Harvest Festival with Autumn Market at Hessenpark

Hands-on Harvest Traditions

The Harvest Festival with Autumn Market at Hessenpark is one of the most authentic autumn events in Hesse. For two days around German Unity Day, the state's largest open-air museum becomes a stage for rural harvest traditions as they were lived for centuries in the villages of Vogelsberg, Taunus, and Wetterau.

Steam Threshing and Apple Pressing

The main attraction is the threshing demonstrations with a steam engine: a historic traction engine drives the threshing machine via long belts – a spectacle that connects generations. Children can also press their own apple juice at hand presses and try their hand at pumpkin or turnip carving.

Autumn Market with Regional Arts and Crafts

Parallel to the harvest festival, the Autumn Market features handmade arts and crafts: knitted items, jewelry, leather goods, ceramics, and natural products from the region. Especially in the run-up to Christmas, the autumn market is a popular gift idea.

About Hessenpark

The Hessenpark Open-Air Museum in Neu-Anspach, Hochtaunuskreis, is one of Germany's largest open-air museums, covering around 65 hectares and featuring over 100 historic buildings. It showcases rural life in Hesse from the 17th to the 20th century. Relocated half-timbered houses, mills, workshops, and churches are rebuilt and inhabited here.

Freshly Steamed Potatoes and Old-Fashioned Street Food

Culinary-wise, the harvest festival stays true to its theme: freshly steamed potatoes with various side dishes, apple wine specialties, bread from a wood-fired oven, and seasonal dishes from the museum kitchen.

A Tradition at the Open-Air Museum

The Harvest Festival with Autumn Market is among the longest-established events in the Hessenpark annual calendar. It attracts families from the Rhine-Main region, Hochtaunus, and Wetterau, and is an important date for the economy of the artisans, especially in the pre-Christmas period. The museum itself opens all its inhabited houses during the harvest festival – making the weekend a double experience: harvest festival plus a classic museum visit.