Germany

Germany is a compact, regionally concentrated and data-rich wine country. In 2025, the country recorded 101,965 hectares of vineyard area and produced 7.55 million hectolitres of wine and must. In the 2024/25 wine year, domestic wine use reached 17.9 million hectolitres, while the self-sufficiency rate was 44%, meaning that Germany is both a producer and a major wine-consuming market that relies substantially on imports. [1, 2, 4]

For the Observatory, Germany matters not only because of the size of its wine economy, but because its official statistics make several structural features unusually visible. In 2023, Germany had 14,150 agricultural holdings with vineyard area. These holdings employed or involved 67.7 thousand people, including family labour, permanent workers and seasonal workers. Seasonal workers represented almost half of all persons working in vineyard holdings, while family labour remained a core part of the sector. [6, 7]

The German case also shows a central Observatory paradox. The country has strong public data on vineyard area, wine production, regional distribution, holdings and labour categories. Yet the public evidence base does not provide a consolidated wine-sector measure of women-owned companies, women-managed companies, company-level reporting mechanisms, sector-specific harassment cases or women’s progression into decision-making roles.

Gender-related evidence therefore has to be read through a combination of direct sector signals and broader agricultural proxies. In German agriculture as a whole, women led 11.3% of agricultural holdings in 2023. Women accounted for around 35% of the agricultural workforce and 44% of seasonal agricultural workers. In the wine sector pipeline, the average share of women among new viticulture trainees increased from 24% in 2015-2019 to 30% in 2020-2024, while women represented 46% of new students in wine-related Bachelor programmes in winter semester 2024/25. [8, 9, 10]

The annual focus of this report is therefore: from statistical visibility to workplace accountability. Germany can see the sector’s structure with precision. The next step is to make women’s leadership, protection, reporting options and access to support equally visible.

Central Observatory question for Germany

How can Germany’s strong sector data be translated into practical protection, voice and accountability for women across vineyards, wineries, seasonal work, hospitality, training, communication and support services?

A data-rich wine sector with hidden questions of power

Germany should be read as a wine ecosystem rather than as a list of wineries. The sector includes vineyards, family holdings, wineries, cooperatives, cellar operations, regional wine associations, retail, hospitality, wine tourism, wine education, communication, distribution and support services. This ecosystem has different work settings, from small family holdings to larger companies and from vineyards to customer-facing environments.

The country’s official statistics provide a comparatively strong view of the production base. The largest listed quality wine-growing regions by vineyard area in 2025 were Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Baden, Württemberg and Mosel. These regions are not only production territories; they are also rural workplaces, education spaces, tourism destinations and local economies where prevention messages and support information need to be visible. [5]

Germany in brief

Table 1. Germany in brief. Values compiled from Destatis and BMEL/BLE public sources. See References 1–9.

A small-scale structure requiring practical tools

Germany’s vineyard structure is not defined by one type of actor. In 2023, holdings with less than 5 hectares of vineyard area represented about 60% of all vineyard holdings, but accounted for only about 14% of vineyard area. By contrast, holdings of 20 hectares or more represented about 8.5% of holdings, while accounting for about 41% of vineyard area. [6]

This structure matters for GBV prevention and workplace equality. Larger companies and larger holdings may have more formal HR systems, works councils, compliance processes or management capacity. Smaller and family-based holdings may need tools that are shorter, practical, low-cost and distributed through trusted intermediaries: regional associations, chambers, cooperatives, training institutions, business support organisations and women’s networks.

Women in German wine: visible in the pipeline, less measurable in power

The public data available for Germany does not provide a consolidated count of wine-sector companies owned by women or managed by women. This should not be hidden. It is one of the main findings of the report: Germany can measure many features of the sector, but women’s ownership, management and workplace protection in wine are still not publicly visible in the same way.

At the same time, women are clearly present in the wider agricultural workforce and in the wine-sector talent pipeline. BMEL statistics show that women represented around 35% of the agricultural workforce and 44% of seasonal agricultural workers in 2023. DWI data show that the share of women among new viticulture trainees increased from 24% to 30% across two five-year periods, and that women accounted for 46% of newly enrolled students in wine-related Bachelor programmes in winter semester 2024/25. [9, 10]

For the Observatory, these signals should be read together. Germany does not lack women in the sector. The open question is whether women’s growing presence in training, seasonal work, family labour, communication, tourism and professional networks leads to recognised authority, safe reporting routes and leadership opportunities.

Data transparency: what can be seen and what remains invisible

Germany can describe vineyard area, production, regional concentration, holdings, labour categories and several gender-related agricultural indicators with strong public sources. It cannot yet describe, with the same precision, women-owned wineries, women-managed wineries, women in wine-sector governance, wine-sector-specific harassment or GBV reports, gender pay gaps in wine companies, or the availability of confidential reporting channels across the sector.

This limitation is not a weakness of the report; it is part of the Observatory agenda.

Rights, duties and practical reach

Germany has a developed legal framework on equality, discrimination, sexual harassment, equal pay and sexual offences. For a wine-sector country profile, the practical question is how this framework reaches small holdings, family businesses, wineries, cooperatives, harvest teams, hospitality settings, training institutions and wine-related services.

Equality, discrimination and sexual harassment at work

The General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG) prohibits discrimination in working life and defines both harassment and sexual harassment as forms of discrimination. The Act covers employees, persons in vocational training, applicants and, for access to employment and promotion, self-employed persons and members of executive bodies. [11]

Under the AGG, sexual harassment includes unwanted conduct of a sexual nature such as unwanted sexual acts or requests, sexual physical contact, sexual comments or the showing of pornographic images when such conduct violates dignity and creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Employers have a duty to take necessary measures to protect employees from discrimination, including preventive measures and training. They must also protect employees from discrimination by third parties and make the competent complaint body known within the enterprise or public authority. [11]

Employees have the right to lodge a complaint if they feel discriminated against by an employer, superior, another employee or a third party. If an employer takes no or obviously unsuitable measures to stop harassment or sexual harassment in the workplace, affected employees may have the right to refuse performance without loss of pay insofar as this is necessary for their protection. [11]

Equal pay and pay transparency

The Transparency in Wage Structures Act aims to enforce equal pay for women and men for equal work or work of equal value. It prohibits direct or indirect gender-based remuneration discrimination and calls on employers to protect employees from gender discrimination in remuneration.

The Act also gives employees an entitlement to disclosure in establishments with usually more than 200 employees under the same employer and calls on private employers with usually more than 500 employees to use internal evaluation procedures. [12]

For the wine sector, this creates a two-level challenge. Larger companies and supply-chain actors can use formal pay transparency tools. Smaller wineries, holdings and family businesses may fall outside some procedural thresholds, but still need simple, practical ways to review pay, roles, progression and working conditions without reproducing gender inequality.

Sexual violence and criminal law

The German Criminal Code criminalises sexual assault, sexual coercion and rape. Section 177 refers to sexual acts performed against a person’s discernible will.

This framework is not wine-sector-specific, but it matters because workplaces must know when an issue cannot be treated only as an internal conflict or HR problem and when external support, legal advice or law-enforcement pathways may be needed. [13]

Practical relevance for the wine sector

For wine-sector stakeholders, the legal framework should be translated into visible and usable procedures. At minimum, wineries, cooperatives, associations and larger supply-chain actors should be able to show:

a clear anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy;
a known complaint contact;
protection against retaliation;
referral information for external counselling;
training for managers and team leaders;
simple onboarding information for seasonal workers.

The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency stresses that employers are obliged to protect staff from discrimination and sexual harassment, including preventive protection and staff training. The agency also points to external counselling and company complaint structures as practical routes for affected employees. [14]

Because German wine work includes harvest labour, family labour, vocational training, customer-facing events and rural work settings, prevention should not be limited to permanent employees in larger firms.

It should also be available during harvest, in training institutions, in wine tourism and hospitality, and through regional networks that small employers already trust.

Five findings for the German Observatory profile

1. Strong sector data does not yet make women’s leadership visible

Germany has strong official statistics on vineyard area, production, stocks, domestic use, regional structure, holdings and labour categories. However, no consolidated public dataset was identified on women-owned or women-managed wine-sector companies. [1, 2, 4, 6, 7]

Why this matters: without gender-disaggregated ownership and management data, the sector can see its production structure more clearly than it can see women’s power within that structure.

Stakeholder implication: future Observatory updates should prioritise women in winery ownership, management, cooperative boards, regional wine bodies, associations and young professional networks.

2. Seasonal and family labour require prevention beyond conventional HR

In 2023, 67.7 thousand people worked in agricultural holdings with vineyard area. Of these, 31.7 thousand were seasonal workers, 21.5 thousand were family labour and 14.5 thousand were permanent workers. [7]

Why this matters: workplace equality and GBV prevention cannot rely only on standard HR channels designed for permanent staff. Harvest workers, family workers and temporary workers may have less time, less information and fewer trusted reporting options.

Stakeholder implication: prevention should be integrated into harvest onboarding, seasonal-worker information, family-business guidance and regional support-service signposting.

3. A small-scale sector needs SME-compatible prevention tools

More than three quarters of German vineyard holdings had less than 10 hectares of vineyard area in 2023. Holdings of 20 hectares or more represented only 8.5% of holdings, although they accounted for around 41% of vineyard area. [6]

Why this matters: large and small actors need different routes to compliance and culture change. A long policy document may be usable for a larger company, but unrealistic for a family holding or micro-winery.

Stakeholder implication: BSOs, chambers, cooperatives and sector associations should provide ready-to-use templates, short training modules, posters, reporting-route cards and model wording for employment and harvest settings.

4. The female talent pipeline is growing, but progression needs monitoring

DWI data show that the share of women among new viticulture trainees increased from 24% in 2015–2019 to 30% in 2020–2024. Women also represented 46% of newly enrolled students in wine-related Bachelor programmes in winter semester 2024/25, while the female share of Generation Riesling members rose from 28% in 2019 to 37% in 2025. [10]

Why this matters: more women entering education and early-career networks does not automatically guarantee equal access to technical authority, leadership positions, succession or ownership.

Stakeholder implication: wine schools, universities, apprenticeship bodies and young professional networks can become strategic prevention spaces, combining technical education with workplace rights, bystander intervention and leadership development.

5. Support services must be visible in rural and mobile work settings

Germany has national and specialised support resources, including the Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen, bff counselling and rape crisis centres, Frauenhauskoordinierung and victim-support organisations such as WEISSER RING. [15, 16, 17, 18]

Why this matters: services only help when workers know they exist, trust that they can use them, and can access them confidentially. This is particularly relevant for seasonal workers, young trainees, workers in rural regions and people employed in customer-facing hospitality or events.

Stakeholder implication: every wine-sector workplace, training environment and event should make external support information visible, especially during harvest periods and public-facing events.

Germany data snapshot

Sector scale and market context

Vineyard area by wine-growing region

Holdings by vineyard-size class

Labour structure in vineyard holdings

Women-related indicators and proxies

Data visibility matrix

Monitoring priorities for the next Observatory update

Number and share of women-owned and women-managed wine-sector companies.
Women in winery management, cooperative boards, regional wine bodies and sector associations.
Availability of anti-harassment policies and complaint channels in wineries and cooperatives.
Seasonal-worker onboarding practices during harvest periods, including multilingual information and external support signposting.
Women’s transition from viticulture training and wine-related university programmes into technical authority, management and ownership.
Company-level use of pay transparency, role review and equal-progression measures where applicable.
Visibility and accessibility of support services in wine-producing regions and wine-tourism settings.

The resources below are intended to help readers move from evidence to action. They include public data sources, legal and institutional resources, support services and wine-sector networks relevant to the German report.

Official data and sector statistics

Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) – wine statistics – Official statistics on vineyard area, production, holdings, labour and wine stocks.
Destatis – vineyard area by grape variety – Useful for national vineyard-area trends and the scale of white and red grape production.
Destatis – wine and must production – Useful for annual production-volume data.
Destatis – holdings with vineyard area – Useful for understanding the small-scale and size-distributed structure of the sector.
BMEL/BLE – wine balance – Useful for domestic wine use, self-sufficiency, imports, exports and stock data.
Deutsches Weininstitut / Deutsche Weine – Sector information, press releases, statistics and public-facing material on German wine.

Legal and institutional resources

General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG) – Official English translation; key source for discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, employer duties and complaint rights.
Transparency in Wage Structures Act – Official English translation; useful for equal-pay and pay-transparency obligations.
German Criminal Code – Official English translation; relevant for criminal-law context, including sexual offences.
Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency – Institutional information and counselling on discrimination, including sexual harassment at work.

Support services and counselling

Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen – Nationwide, anonymous and confidential support for women affected by violence; available via phone and online counselling.
bff – Women against Violence – Federal association of women’s counselling centres and rape crisis centres; useful for local support and specialist expertise.
Frauenhauskoordinierung e.V. – Coordination and information resource connected to women’s shelters and support structures.
WEISSER RING – Victim-support organisation with local branches, telephone support and online counselling.

Wine-sector and women-in-wine networks

Deutscher Weinbauverband – National winegrowers’ association; relevant for sector dialogue and dissemination of prevention tools.
Deutsches Weininstitut – Sector body and communication platform for German wine.
Vinissima Frauen & Wein e.V. – Professional network for women in the German wine industry; relevant for visibility, mentoring, networking and leadership development.
Generation Riesling – Young professional network in the German wine sector; relevant for early-career engagement and prevention culture.

References

Country profile