Mühlhausen Wine and Street Festival

Grape Harvest Festival in Kraichgau

Mühlhausen is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar district in southern Kraichgau — a hilly region characterized by loess soils between Heidelberg, Sinsheim, and Bruchsal, which has been established as a wine region for centuries. The Mühlhausen Wine and Street Festival is part of a trio: the municipality has three districts, and each celebrates its own Kerwe on a fixed weekend in autumn — Tairnbach on the 3rd weekend in September, Rettigheim on the 4th weekend in September, and Mühlhausen itself on the 1st weekend in October.

Kraichgau Wine in the Village Center

Wine is at the heart of the festival. Mühlhausen is a member of the Kraichgau wine-growing area, where Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Schwarzriesling, and Pinot Blanc are primarily grown. Local vintners and the Mühlhausen Vintners' Cooperative open their courtyards, the town hall, and festival stands along the main streets. Here, you can taste what the slopes of Kraichgau produced in 2026 — Federweißer (new wine) from the fresh harvest is regularly available, along with mature vintages and well-aged single-vineyard wines.

Street Festival and Club Life

The street festival is the second pillar of the event: clubs, restaurateurs, and private individuals serve food along the streets — Maultaschen, sausage salad, lentils, sauerkraut with smoked meat, onion cake with Federweißer (a classic during harvest time), homemade cakes. The Kerwe winds its way through the village center, bridging the courtyards and inns, creating a continuous festive atmosphere. Local music clubs and sometimes cover bands provide the musical accompaniment.

Tradition of Harvest Festivals

The Wine and Street Festival is part of the centuries-old autumn harvest festival tradition of the southern German wine regions. As has been customary in the Kraichgau grape harvest for time immemorial, the community celebrates when the grapes are in the pressing houses — with a mixture of gratitude for the harvest and anticipation of the new wine. The fact that the municipality maintains three separate Kerwe dates reflects the strong sense of identity of the districts: each district is its own village, each has its own date, each maintains its own traditions.