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Sausage to strawberries: Germany oddest queens

Kristina Reymann-Scheider / kbmAugust 19, 2016

They wear a tiara and promote regional tourism attractions or agricultural specialties. Germany crowns many queens, representing everything from mountain pastures to apples and wine. DW highlights these curious crowns.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JlWN
Germany strawberry queen, Copyright: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Prautsch
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Prautsch

The tradition of putting a crown on a beautiful young woman and sending her out to promote the local wine or asparagus crops dates back many years in Germany. But it's only been since 2001 that a weekend has been set aside to honor all of the country's diverse queens.

The so-called "Königinnentag," or Queen Day, has been held every three years since then. This year, it's taking place from August 19-21 in the town of Blomberg, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Held mid-harvest season, some 200 queens from all of Germany's 16 states are expected to attend the event where they can share their experiences, participate in a parade and give autographs.

Click through the gallery above for a look at some of the curious crowns that are handed out to young women around Germany.

The gallery below offers a brief history of Germany's wine queens.