Restaurant Dürkheimer Riesenfass

The most original and largest monument to German wine was built in the spring of 1934 by the vintner and master cooper Fritz Keller on the spacious sausage market grounds of his hometown of Bad Dürkheim, the now world-famous "giant barrel".

The idea of a giant barrel as a monument to Palatinate wine and thus also to German wine came to the winery owner Fritz Keller when he built a "normal" barrel for his master cooper's examination in the early 1930s. After a long period of preparation, he set about realising his dream at the beginning of 1934.

The undertaking was enormous. Nearly 200 fir trees were felled in the Black Forest for the gigantic barrel, each about 40 metres high. One fir tree was needed to make each of the 178 barrel staves, each 15 metres long and 15 centimetres thick. The transport of these ГѓВјberlong fir trees from the Black Forest to the Palatinate was only possible at night and with a special permit. Fritz Keller and his helpers processed more than 200 cubic metres of wood to create the giant barrel with a diameter of 13.5 metres and a capacity of 1.7 million litres. After weeks of hard work, the giant barrel stood, which today has become an eye-catcher next to the Bad Dürkheim - Kaiserslautern main road. Until 1934, the giant barrel in Heidelberg Castle was the largest barrel in the world with a length of nine metres, a diameter of seven metres and a capacity of 221,000 litres. In contrast to the gigantic Dürkheim barrel, its "Heidelberg brother" had already been filled once.

The interior design of the Dürkheim barrel corresponds to the exterior, original form. On the ground floor, for example, there are artistically hand-carved oak barrel floors on the walls that tell of the making of the wine. They are also attractive viewpoints from the accessible gallery. Due to the large number of visitors, a rustic wine bar was added in 1958 for about 150 guests, in keeping with the style of the giant barrel. In addition, in summer about 300 people can sit comfortably in a wine garden in the shade of the giant barrel. Renovations are constantly being carried out to maintain the value of the barrel and to offer you, dear guest, a pleasant stay. We thank you for helping to preserve this monument to German wine with your visit.

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