and a lot of glass were used in the new building. The vinotheque opens to the small inner courtyard with its revitalized fountain by means of large French doors. The vinotheque's window display case facing the marketplace features, welded into the glass, excerpts from the memorandum of Franz Daniel Pastorius, which the lawyer wrote in 1688 in North America against slavery.
