Market breakfast - a Rheinhessen speciality

Fresh fruit and vegetables, mostly from the region, lovingly draped and encouraging direct consumption, this is how weekly markets are known all over the country. In Mainz, Worms and Ingelheim, to name just a few, the stalls of regional farmers attract visitors with their products. I love the atmosphere of weekly markets, this mixture of everyday hustle and bustle and deceleration, when you drift from market stall to market stall.

Where you can enjoy the pleasures of Life enjoys

I turn the corner at the weekly market in Worms, the crowd thickens and I see the first people with wine glasses in their hands. My stomach is starting to growl. A gentle shoulder bump from the right distracts me from my search for the "Worscht" stand. "Hey Meedsche, are you all here? Sit down with us, the Riesling is great," I hear the voice of a good-humored man with a twisted mustache and a checked vest. The fact that, at almost forty, I no longer quite fit into the "girl" category doesn't matter. The focus is more on the fact that I'm out on my own, because in Rheinhessen you're not alone, in Rheinhessen you're sociable. And that's exactly what the market breakfast is all about.

I went for the first time Worms and immediately in the middle of the MarketWinemakers Meeting. From the beginning of March to the beginning of November, Worms wineries offer their wines here in rotation. The weekly market breakfast takes place in the beautiful atmosphere between the cathedral and the Dreifaltigkeitskirche. In the meantime, I've picked up a glass of the recommended Riesling and the warm meat sausage with pretzel is also on my plate - only I don't see the nice man in the plaid vest anymore. He has disappeared in the social hubbub. But that doesn't matter. Instead, I sit down on the steps of the Siegfried Fountain and watch the cheerful hustle and bustle: Couples, families, small groups chatting, laughing, enjoying the sun and savoring the wine. The Saturday breakfast at the market is a meeting place for all those who simply want to enjoy the pleasures of life.

That was precisely the idea behind the Mainz market breakfast, which is now known far beyond the borders of Rhineland-Palatinate and attracts several thousand people every week. The mother of all Rhineland-Palatinate market breakfasts is no longer an insider tip. But anyone who is out and about in downtown Mainz on a Saturday should take a plunge into the crowd at Liebfrauenplatz and experience firsthand what Mainz is all about: conviviality, cheerfulness, joie de vivre, openness, tolerance, tasty treats and good wine. What once started as a theme day for young artists and since 1999 has been organized by the 26 members of the Verein der Mainzer Winzer e.V. has become a tradition of the whole region.

The market breakfast has long since found imitators in the state capital. has found imitators. Cities like Worms and Ingelheim with larger weekly markets, but especially small communities like Wörrstadt or Horrweiler also carry the tradition to the people who enjoy the conviviality of "Weck, Worscht und Woi" in a smaller, quieter setting. For me, these are the real insider tips.

Family conviviality in Wörrstadt

I say goodbye to Worms and make my way to Wörrstadt. Here, for many years, the Farmer's market Wörrstadt held. The small market is well hidden. Because unlike usual weekly markets, it is not to be found on the market square of the municipality, but on the private winegrowers' farm of the Huth family. A cheerfully laughing Rheinhesse made of wood shows me the way this time. "Saturday fruit and vegetables from the region" is written on his board and thus immediately refers to his credo: regional = optimal. I step through the wide-open farm gate and stand in the large hall of the family business. There is a hustle and bustle here, too, but in a completely different, very familiar atmosphere. Instead of wine, there is coffee; instead of meat sausage, there are freshly baked waffles. Hans-Willi Huth, who makes his farm available for the market, greets most of the visitors personally, chats about the past week, about news in the village. But it's not just the residents of Wörrstadt who love their farmers' market. People come from all over the municipality and meanwhile also more and more tourists, says Huth not without pride.

A little boy whizzes past my legs in a slide car. past my legs. There is a large fleet of cars for the younger guests, which shows how important it is for the organizers to think across thinking. With my waffle I sit down at one of the beer tent sets, which which are quickly carried out into the courtyard in the sunny weather. into the conversation. Most of the visitors have been coming here for years. With basket, a cup of coffee and a delicious waffle, it's a very special way to start the waffle is a very special way to start the weekend, they say. And indeed, the usual shopping stress in the supermarket with people running around hectically, jostling each other jostle each other instead of smiling at each other - all that seems miles away at the farmers' market in Wörrstadt seems miles away. Here you have time for conversations, for togetherness and togetherness. When I leave the farm, I'm almost in a bit of a vacation mood. a bit of a vacation mood.

Outdoor breakfast despite dreary weather

The weather doesn't exactly feel like a vacation as I make my way to the Horrweiler market breakfast in light snow flurries in the middle of April. I'm curious to see if the Rhine-Hessian conviviality will prevail even in uncomfortable weather. And indeed, the square around the old wine press is filled. There is no need to stand in line today in the small wine village in the Tuscany of the Rhine-Hesse region; instead, the warm meat sausage with roll is served directly to the hand and the wine is poured immediately into the glass. This is only the third time that a market breakfast has been held in Horrweiler, but the enthusiasm among the villagers is already great. Sitting together, "babbele" a bit, simply cultivating the community, that is also the idea of the market breakfast here. The idea is working well in Horrweiler, just as it has in the big examples in Mainz or Worms, and so people are already looking forward to the next breakfast - "then probably with a cheese stand and hopefully better weather," says local mayor Eckhard Siegfried.

Nieder-Olm - the alternative for late risers

Rheinhessen market breakfasts, whether large or small, are truly special to the region. The idea is conceivably simple and so one would assume that this concept would also work elsewhere. But far from it. I'm talking to Helmut Bonengel, who sets up his stand at the Nieder-Olm weekly market every six weeks. Sharpening knives and scissors is his profession and passion, and so he travels with his mobile workshop to markets all over Germany. "The people of Rheinhessen are already very special people. You won't find this conviviality around a glass of wine in any other region," says the Würzburg native. He looks forward well in advance to the Nieder Olmer weekly market and to the nice people who enjoy their evening here every Tuesday with a glass of wine and an "after-work chat".

In Nieder Olm there is no breakfast, because the market begins only at 14.00 o'clock. It is therefore the perfect alternative for all weekend for all weekend late risers and for all those who find the hustle and bustle of the Mainz Mainz weekly market has become too much. The variety of stalls, the quiet atmosphere and the delicious wine, the market has long since become a small has become a small competition.

And I also have a glass of Riesling poured for me again and stand at one of the high tables. "Quite alloi here?" asks a pleasant voice next to me. I smile and think: No, you're not alone in Rheinhessen. alone.