German Red Pied Holstein
(most common name in English)

(most common name):
• Deutsche Holstein Rotbunt
local/other name (English):
• Red Holstein (RH)

The German Red Pied Holstein started with cattle that originated on the south end of the Jutland Peninsula when it was a singular region known as Schleswig-Holstein.

An amalgamation of polder and geest cattle strains in the Schleswig-Holstein region was named the Red Pied Schleswig-Holstein (Rotbunte Schleswig-Holsteiner ). Other names for this amalgamation included Holstein Marsh, Holstein Red Pied, and Red Pied Holstein.

Starting after 1850, these Red Pied Schleswig-Holstein cattle were then crossbred in great numbers with Dutch Meuse-Rhine-Yssel (MRY) bulls. Doing this established uniformity in the breed – so an umbrella breeding society for Red Pied Schleswig-Holstein cattle was established in 1870.

Then, in 1934, they were amalgamated into the German Red Pied Lowland and this name was shortened to the German Red Pied. These were true dual-purpose (dairy/beef) animals.

Starting in 1980s, the continued development of the Red Holstein (USA) led German breeders to push their German Red Pied population into two distinct directions: dairy and dual-purpose. Because of this, they are now raised and recorded as the dairy-focused German Red Pied Holstein and the Red Pied dual purpose.

geest = raised landscape on the plains of northern Germany, northern Netherlands and Denmark

polder = low-lying land that has been reclaimed from the sea or a river and is protected by dikes

This page was last updated on: 2023-05-17

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