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Annual event starts as pilgrimage
***image1***The traditional “Wurstmarkt,” known as the world’s biggest wine fest, starts today only 35 kilometers east of Kaiserslautern. For the 591st time, the event takes place in Bad Dürkheim on the German Wine Street. The traditional wine fest lures more than 600,000 visitors from throughout Germany and Europe.
The event is celebrated on the town’s festgrounds in two parts: from today through Tuesday, and Sept. 14 to 17. It features a big amusement park with a giant Ferris wheel and many other rides, food and candy booths, fest tents, a wine village with wine tents and a vintners’ garden. There will also be fireworks displays, at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Sept. 17.
The Wurstmarkt, meaning sausage fair, is more than 500 years old. It received its name from the fact that early fest goers ate enormous amounts of sausage during the event in the first part of the 19th century.
However, the main attractions of the fest are 36 little wine tents called “Schubkärchler,” or wheelbarrows, because vintners rolled wine barrels on wheelbarrows up to Michelsberg hill to quench pilgrims’ thirst in the 15th century.
Each year at the end of September on Michael’s day, pilgrims visited the little chapel on top of the hill, which resulted in market activities with many vendors selling their goods on the hill and along the streets leading up to the chapel. When church dignitaries no longer accepted this type of pilgrimage, market activities were relocated to the bottom of Michelsberg, and the “sausage fair” was born.
While vendors lost importance throughout the years, amusement features became more and more important. In the year 1830, there was a circus, fire-eater, puppet theater, riding school, showmen and musicians.
In the year 1910, city officials decided to celebrate the fest earlier in September and not on Michaels’ day, because of better weather. In 1926, the Wurstmarkt got extended by one additional day; in 1951 by seven, and finally in 1965, the fest was extended by eight days.
During World War II, the event didn’t take place. After the war, in 1947, a fall fest was celebrated instead. In 1948, there was a fish market due to the lack of meat. Vendors sold fish sandwiches and fish wurst. On top of that, each visitor was allowed only one bottle of wine.
***image2***The first regular Wurstmarkt after the war took place in 1949. The fest officially starts at 5:30 p.m. today with an opening parade leading from the Kurhaus to the festival grounds. The festival grounds are located near the “Dürkheimer Fass,” the biggest wine barrel in the world which houses a restaurant. It could hold 1.7 million liters of wine.The little wine tents (Schubkärchler) will open at 10 a.m. each day.
According to Mayor Wolfgang Lutz, a total of 303 wines and sparkling wines will be offered and 19 bands will perform party music, traditional jazz, rock, pop and German folk music in the fest tents.
For more information, visit www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de.
