The Research Institute for Horticulture and Viticulture in Geisenheim/Rheingau was founded in 1872 by Baron Eduard von Lade as the then Royal Prussian Teaching Institution for Fruit and Vine Cultivation.

Eduard von Lade was born in 1817 in Geisenheim as the son of a wealthy wine merchant. With export, banking, and also arms businesses both domestically and abroad, he amassed a considerable fortune and was able to retire in Geisenheim at the age of 44 in 1861. He had Monrepos, a luxurious villa in the classical style with extensive parklands near the banks of the Rhine, built there. From then on, he devoted himself to his private interests, the most important of which included fruit cultivation and the breeding of new fruit varieties.

It is said that he sent boxes of selected apples and pears multiple times to King Wilhelm I of Prussia and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, along with a request to be allowed to establish a "pomological university" in the area preferred for fruit cultivation around Geisenheim. After a few years, he was successful in this endeavor. He was also successful as a hobby astronomer. The Lade crater (1.3°S 10.1°E) on the moon and the asteroid 340 Eduarda were named after him.  

The initial tasks of the research institute included research, especially in the areas of viticulture and pomology (Greek: the study of fruit cultivation), as well as the organization of studies in horticulture and viticulture in Geisenheim. In 1972, research and training were institutionally separated. The institute continues to perform research tasks in the fields of horticulture and viticulture as well as beverage technology, while the Hochschule RheinMain maintains the Geisenheim department with its ten degree programs and fields of study in close cooperation with the research institute.

The Geisenheim Research Institute was financed, in addition to the acquisition of third-party funding, by the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate until 2011, which regulated the operation and financing of the research institute in a state treaty. After the state treaty was terminated by Rhineland-Palatinate in June 2010, the state of Hesse took over the sole financing from 2011 onwards.

Among other things, the Müller-Thurgau grape variety and the foundations for HoheC and Dr. Koch drink 10 were established in Geisenheim.

Today, interdisciplinary collaboration takes place in scientific projects at five institutes with a total of 13 subject areas, focusing on topics such as green biotechnology (hypersensitivity issues, resistance breeding), viticulture questions (alcohol management, sensory analysis, climate), forward-looking technologies, and issues concerning the internal quality and value-adding ingredients in wine, fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plant cultivation.