The Böbel family has produced and sold meats here since the 19th century. “Plus I love life here in the countryside and, rather than leave, want to draw customers here to Rittersbach,” population 300, he added. “I want to show that small craftsman shops like mine can survive when you have clever ideas,” said Böbel, seated on a stool shaped like a tin of minced sausage. In a slope-roofed stone house, the inn with seven rooms and two conference spaces caters to foodies and tourists looking for a splash of local colour.īehind the quirky initiative is a Hail Mary bid to keep alive the local butcher's shop - an institution in most towns that was once a pillar of Germany's “Mittelstand” economy of small and medium-sized businesses - in the face of big-box store competition and slacking meat consumption. Located in a tiny village, a 40-minute drive south of the German city of Nuremberg, the Bratwurst Hotel has done brisk business since its opening in September, with guests from across Europe and overseas popping in for a visit. What sounds like a vegetarian's nightmare is the audacious dream come true of Claus Böbel, a fourth-generation butcher and proprietor of what he calls the world's first and only sausage-themed hotel.
SEE ALSO: Quiz: How well do you know German food culture? Passengers have to change trains in Neustadt.įest-goers can travel back by train from Bad Duerkheim to Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl on additional trains.įor details on train times, visit or or get the train schedule at the Window to Rheinland-Pfalz counter in the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center.įor more information on Wurstmarkt, visit or / on the menu, sausage motifs on the wallpaper, sausage mobiles hanging from the ceiling - and to top it off, a sausage-shaped pillow on your bed. They run from Kaiserslautern to Bad Duerkheim about every 30 minutes until 6 p.m. Trains are available to give visitors the chance to leave their cars at home. 12, and the second one will close out the fest 9 p.m. The event’s first fireworks display is scheduled for 9 p.m. The historical wine tents (Schubkaerchler) will open at 10 a.m. There will be food and candy booths, fest tents with live bands, and a wine village with wine tents. Rides will include merry-go-rounds, auto scooters, a giant Ferris wheel, a rollercoaster, and fast rides such as Wilde Maus XXL, Jules Verne Tower, Avenger Royal, Ghost Rider and Happy Family. a parade with musicians, vintners and officials will walk to the festival grounds, where the Wurstmarkt officially opens at 6 p.m. today with a concert in front of St.Ludwig Church on Ludwigplatz. In 1926, the Wurstmarkt got extended by a day, in 1951 by seven, and finally in 1965, the fest was extended by eight days. In the year 1910, city officials decided to celebrate the fest earlier in September and no longer on Michaels’ day, because of better weather. Market activities were relocated to the bottom of Michelsberg, and the “sausage fair” was born. Then church dignitaries no longer accepted this kind of pilgrimage. On the way up there, vendors sold their goods. However, the main attraction of the fest are 36 little wine tents called “Schubkarchstaende,” wheelbarrows, because vintners rolled wine barrels on wheelbarrows up to “Monte Sancti Michaeli,” Michelsberg hill, to quench pilgrims’ thirst in the 15th century.Įach year at the end of September on Michael’s day, pilgrims visited the little chapel on top of the hill. The Wurstmarkt, meaning sausage fair, received its name from the fact that fest goers ate enormous amounts of sausage during the event in the first part of the 19th century. This barrel actually houses a restaurant and if it was used as a barrel, it could hold 1.7 million liters of wine. Organizers expect about 600,000 visitors from all over the world.Īn amusement park with about 300 vendors and ride owners will be set up on the 45,000 square meter fest grounds, next to the “Duerkheimer Fass,” the world’s biggest wine barrel. For the 602nd time, Bad Duerkheim along the German Wine Street will host this annual fest in two parts: from today to Tuesday and then again from Sept. The traditional “Wurstmarkt,” known as the world’s biggest wine fest, will start today only 35 kilometers east of Kaiserslautern. Čourtesy photosĮditor’s Note: This article was published in a previous edition of the Kaiserslautern American and the information has been updated to reflect this year’s event. The event takes place next to the giant barrel, which houses a restaurant, today to Tuesday and Sept. Bad Duerkheim celebrates the biggest wine fest of the world.