The World’s Largest Barrels

Thursday, 4th December 2008 by

Over the years we've featured hundreds of sights claiming to be the "World's Largest Something", and when we featured the World's Largest Dump Truck last week, I wondered if we were finally running out. However our loyal readers came through with some classic "World's Largest" material - replete with the usual controversy of course!

Yes, we're truly scraping the bottom of the "World's Largest" barrel - because it's time for the World's Largest Barrel!

Bad Dürkheim in Germany is home to the World's largest wine festival - the sausagey-sounding "Wurstmarkt" - and it's also the location of this absolutely giant barrel, which has a claimed capacity of 1,700,000 litres. Unfortunately they decided to fill it with a restaurant instead of booze.

But does this barrel-restaurant really count, or is it just a building that looks like a barrel?

If we exclude it, then the title may fall to the 220,000 litre Heidelberg Tun: the World's largest barrel which is actually used as a barrel. Also in Germany, it's sadly kept in the basement of Heidelberg Castle.

Wikipedia's article on the World's largest roadside attractions claims that the world's largest barrel is neither of these, but is instead found at McWilliams Wines, in Hanwood, NSW, Australia. However I don't believe the Big Hanwood Barrel was constructed using traditional barrel-making techniques, and anyway doesn't look nearly big enough...

You'll be glad to know that the "World's largest roadside attractions" Wikipedia article has enough silly "World's Largest" sights to keep us going for another few years at least!

Thanks to Izzy and Flümo.