Dithmarscher Kohltage in Friedrichskoog

A Region Celebrates Its Cabbage

In the Dithmarschen district, on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, around 80 million cabbages are grown each year on 2,500 to 3,000 hectares — the largest contiguous cabbage-growing area in Europe. Since 1986, this agricultural identity has been celebrated through the Dithmarscher Kohltage: a week in which the district's towns simultaneously dedicate their market stalls, restaurants, and stages to cabbage. Friedrichskoog — one of the younger polder communities in southern Dithmarschen — is among the regular participants.

Opening — The Cabbage Cutting

The 39th edition kicks off on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with the traditional Kohlanschnitt (cabbage cutting). The Kohlregentin (Cabbage Queen), dressed in medieval-style attire from the 15th/16th century — a representative figure of the region serving a two-year term — officially opens the festival. This marks the beginning of six days of cabbage-themed programming in all participating towns of Dithmarschen.

Friedrichskoog's Program

During the Cabbage Days, Friedrichskoog participates with its own program items:

• Restaurants and Cafés serve cabbage dishes — from classic kale to creative variations and stuffed cabbage rolls
• Direct marketers and farmers' markets offer cabbage in all its forms, jams, sausages, and regional products
• Town festival atmosphere with music and activities in the town center
• Activities in Friedrichskoog's adventure harbor, combined with the town's seal and harbor porpoise culture

The Cabbage Queen

A special feature of the Dithmarscher Kohltage is the Kohlregentin: an ambassador elected every two years, who appears in 15th and 16th-century attire — a tradition dating back to the medieval Dithmarschen Peasant Republic, one of Europe's rare democratically organized peasant republics (1227–1559).

Friedrichskoog in the Dithmarschen District

Friedrichskoog is a small municipality at the mouth of the Elbe Estuary in the Dithmarschen district in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Known for its seal sanctuary, adventure harbor, and location in the Wadden Sea National Park, it is one of the younger land reclamation sites (founded in 1854 as Friedrichkooger Koog). During the Cabbage Days, the agricultural side of the community is showcased.