Ingelheim Red Wine Festival
The red wine festival is the largest local festival in the city of Ingelheim am Rhein in the Mainz-Bingen district . It takes place annually from the last weekend in September to the first weekend in October around the castle church .
history
The red wine festival has its origins in the Ober-Ingelheimer curb, which was celebrated on the Ober-Ingelheim market square until 1931 . It was replaced in 1932 by the Ober-Ingelheim Wine Festival, which was now also held on what was then Römerplatz not far from the market square (today An der Burgkirche). From this succession, the vintage festival developed in 1935, which was then moved to the area around the castle church. Lotte Diefenbach was the first wine queen of the vintage in 1935.
During the war years there was no festival, as early as 1946 a small Ober-Ingelheim wine festival was held around the castle church. The first city-wide festival (Ingelheim became a town in 1939) took place in 1947 under the name Winzerfest, at which the first red wine queen Ruth I was crowned. A pageant was also held at that time, which was led from Mainzer Strasse in Nieder-Ingelheim via Grundstrasse to Ober-Ingelheimer Marktplatz. In 1948 it was given the final name Red Wine Festival. Even then, it was used to advertise Ingelheim wine. In the first post-war years there was still a great shortage of glasses and bottles, so visitors had to bring their own glasses and bottles. The occupying powers did not always make life easy for the people of Ingelheim in the first few years, so in 1947 only 10,000 liters of wine were released.
Cultural
The focus has always been on Ingelheim wine, but the connection to the castle church and the defensive wall around which the festival takes place has always attracted attention. In the beginning, a festival called Ritter-Rebe-Roter-Wein was performed on the open-air stage in front of the castle church. Even during the festival in early years, people in historical costumes were posted on the defensive wall as a guard. Today, the cultural closeness is expressed in tours through the fortifications of the castle church and guided tours through the Ingelheim imperial palace . For several years now, the fortified walls of the castle church have been illuminated in color at night during the festive season.
Red wine festival today
Today the red wine festival is predominantly a folk festival with the usual rides such as breakdance or bumper cars and the culinary snack stands and amusement stands that are usual for a fair. Many wine stands are characteristic, for example in the rose garden, where there are only wine stands from local winemakers. Every year there is a program for every age group on all festive days, spread over three stages on the fairground (marquee, open-air stage in front of the castle church and rose garden). Fixed components of the program are always an Ingelheim evening, an afternoon for senior citizens, the mayor's red wine tasting and the traditional morning pint. The festival week ends with a firework display.
The first red wine festival Sunday is a shopping Sunday on which Bahnhofstrasse from the market square to the city center is completely closed and a flea market is held along the entire route . In addition, the shops in Ober-Ingelheim, in the city center and some shops in the Nahering industrial park are open. The Neue Mitte Ingelheim shopping center , which opened in November 2011, has been there since 2012 .
For some years now, in cooperation with the city youth department and the addiction and youth counseling service, there has been a so-called green room in which exclusively non-alcoholic drinks and a diverse program for minors are offered.
Red wine queen and red wine princesses
A red wine festival week is always opened on Saturdays with the coronation of the new queen and the abdication of the previous red wine queen. She will then officiate for the entire following year and represent Ingelheim at festive events. There are also two red wine princesses at her side, who are also newly appointed every year at the opening. According to tradition, the red wine queen wears a red dress, which represents the grapes, the princesses green clothes, which represent the vines. The first court was in office in 1947/1948. In addition to the crown, a so-called Ingelheim ring has been worn by the reigning red wine queen and her red wine princesses since 2012 .
Web links
literature
- Hans Jürgen Finkenauer: 50 years of the Ingelheim Red Wine Festival, Wolf printing company, Ingelheim 1997