Grosses Fass- Heidelberg, Germany

The perception of size is cleverly manipulated in the castle's wine cellar: you descend the stairs and voila! You see a large wine barrel to your right. "Surely, this must be it?" you ask. No, THIS was just the little one that "only" holds 45,000 lites.
DAS GROSSE FASS (Vat / Tun):

This beauty can hold 221,726 litres (approx. 55,000 gallons) of wine.
Historically this and all other of these barrels were used to collect the tithe (tax) wine from wine growers in the Kurpfalz area. This means that their contents were mostly a mixture of many wines (ouch! I feel a headache coming on...!)
NOTE: the walls of the wine cellar are covered in signatures & messages. It's an unspoken tradition for German and foreign visitors alike to eternalize your visit when tasting wines here.

Heidelberg Castle has a history of enormous barrels:
1. Johann-Casimir-Fass (1591)
2. Karl-Ludwig-Fass (1664)
3. Karl-Philipp-Fass (1728)
4. Karl-Theodor-Fass (1751)

Whilst here, read the story of Perkeo, the ancient alcoholic dwarf who apparently only drank wine, and died after drinking pure water (well, depending on the hygiene of the water in those days, it doesn't surprise me!) and pull the string in the little box on the wall ;-) You can climb the stairs to the top of the barrel, where a dance floor was installed for grand functions in the wine cellar. Take part in some wine tasting, and of course buy as many bottles as you can carry and afford! Speaking of "grand functions": the wine cellar is a popular location for weddings!

"From the Grape to the Hangover:"
Heidelberg lies in the south-western state of Baden Wuerttemberg, right in the centre of Germany's largest wine-growing areas. The shores of the Neckar River are especially fertile & give the wines of our region a distinct flavour & character (I recommend the whites and rose wines...not so much the reds): An analysis of the soil shows that it predominantly consists of loess (a fine & grainy composition of clay and silt). Certain local wines regularly receive national awards.
--> Waalewiener's video of VTers in the wine cellar of Heidelberg Castle, June 2008.

Grosses Fass, Heidelberg

Heidelberg Hotels

Grosses Fass, Heidelberg

Visiting Heidelberg?

Visiting Heidelberg?

Heidelberg Hotels