Tobacco Blossom Festival Vierraden

Tobacco Growing Tradition in Vierraden

Vierraden – today a district of the town of Schwedt/Oder in the Uckermark district – was the centre of tobacco cultivation in Brandenburg for over 300 years. Introduced in the 17th century by French Huguenots, tobacco farming shaped the village's appearance: tobacco barns with their characteristic open wooden slat walls for drying the leaves, tobacco factories, and highly specialised crafts made Vierraden prosperous.

Tobacco Blossom Festival – Thanksgiving in August

The Tabakblütenfest honours this tradition annually in August. In 2026, the festival will take place on Saturday, August 15, at Breite Straße 14 (location of the Vierraden Tobacco Museum). The festival coincides with the peak of tobacco flowering – one of the few moments in the year when the plant unfolds its purple blossoms.

Programme

The festival includes classic elements of an Uckermark Thanksgiving Volksfest:

• Demonstrations related to tobacco: sorting, bundling (Tabakpäcker), drying, rolling.
• "Tabaksköst" – the typical form of Thanksgiving: freshly baked plum and crumble cake, liqueur, and schnapps are served by the museum.
• Live music on the festival stage.
• Dancing in the evening.
• Special opening of the Tobacco Museum with guided tours of the permanent exhibition.
• Tobacco Garden Tour: a walk through the show garden with various tobacco varieties.
• Market with Uckermark specialities.

Vierraden Tobacco Museum

The Vierraden Tobacco Museum at Breite Straße 14 is the only tobacco museum in Brandenburg and one of the few in Germany. Housed in a historic tobacco barn, it displays tools, tobacco varieties, crafts, and the social history of tobacco cultivation in Vierraden. It is open seasonally from May to September.

Vierraden and Schwedt/Oder

Vierraden (approx. 450 inhabitants) was incorporated into Schwedt/Oder in 2003 and belongs to the Uckermark district, directly on the Oder border with Poland. Schwedt/Oder, with around 30,000 inhabitants, is one of the largest towns in the Uckermark. Vierraden celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2018.