Dürkheim sausage market

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Sausage market at night (2014)
Sausage market from the ferris wheel (2010)

The Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt is a folk festival in the Rhineland-Palatinate spa and district town of Bad Dürkheim on the German Wine Route . The festival, first held in 1417, takes place every year on the second and third weekend in September and is considered the largest wine festival in the world with over 600,000 visitors . In 2012, 685,000 guests attended the festival, more than ever before. The population of the city, around 18,000, was thus exceeded 38 times. Even with the less pleasant weather in 2014, around 640,000 guests were counted, according to the city administration.

history

Pilgrimages and Michaelmas market

Origin: Michelsberg with the eponymous chapel

The small Michelsberg is located 1 km northeast of Bad Dürkheim and is geologically only 147.4  m above sea level. NHN to the vine hills on the German Wine Route . In 1155 a text written in Latin testified for the first time the "Monte sancti Michaelis". The name suggests that there was an early sanctuary dedicated to the Archangel Michael with a corresponding church, whose patronage festival fell on September 29th. According to later sources, there is evidence of a St. Michael's Chapel, which belonged to the Pfeffingen parish 300 m away and was looked after by a clergyman . It was dismantled in 1601 and the current building was rebuilt in 1990.

Increasing numbers of pilgrims attracted more and more farmers and winegrowers from the area for the Michael Festival , who transported their agricultural products with wheelbarrows to the Kapellenberg and offered the pilgrims mainly wine from the Palatinate , sausage and bread. Also dealers , jugglers and musicians found a, so that gradually developed a lively market activity. The new market soon gained supra-regional economic importance. Historians date the origin of the current Michaelismarkt to the year 1417. It is documented for the first time in 1442, when the city of Speyer asked the Count of Leiningen for safe conduct for their merchants when they visited the fair on the Michaelsberg, and Count Emich VII promised by document dated August 25, 1443. In 1449, the abbot of Limburg Abbey , located on the edge of the mountains above Dürkheim, issued a first market regulation and converted the market into a public church festival . In 1487, Peter Kercher, dean of the St. Guido monastery in Speyer , obtained indulgences from a total of eight cardinals for pilgrims and benefactors of the Michael's Chapel ; among them were Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini , who later became Pope Pius III. , a guardian of German interests in Rome, and Giuliano della Rovere , known as Pope Julius II , who laid the foundation stone for today 's St. Peter's Basilica .

In the 16th century traders came from all over the Palatinate . Not only fruit and vegetables as well as animals such as ox, horses or pigs were offered, but also wool and linen merchants, kesslers, furriers, white tanners, tinsmiths, saddlers, shoemakers, turners, hat makers, iron merchants and other professional groups kept their goods for sale.

From the hill to the meadow

Because of the cramped conditions on the Michaelsberg, the Michaelismarkt was finally relocated down to the foot of the hill in 1577 on the approx. 45,000 m² Brühlwiesen , which extends to the left of the Isenach river at a height of 115  m . The market still takes place there today. The increased economic importance and the income associated with the market tariff led to ongoing disputes between the Limburg monastery and the Counts of Leiningen, who had one of their main castles, the Hardenburg , near Dürkheim. Therefore, one even considered moving the festival to Frankenthal , which the Elector Palatinate had granted city rights in 1577 . With the introduction of the Reformation , the religious dimension of the festival disappeared. The Michaelskapelle was demolished in 1601 and only rebuilt in 1990 on a historical site.

After 1800

At the beginning of the 17th century there was a further expansion of the market, and by the end of the 18th century the market had already gone on for three days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday). With the temporary incorporation of the Palatinate into the French state after the invasion of French troops in 1797/98, the right to hold the market passed to the city of Dürkheim.

While the traders lost in importance, entertainment offers became more and more important. In 1830, now under Bavarian administration, there was a circus, fire eater, a puppet theater, a "riding school" (Palatine name for carousel ) and other showmen, as well as a large number of musicians. In 1832 the name "Wurstmarkt" was officially mentioned for the first time. The reason for this was the enormous sausage consumption during the festival.

In 1879 the Wurstmarktzeitung appeared for the first time , in which until 1981 writers and dialect poets from the Palatinate , but also painters and graphic artists presented the Wurstmarkt.

In 1882 the "aftermarket" was created, which was initially limited to the following Sunday; to distinguish the original market weekend was now called "Vormarkt". In 1888 there was a variety theater, photographers, carousels, ball-throwing and shooting booths as well as drinking halls and cookshops. At that time, the circus became the main attraction of the sausage market.

After 1900

Sausage market from the air (2011)
In the crowd (2008)
Sausage market at night (2019)

It was not until 1910 that the organizers moved the festival to the second and third weekend in September on a trial basis, because then the weather in the region is usually more stable than at the end of the month. The relocation became official in 1913, when the Royal Bavarian State Government gave its final approval. At the same time, the pre- and post-market were each extended to Saturday, so that the sausage market now lasted six days. In 1926 the sausage market was then extended by a further day, in 1951 by the seventh day and in 1965 by the eighth. Since 1985, when the pre-market Friday was added as a festival, Bad Dürkheim has celebrated its “festival of festivals” for nine days. In 1932 the Deutsche Reichsbahn issued reduced return tickets to visit the sausage market for the first time.

In 1934, the winery owner and master cooper Fritz Keller built the giant wooden barrel , which has a volume of around 1,700,000 liters. Since then, with an extension added in 1958, it has served as a wine bar and restaurant.

There was no sausage market during the Second World War . In 1947 an autumn festival was celebrated instead of the sausage market . In 1948 there was no sausage market, but a fish market due to the lack of meat. Only breads and sausages with fish fillings could be sold; in addition, each guest was only entitled to one bottle of wine. Compliance with this limitation was ensured by punching an ID card. That year, 46,650 bottles of wine at 5 RM each were  sold.

In 1949 the first "regular" post-war sausage market took place. The economic upturn that followed caused the sausage market to boom. Between 1949 and 1958, wine consumption almost doubled to 158,673 liters.

From the 1950s onwards, many new rides came onto the sausage market. The “rotor”, “people stick to the wall” (1955), “ nozzle spiral ”, “bobsleigh track”, “three-story car racing track” and “Taifun” (1957), “Sputnik” with a wreath of space capsules, a new one “Super Ferris Wheel” and a “six-column bumper car” (1959) are just a few of the attractions of the time, which became bigger, higher and faster in the 1960s.

In 1966, wine consumption exceeded the 200,000 liter limit for the first time. Now it has also been confirmed on the official posters: the sausage market was the largest wine festival in the world.

With reference to the Summer Olympics in Munich , the sausage market was referred to in 1972 as the "Schoppen Olympiad". In 1973 the opening ceremony was given a new form. Since then, historical game scenes refer to the traditional roots of the sausage market.

Current

Wine and sparkling wine offer

The organizers prescribe a high quality range of wines and sparkling wines. All products offered must either have a wine seal from the German Agricultural Society (DLG) or an award from the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Agriculture . These awards must be from the current year.

All wine dispensing outlets are obliged to offer a range of wines appropriate to the sausage market. So you have to serve four different wines; one of them has to be a Riesling , one must be able to be assigned to the flavor "dry" or "semi-dry" and have this designation on the label. While the winemakers used to rely mainly on white wines for the grape varieties , since 2004 it has also been possible to dispense red wine at all dispensing points. In 2009, 15 white and 15 red grape varieties were offered, including 88 different Palatinate Rieslings alone . At the Dürkheim sausage market, the wine is often consumed as a - mostly sour - spritzer , preferably in pots or dub glasses that hold half a liter.

Ambience

The centerpiece of the Dürkheim sausage market has long been the Schubkärchler , whose name is derived from the wheelbarrows used by the market feeders in the early days. The Schubkärchler have around 120 seats at wooden tables and benches in 36 historical wine stands covered with tarpaulin. Music bands play live music in two wine halls and one beer hall. Various Palatinate specialties are prepared in two dining tents .

music

Even if the sausage market's music scene has gradually opened up to the modern age , traditional folk music is still the most widespread. Sepp Gußmann , who had been considered the “honorary bandmaster of the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt” for 40 years, was retired in 2007 when he was 80 years old. When he died in 2015, the city of Bad Dürkheim dedicated an obituary to him on its website.

Palatinate dialect

Since the 1960s, the literary morning pint has been held on the first Monday of the sausage market , at which Palatinate dialect poets present their mother tongue in words and songs. In addition to various music groups, this includes a. the poets Eugen Damm († 2017), Gisela Gall, Waltraud Meißner , Hans Jürgen Schweizer, Hans-Peter Schwöbel and Paul Tremmel . Günther Hauck, who had moderated the event for 20 years, was succeeded in 2007 by the “Dürkheimer Bard” Reinhard Brenzinger . In 2009, Südwest 3 took a TV recording for the first time with Judith Kauffmann as co-presenter in the program.

literature

  • Eva Klag-Ritz (editor) and Hartmut Frien (photos): The Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt . Pfälzische Verlagsanstalt, Landau in der Pfalz 1988, ISBN 978-3-87629-137-6 .
  • Kurt Lukas: 50 years of the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt - the largest wine festival in the world . Documentation of the sausage market in 1938, the autumn festivals in 1947 and 1948 and the sausage markets from 1949 to 1998. Bad Dürkheim 1999 (Festschrift).

Web links

Commons : Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Since 1985, the festival begins on the Friday before the second Sunday in September.
  2. ↑ Peter Spengler: Monster Monday to an absolute record . In: Die Rheinpfalz , local edition Bad Dürkheimer Zeitung . Ludwigshafen September 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ Peter Spengler (psp): Wurstmarkt levels off with 640,000 visitors . In: The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen September 24, 2014, p. 15 .
  4. ↑ a b Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
  5. ↑ Ernst Christmann: Field names between the Rhine and Saar . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, 1965, p. 51 ( detail scan ).
  6. ↑ Michael Frey : Attempt of a geographical-historical-statistical description of the royal. Bayer. Rhine circle . tape 2 ( Frankenthal Court District ). Speyer 1838, p. 415 f . ( Digital scan ).
  7. ↑ Michael's Chapel. bad-duerkheim.com, accessed on September 9, 2017 .
  8. ^ Johann Georg Lehmann : Historical paintings from the Rhine district of Bavaria . tape 2 . Heidelberg 1834, p. 141 ( digital scan ).
  9. ^ Franz Xaver Glasschröder : New documents on the Palatinate church history in the Middle Ages . Publishing house of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, Speyer 1930, p. 74 (Deed No. 121).
  10. ^ Franz Xaver Glasschröder: Documents on the Palatinate Church History in the Middle Ages . Munich 1903, p. 226 (document regist No. 550).
  11. ↑ Michael's Chapel. regionalgeschichte.net, accessed on April 22, 2018 .
  12. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz of September 3, 1932, No. 36. Announcement No. 557, p. 222.
  13. ↑ 88 classy Rieslings alone . In: The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen September 9, 2009.
  14. ↑ Alexander Mathé: Wurstmarkt: The Oktoberfest of wine . In: Wine Autumn 2012 . S. 30 f . (Supplement to the Wiener Zeitung of October 27, 2012).
  15. ↑ Sepp Gußmann died. City of Bad Dürkheim, accessed on March 11, 2015 .
  16. ↑ a b "Literary" on Südwest-Fernsehen . In: The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen September 9, 2009.

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '57  .7 " N , 8 ° 10' 15.7"  E