Wöllbicher Kirmes

Rhön Kirmes Tradition

The Wöllbicher Kirmes is an example of the intensely cultivated Kirmes culture of the Rhön and the adjacent Grabfeld region in Lower Franconia. Here, the Kirmes is celebrated not only as a folk festival (Volksfest) but as a traditional customs festival with its own rituals. The organizer is TSV 1937 Wollbach e.V., which has been organizing the Kirmes for decades.

Program: Four Festival Days with a Clear Structure

The Kirmes has a unique program choreography that spans four days:

• Friday: Festival opening and opening evening in the tent with a live band
• Saturday: Bar service, festival evening with laser show and live band; 6:30 PM Plobaum erection (Kirmes tree, in Upper Franconian dialect „Plobaum") with brass band
• Sunday: Sunday lunch from 11:30 AM (Party-Service Seufert), 3:00 PM Rhöner Plootz and wild boar goulash as regional specialties
• Monday: Kettle meat with horseradish, onions, and bread, plus senior afternoon with coffee and cake

Rhöner Plootz – The Regional Specialty

The Rhöner Plootz is a traditional Rhön dish: a flat, hearty yeast or potato flatbread with streaky bacon, onions, and caraway seeds, baked in a wood-fired oven. A regional identity dish served in the Rhön on special festive occasions (Kirmes, Kerwa, weddings). Those who try the Plootz in Wollbach are eating a traditional dish that is hardly known outside the Rhön in this form.

Plobaum as a Ritual

The Plobaum erection on Saturday evening is a distinct traditional act: a 20–25 meter long tree, decorated with ribbons and wreaths, is erected using muscle power under the guidance of the „Plobaum-Burschen" (Plobaum lads) (without a crane, with support poles and ropes). The ritual is accompanied by the brass band from Stangenroth, which plays the typical Plobaum music. The subsequent dance and drinking session in the tent is part of the Kirmes tradition.

Wollbach in the Rhön-Grabfeld District

Wollbach is a district of the municipality of Burkardroth in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, in the Bavarian Rhön. With around 350 inhabitants, it is a small village – all the more remarkable that the Kirmes has been maintained with great commitment for decades. The Rhön is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve; the region is one of Germany's most traditional low mountain ranges with its own language, cuisine, and customs.