The systematic Sweet Cherry Breeding in Germany dates to the first work of R. Nebel and C.F. Rudloff in Müncheberg in 1928. After the Second World War, this work was continued by M. Schmidt in Müncheberg until 1955.
In 1953 E.L. Loewel, E.v. Vahl and F.-G. Zahn started a new breeding program in Jork. As a result, the cultivars 'Alma', 'Annabella', 'Bianca', 'Erika', 'Oktavia', 'Regina', 'Valeska', and 'Viola' were selected. From 1985 to 1999 the program was continued by H. Schmidt in Ahrensburg.
A second breeding programme was started in Naumburg by H. Mihatsch and M. Fischer in 1958 and continued in Dresden-Kauscha from 1971 to 1990. The released cultivars from this program are 'Namare', 'Namosa', 'Naprumi', 'Namati', and 'Nadino'. After both breeding programs were terminated, the plant material was transferred to Dresden-Pillnitz, where sweet cherry breeding has been continued by M. Schuster since 2001.
Seven new cultivars have already been released: 'Narana', Swing® 'PiSue 192', 'Habunt', 'Areko', 'Polka', Aria® 'PiSue 161', and 'PiSue 177'. Nineteen new promising breeding clones are currently under multi-site testing and approximately 100 clones are in stage II evaluation. The main breeding objectives are fruit quality, like size, firmness, sugar content, high productivity, self-fertility, and high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Image 1: Ripening time - JKI sweet cherry cultivars in comparison to cultivars 'Burlat', 'Kordia', and 'Regina'.
Mirko Schuster
Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, D-01326 Dresden (DE)
05 Jun 2025
The 2025 cherry season in Spain’s Jerte Valley, Extremadura, started late but aims for stable output, local labor recruitment, and cautious entry into the Chinese market. The Protected Designation of Origin is also expanding to include three historic varieties.
20 Aug 2026
A study on sweet cherry dormancy combines plant physiology, metabolomics and NDVI/FAPAR vegetation indices from Sentinel and Landsat imagery, highlighting scalable tools to monitor canopy senescence, physiological activity and orchard phenology across the seasonal cycle.
18 Sep 2026
Canada and the US settle the dispute over Staccato® cherries. Monson Fruit Company will pay past and future royalties, stop propagating new Staccato® trees through 2029 and refrain from exporting fruit outside the US through 2032, ending a six-year long legal battle.
18 Sep 2026
Centro Fruticultura Sur will host a seminar in Chillán, Chile, on protected fruit cultivation, featuring two new publications on covered cherry production and European hazelnut physiology and management, with tools to address climate variability in modern orchards.
