BAD DURKHEIM WURSTMARKT
Wine and Sausage Festival on the
German Wine Road
The
German Wine Road (Deutsche Weinstrasse) cuts through the Rhineland
Palatine (Rheinland-Pfalz) region of Germany from the border with Baden-Wurttemberg
to the Rhine River at Koblenz. The center of this wine growing region
is Bad Durkheim between Kaiserslautern and Speyer, the original historic
capital of the area. Wine growing started here in the 1700s
after what has been called the Auswanderung, when many of the area
population left for the Americas on offers of land from Britain’s
Queen Anne hoping to populate the colonies with Protestants (see Wandering
Immigrants).
Travel along the wine road takes you through rolling hills of vineyards
past village after village with small family wineries (Weinguts).
The
wine road through the Palatine is not nearly as well known internationally
as the Mosel and along the Rhine River, but provide a unique experience
for the wine traveler. Some of the wineries, 144 of them near Bad Dürkheim
as you follow the signs along the German Wine Road, offer wine tasting
and bed and breakfast lodging. Some you knock on the door and find
yourself standing in someone’s living room, taking a taste of
the recent family vintage, before buying a bottle or two as the kids
get ready to run off to school. 
For
some of these, take a journey through the narrow streets of tiny towns,
like the Sippel Weingut in Weisenheim
am Berg. The area also offers golf courses for those staying at the
many B&Bs. The Sudliche Weinstrasse starting near Wissembourg to
Landau features more of red Pinots and the Middle Haart/Deutches Weinstrasse
Neustadt to Bockenheim is predominatly
Rieslings and whites. The gentle slopes on the wine route makes for
unstrenuous biking or hiking.
Durkheimer Wurstmarkt
In
September, the Durkheimer Wurstmarkt - called a Sausage Fair, but really
a wine festival, billed as the "World’s Largest Wine Festival",
offers a sample of wines and beers with a mixed variety of sausages
on sampling plates in 36 traditional stalls of wooden benches, cozy
with fellow revelers, the "Schubkärchler". This region’s
version of Oktoberfest has been a tradition for almost 600 years since 1417.
Officially started as a medieval festival to celebrate St. Michael
and feed pilgrims known as the "Michelismarkt", the Wurstmarkt
has become one of the oldest and largest fall festivals in Germany
with the entertainment assortment of carnival rides, a giant ferris
wheel. 
The wine on offer for tasting is all from the local wineries
of the Palatine German Wine Road and the food available is of many
regional styles beyond the sausages. Special feature of the Dürkheimer
Festival are the Wine Village where a dozen local wineries offer varieties
from their cellars running the gamut from white wines, sparkling wines
(sekt) to red wines in special branded glasses. Like all the big German
festivals, carnival rides accompany the wine and sausage festivities.
Other festivals are held along the wine road as well – almost
200 of them counting events of individual wineries. Bockenheim has
its wine days (Wein Tage) in the early spring, usually the end of March.
Durkheimer Festival Dates 2014 – Weekends Sept. 12-24
Sight seeing in the area include the Pfalzmuseum of Natural History, the Romanesque Cloister Ruins of Limburg (Klosterruine Limberg), the Castle Hardenburg ruins (see Castle Hardenburg) and the Frankenstein Castle ruin (see Frankenstein Ruin Rhineland), a selection of small historic churches, some dating to the 11th Century, and a Roman stone quarry (the Romans seemed to have trampled all over this part of what was called Germania) .
Tasting and Lodging at Weinguts
Housed
in the original 18th Century manor, and perhaps the original winery
in the area, just on the edge of the Bad Durkheim on the road to Kaiserslautern,
the Gut Zumstein offers
a restaurant, tasting and Bed & Breakfast accommodation with packages
for two or three night stays perfect for a romantic getaway or a honeymoon
for the wineenthusiast or unique vacation destination. Just off 
the
autobahn to the east of town the KatharinenHof Winery
offers guest house accomodation and apartments as well as tasting and
their
own wine garden restaurant. The Fritz-Ritter
Winery is one of the oldest
and grandest in Bad Durkheim, just across the street from the giant
wine barrel (see Durkheimer Fass Wine Barrel) with a beautiful garden
park on the estate with wine events throughout the year, guest
rooms and a private cottage with a swimming pool.
The German Wine road through the low hills also is the route of least
resistance from the Alsace region of France to the Rhine River and has
been the path of more than one army attempting to gain a footing in southern
Germany from the Romans to the War of Succession to Napoleon and the
allied forces of WWII. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Find
best hotel and vacation deals in the Rhineland on TripAdvisor
Web
Info
Bad
Durkeim Tourism
(in German)
SEE ALSO:
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER RHINE & MOSEL WINE FESTIVALS
WINE
ROAD OF NORTH ALSACE
ROMANTIC
CASTLE HOTEL BURG
REICHENSTEIN
GERMANY’S
CASTLE ROAD - BURGENSTRASSE
WINE MUSEUM AND VINEYARD TRAILS OF STUTTGART
