Erntedankfest Dannau

A Harvest Festival Tradition with Over 40 Editions

The Erntedankfest Dannau is one of the oldest and most lovingly maintained harvest festivals in the eastern Holstein Switzerland. The municipality of Dannau is located between Plön and Eutin in the Plön district — a rural region where agricultural tradition still visibly shapes village life. The festival is organized by the community and already looks back on more than 40 editions.

The Parade — The Heart of the Festival

The harvest festival parade traditionally starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday from the Dörpshus (Hauptstraße 7) and winds its way through the entire village. What you will experience there:

• Decorated harvest wagons with sheaves, pumpkins, and autumnal motifs
• The Harvest Queen as the festival figure
• Local guilds and club delegations
• Riders from the local riding guild
• Vintage tractors from the Blekendorf tractor club
• Marching bands from Oldenburg and Plön

Festival Activities on the Festival Meadow

From 2 p.m. onwards, the program continues on the festival meadow. Classic program items include:

• Demonstration of a historic threshing machine (most recently under the direction of Andreas Schnoor)
• Ring riding by the riding guild — riders try to hit the center of a ring with a lance while galloping, an old North German discipline
• Performances by local music groups and entertainer Christoph Peters
• Family program with games and activities
• Festival speeches by prominent guests (in the past, among others, former Minister President Peter Harry Carstensen)

In the evening from 8:00 p.m., the day ends with a dance ball (admission €7), to which guests from outside the community are also welcome.

Dannau and the Plön District

The small municipality of Dannau in the Plön district, state of Schleswig-Holstein, is located in the middle of the hilly landscape of Holstein Switzerland, near the Dannauer See (nature reserve). The region's agricultural tradition is directly palpable in the harvest festival — the tractors, threshing machines, and harvest wagons are not a folkloric staging, but living heritage. A tradition in which the village celebrates itself while gratefully honoring the year's harvest.