Fragaria x ananassa 'Mieze Schindler' (STRASBERRY)

Strasberry  Rosaceae

One of the great old-fashioned strawberries, producing relatively small, deep-red fruits with strongly sunken achenes and an extraordinarily rich, aromatic flavour. The soft, delicate berries have a distinct raspberry-like appearance and an intensity of flavour rarely encountered in modern commercial strawberries. This is the real ‘Strasberry’, rather than a strawberry–raspberry hybrid: the name is a modern trade name associated with the historic German cultivar ‘Mieze Schindler’.

‘Mieze Schindler’ was bred by the German pomologist Otto Schindler in 1925, at Pillnitz near Dresden, from a cross of ‘Lucida Perfecta’ × ‘Johannes Müller’. Schindler initially regarded the seedling as of little commercial value, but his head gardener recognised its exceptional flavour and persuaded him to retain it. It was subsequently named for Schindler’s wife, whose nickname was Mieze. 

Its great weakness is also part of its charm: the flowers are functionally female and produce no fertile pollen, so another strawberry must be grown nearby to provide pollination. This limits its productivity but has helped preserve its reputation as a connoisseur’s strawberry. 

The cultivar survived largely in private gardens in the former East Germany after disappearing from mainstream commercial production, before being brought back to wider attention and sold under the trade name ‘Strasberry’. The name should not be confused with ‘Framberry’, which is a distinct, later strawberry associated with the Mieze Schindler type and marketed as self-fertile. ‘Strasberry’ itself is the historic Mieze Schindler.

• Hardiness: H6, -20 to -15°C
• Height: 15–25 cm
• Spread: 30–45 cm
• Flowers: April–May
• Fruit: June–July