is one of the most successful spring brewing barley varieties bred between World War I and World War II. Also referred to by its Czech name of Opavský Kneifl (or sometimes misspelled as Kneifel), this variety was developed by the Czech botanist F. Kneifl in 1926 in Opava, in the Czech-Silesian region of Moravia. Kneifl barley is a prominent descendant of an old Czech landrace called “Old-Haná agro-ecotype,” which is the barley variety that helped Czech pilsner gain its prominence during the second half of the 19th century. Nowadays, Kneifl is perhaps less well known for the beers that were made from it than for the enormous contribution it has made to the genetic composition of many modern malting and brewing barleys. Once introduced, Kneifl was used extensively in the barley breeding programs of Europe, often in conjunction with Proskowetz Hanna, an older Haná descendant that was bred in 1884. From Europe, the Kneifl genes were spread around the world. Perhaps the most important offspring of Kneifl and Hanna was the Czech Valtice (or Valtický), developed in the decade before World War II. After the war, Valtice, in turn, gave rise to many new cultivars, including the sturdy, short-stem Czech Diamant, whose breeding program started in 1956. Diamant was an x-ray-induced positive mutant. It was released to the fields in 1965, where its stalks grew about 15 cm (6 inch) shorter than those of standard varieties. In addition, it had excellent tillering characteristics and good malting qualities. As a Kneifl descendant, Diamant, too, quickly became a genetic donor to dozens of international spring brewing barley varieties, including Trumpf (also spelled Triumpf, Triumph, or Trumph), which was bred in 1973 in what was then East Germany. Both Diamant and Trumpf have since become exceptionally successful progenitors, with their genes appearing jointly in the pedigrees of some 150 barley varieties bred worldwide since the 1970s.

See also haná (barley) and triumph (barley).