6 minute read
ABC in KMC: Riesenfass and Dubbeglas
by Gina Hutchins-Inman
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Bad Dürkheim is a quaint little city with about 19,000 inhabitants just around the corner from the Kaiserslautern Military Community. It is well worth a day trip through the pristine Palatinate Forest with paper mills along the road, or extend your journey along the Deutsche Weinstrasse and combine it with cozy Neustadt.
Romans and Medieval trading hub
The city traces its roots back to Roman times, when the settlement was known as Salodurum. The Romans established a villa and wine growing estates around the first century A.D., leveraging the region’s mild climate and fertile soils.
The town’s first documented mention dates to 778 A.D. in the Lorsch Codex, where “Durrenchiricha” (interpreted as “church by the currant field”) appears. Over the Middle Ages, it grew under the Counts of Leiningen, benefiting from its position on the northern edge of the Haardt Mountains and along key trade routes.
Bad Dürkheim’s inner town grew around a medieval market square first and became a thriving trading hub in the High Middle Ages, with merchants and craftsmen settling along the Isenach stream. Town rights were granted in 1360 and, despite setbacks during the Thirty Years’ War, the core retained its compact street grid and market functions.
The construction of Dürkheim’s hilltop castle (Ruine Hardenburg) brought additional regional power to the area. During the 16th century the town suffered devastation during the Peasants’ War (1525) and the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), leading to population decline and rebuilding efforts.
Railway and spa
Industrialization brought a railway in 1847, connecting Bad Dürkheim to the wider Palatinate and boosting commerce and tourism. The discovery of local brine springs led to the establishment of spa facilities in 1904.
A brine spring, or salt spring, is a naturally occurring spring whose water is heavily saturated with dissolved salt rather than fresh water. These springs aren’t necessarily located directly above rock-salt (halite) deposits; saline groundwater often seeps through clay and gravel layers from higher ground and emerges in valley bottoms as brine springs.
In 1911, the town gained the prefix “Bad,” which means spa in recognition of its therapeutic offerings and has specialized in curing respiratory diseases. Other towns, such as Bad Kreuznach, Bad Münster or Bad Bergzabern in the area, are also highly esteemed as spa towns.
Riesenfass
In 1934 Bad Dürkheim gained a further attraction and boasts the largest wine barrel on the globe. The Riesenfass was built by local vineyard owner and master cooper Fritz Keller, using traditional stave-construction techniques, nearly 200 Black Forest spruce trees yielding 178 staves (each 15 m long and 15 cm thick), and yielding a 1.7-million-liter volume.
Despite its monumental size, the Riesenfass has never held wine. Instead, it houses a restaurant and wine tavern: the two-level interior seats about 430 guests, and in 1958 a wooden “Bütt” extension added room for another 120. Today it operates year-round as a unique dining venue and comes alive during the Wurstmarkt and other large-group events.
The city has a quaint historical section with Stadtkirche St. Ludwig in late Gothic architecture, a Baroque Rathaus (city hall) with an ornate façade and gabled roof overlooking the Marktplatz. Steinhäuser Hof is a former merchant’s courtyard, now a cultural venue used for varying events. There are small cafés, a few semi-timbered houses and the stylish Kurhaus with a spa garden. The Spa museum has chronicles of spa heritage and salt production and you can stroll along the graduation towers and breathe in saline-enriched air to relieve respiratory conditions.
If you’re into it, you can also stop by the casino, try your luck with the slot machines, roulette tables, or play a round of Blackjack or Poker. But beware, jacket and tie are mandatory for gentlemen.
Dubbeglas
Bad Dürkheim is best known for the world’s largest wine festival that will take place from Sep. 12 – 16, and Sep. 19 – 22 this year, although it has a rather awkward name “Wurstmarkt” (sausage market).
The festival began around 1417 as a small Michael-mas fair where pilgrims and locals traded produce near the chapel on Michels-berg. As butchers set up stalls, sausages became so integral that by the 1700s it earned the name “Wurstmarkt.” While its focus shifted to wine over time, the sausage legacy remains part of its charm.
Nowadays the festival offers not only 300+ prize-winning wines and regional specialties, but also fireworks, live music, fairground rides, and vendors with items from tea towels to the latest fashion. Regional specialties include bratwurst, Flammkuchen, pretzels and Zwetschgenkuchen (plum cake) at dedicated food stands and a farmers’ market offers regional produce. The wine princess is coronated and historic wine carriages are displayed, drawing up to 600,000 visitors annually.
Wine in large tents is usually served in a Dubbeglas, a traditional half-liter glass used predominantly in the Pfalz region for wine or wine spritzers. Its most distinctive feature is the series of rounded indentations, called “Dubbe” (meaning dots in the local dialect), which adorn the exterior and provide a secure grip.
According to regional tradition, the Dubbeglas was invented by butchers in Bad Dürkheim. At slaughter festivals, the greasy or wet hands of the butchers caused the smooth, straight-sided glasses of the time to slip, so they adopted glasses with molded dimples to prevent accidents. Over time, these “butchers’ glasses” became the hallmark of Pfälzer wine culture, also suitable as typical Palatine souvenirs.
Please keep in mind that wine has a higher alcohol content than typical German beer and can get you tipsy easier than expected. Make sure to have a plan if you wish to visit the festival. Either have a designated driver, or even better yet, take a train from Kaiserslautern and have someone to pick you up at the back end.
Enjoy all that Bad Dürkheim has to offer, but make sure to stay safe!
