Giant Cask

The Giant Cask or Giant Barrel (German: Riesenfass, locally just Fass or, in the local Palatine dialect, the Därgemer Fass), is a tourist attraction in the Palatine spa and district town of Bad Dürkheim in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The wine barrel has a diameter of 13.5 metres, a volume of about 1,700,000 litres or 1,700 m³ and is thus the largest cask in the world.

The barrel was built in 1934 by Bad Dürkheim vineyard owner and master cooper, Fritz Keller, using wood to fashion it into the standard shape using traditional methods, albeit oversized.

To construct the cask nearly 200 spruce trees were felled in the Northern Black Forest, all about 40 metres high.

The bar is operated for most of the year in the Bütt; the barrel itself is only accessible to guests during the Wurstmarkt and for large groups by prior arrangement.