Mainz wine market

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Mainz Wine Market 2018

The Mainz Wine Market is one of the three major folk festivals in Mainz , alongside the Mainz Carnival and the Mainz Johannis Festival . It takes place every year on the last weekend in August and the first weekend in September in the Mainz City and Volkspark and attracts up to 350,000 visitors on the two festival weekends .

history

The history of the Mainz wine market goes back to the beginning of the 20th century . The administration under Mayor Wilhelm Ehrhard was looking for new ways to increase the lucrative tourism in Mainz with new attractions. The first wine market did not take place until September 3, 1932 in the Mainz city hall. Until the outbreak of the Second World War , this took place every year and, after an interruption due to the war, was resumed in 1946 as the first folk festival on the Rhine. For this first Mainz wine market after the war, the French occupying power at the time, in cooperation with the city commandant of Mainz Louis Théodore Kleinmann, provided 100,000 liters of wine. With the surplus of 60,000 Reichsmarks from the proceeds of the wine market in 1946, the Mainzer Verkehrsverein , the original initiator of the Mainz wine market, was re-established.

In 1965 the previous fairground, Halleplatz, had to be cleared because of the new Rheingoldhalle . The Mainz wine market took place for the first time this year in the Mainz Volkspark (the former Thingplatz). The spatial expansion of the festival, the addition of numerous other attractions and the establishment of a shuttle service to the city center resulted in a significant increase in the number of visitors.

In 1969 the wine-growing communities Ebersheim , Laubenheim and Hechtsheim were incorporated into Mainz. In the course of the Mainz wine market, the election of a Mainz wine queen took place there. In 1982 the Mainz wine market celebrated its 50th anniversary; Since 1984, the Weinmarkt has been significantly expanded again by adding the grounds of the Mainz City Park and other artistic program components.

Mainz wine market as a cultural festival

Cultural components were integrated into the Volksfest Weinmarkt at an early stage. As early as 1953, during the wine market, the dance pantomime "The Story of Weindoktor Faust " by Dr. Robert Schmidt premiered with 130 participants. The presentation of the importance of Mainz as a wine city since Roman times and as one of the largest wine-growing cities in Germany are closely linked to the Mainz wine market. With the integration of the city park, the Mainz wine market, similar to the Johannisfest, was supplemented by an artist exhibition with around 100 participating artists and a book flea market in the rose garden, as well as an extensive musical program. Cultural walks from the old town of Mainz to the festival area with special city-historical themes (e.g. “ Schinderhannes ”, “ Lustschloss Favorite ”) are part of the Mainz wine market.

Mainz wine market as a folk festival

The Mainz wine market was basically divided into two parts. In the city park there are almost exclusively the wine stands of the winemakers from Mainz and the surrounding area. The aim is to create a pleasant ambience for wine lovers and to implement the original idea of ​​the Mainz wine market. Until 2007, there were all kinds of driving attractions in the Mainz Volkspark. Both parks are connected by a pedestrian bridge and are not far apart. The festival was concluded with a large brilliant fireworks display on the last day. Since 2008, the festival has been concentrating on its original roots as a wine market, and the closing fireworks are also dispensed with.

Old Mainz city soldiers

Since 1936 the old Mainz city soldiers have been guarding the wine festival as a protective force for the noble drinkers . They are based on the former guards of the Mainz Republic . Since then, the "soldiers" have been provided by the princess' guard due to the similarity of the uniforms .

After the Second World War, the city soldiers appeared again for the first time at the wine festival in 1948 and were accepted by the French and American occupation troops, and sometimes even greeted militarily. Since then there has been no wine market without her. The Lord Mayor Jockel Fuchs appointed her in 1969 as the body regiment of the Mainz Wine Queens .

literature

  • Hans Baumann: Considerations on the history of the wine market . In: Mainz. Quarterly issues for culture, politics, economics, history . Number 3/3. Born 1983. Verlag H. Schmidt Mainz, pp. 88-94, ISSN  0720-5945

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heiko Beckert: Mainzer Weinmarkt: City wants to maintain high visitor numbers with an expanded range. In: Allgemeine-zeitung.de. August 25, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 24.5 ″  N , 8 ° 17 ′ 15.5 ″  E