Schwäbischwerder Kindertag Donauwörth

A Children's Festival Since 1680

The Schwäbischwerder Kindertag in Donauwörth looks back on an unbroken tradition of around 345 years: the festival is first documented in 1680. In those years — a few decades after the Thirty Years' War, which had hit Swabia particularly hard — the children's festival was founded as a thank you for surviving plague times and for the restored peace. Since then, the festival day has borne the name “Schwäbischwerder Kindertag”: Schwäbischwerd is the historical name for Donauwörth, which was called “Werd“ (island between Danube arms) in the Middle Ages.

Bavaria's Intangible Cultural Heritage

In 2024, the Schwäbischwerder Kindertag was added to the Bavarian State Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage — an official recognition as a living cultural tradition. This places the Donauwörth children's festival among a short list of outstanding Bavarian festival customs. The register is based on the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Sunday Morning — The Historical Play

The highlight of the festival weekend is the historical play on Sunday morning: Over 800 Donauwörth schoolchildren march in historically appropriate costumes — many specially tailored for the festival — through the Reichsstraße and Promenade, the historic main street of the former Imperial City. The children represent various professions, guilds, and eras from Donauwörth's city history. The procession is accompanied by fife and drum corps and brass bands from local music associations.

Friday and Saturday — Beer Garden, Bayern3, and Afternoon of Games

The festival weekend already begins on Friday with the start of the festival from 5 p.m.: Beer garden in the Promenade, performance by the Bayern3 band, and other live artists from the Bavarian radio station's program. Saturday is dedicated to the children: An afternoon of games from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. offers historical games, hands-on activities, and craft and skill stations for children aged four and up. The festival and catering run in parallel.

Donauwörth — Former Free Imperial City in the Donau-Ries

Donauwörth is the district capital of the Donau-Ries district in the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia. The city, with around 20,000 inhabitants, is located at the confluence of the Danube and Wörnitz rivers and was a Free Imperial City until 1802. The historic Reichsstraße, the Liebfrauenmünster church, and the Kaiser-Hagen-Promenade along the former city wall provide an ideal backdrop for historical festival parades. The Schwäbischwerder Kindertag, along with the Stadtfest and the Reichsstraßenfest, is one of the city's three largest events.