Menu Close

sparris
InformationTyska Turistbyrån

27 February 2019 / 37 Comments

All about asparagus in Germany - Festivals, Routes and Recipes

To FREEDOMtravel
Advertisement

Asparagus in Germany - it's far more than just a vegetable. When the asparagus season starts, the country opens up to festivals, markets and imaginative asparagus dishes. In some villages, the 'asparagus queen' is crowned, while in others there are competitions to see who can peel asparagus the fastest. You can drive along the asparagus roads in Germany and experience the 'white gold' first hand.

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Share
Share

What is asparagus?

Asparagus is a vegetable and occurs naturally in Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The white asparagus is harvested underground, and the green asparagus is harvested above ground. Asparagus is extremely popular in the spring in Germany. For some Germans, it has gone so far as to become a status symbol in the culinary arts. 'Spargel' is the German word for asparagus.

Asparagus in Germany - green or white?

Green asparagus is most popular in the UK and the US, for example, and perhaps also in Sweden? Personally, we are most used to cooking green asparagus, which we like to fry or grill. In Germany, however, white asparagus is the most popular. White asparagus is sometimes called "white gold" or "königliche gemüse" (the king of vegetables), and is considered by many to be softer and more delicate in flavour.

Grilla sparris
Peter grilling green asparagus, photo: Helena

"Asparagus time" - the asparagus season

The asparagus season in Germany (Spargelzeit) begins in mid-April and continues until the end of June. The season ends with a feast day in honour of John the Baptist on 24 June. During the asparagus season, restaurants compete to serve imaginative asparagus dishes and Germans eat a total of 125,000 tonnes of asparagus. While there are many Germans, this is still an impressive figure!

Sparrissäsongen

Why do Germans love asparagus?

The Germans' love for the elongated vegetable began in the 16th century. The Romans loved asparagus, and via the monasteries the vegetable found its way up to Germany. Over time, Germans have developed asparagus into an art, and it is no longer just something to eat, but also something to celebrate!

GNTB e.V. / Knut Pflaumer

In the areas where asparagus is grown in Germany, 'asparagus tours' are organised, where you walk between farms and try different asparagus dishes, perhaps accompanied by a schnapps. A bit like visiting vineyards! In some villages, the tradition has been taken one step further and an 'asparagus queen' is chosen. Yes, but why not?

sparris i Tyskland

Schwetzingen - the capital of asparagus

Located near Heidelberg in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany, Schwetzingen is considered the capital of asparagus. It was here that asparagus became 'royal', after Charles I Ludwig planted asparagus in the palace garden, to be served at selected banquets.

Schwetzingen hosts an asparagus market on the first Saturday in May (4 May 2019), where you can also try different asparagus dishes, go on a guided asparagus tour by bike, look for the town's "Spargelfrau" statue or generally get asparagus crazy. And if that's not enough, you can take the Badische Spargelstrasse, which starts right here.

spargel
© GNTB e.V. / Jens Wegener

2 German asparagus roads

A popular way to experience the asparagus season is to drive along one of the various 'asparagus routes', which run through areas filled with farms, festivals, museums and markets.

1. Sparrisvägen Baden

The Baden Asparagus Road (Badische Spargelstrasse) runs for 136 kilometres and is loved by asparagus connoisseurs. The route starts in Schwetzingen, continues via Reilingen, Karslruhe and Rastatt, and ends in Scherzheim. In Karslruhe you can visit palaces and museums, and in Rastatt you should not miss the largest asparagus farm in Germany.

2. The Lower Saxon asparagus route

The Lower Saxon asparagus route (Niedersaechsische Spargelstrasse) is 750 kilometres long and starts and ends in Burgdorf. This gourmet route takes you through the asparagus regions of Braunschweig, Hannover and Umland, Lüneburg Heath, Mittelweser and Oldenburg Münsterland. Some of the highlights are considered to be the medieval asparagus town of Braunschweig and the asparagus museum in Nienburg.

sparrisfält

4 German asparagus festivals

Of course, if you want to experience asparagus in Germany, it's a good idea to head to one of the many villages and towns that organise festivals and markets.

1. asparagus market in Schrobenhausen

Schrobenhausen in Bavaria is famous for its asparagus, as it is considered to have a particularly strong and nutty flavour. Every year a asparagus market (10 April 2019), where the Queen of Asparagus will be announced. Of course, you will also find here a asparagus museum!

2. Market in the asparagus village of Walbeck

Close to the Dutch border, the village of Walbeck is transformed into an 'asparagus village' during the asparagus season. On the first Sunday in May (5 May 2019), an asparagus and crafts market is held, where you are welcomed by the 'asparagus princess'.

3rd Asparagus Festival in Bruchsal

Bruchsal, located on the Baden Asparagus Route, is said to be one of the best asparagus destinations in Baden-Württemberg. It hosts an annual asparagus festival on a weekend in May (18-19 May 2019).

4th Beelitz asparagus festival

Just outside Berlin, the asparagus town of Beelitz hosts the annual Beelitz Asparagus Festival (31 May - 2 June 2019). The town also boasts an 'asparagus museum'.

Sparrismarknad
Green and white asparagus in Germany - in long lines

White asparagus recipe

The most classic is to serve white asparagus with hollandaise sauce, but there are of course thousands and thousands of other recipes. On Germanfoods.org there are a bunch of German asparagus recipes (in English) - both classics and more creative variations. For example, how about Gin Martini with asparagus or asparagus pannacotta ...? We've also looked up a bunch of recipes on Swedish recipe sites:

  • With bacon and gherkin dressing - recipe at Touchline
  • With chopped egg and melted butter - recipe by Köket.se
  • With hollandaise and smoked salmon - recipe at Elle
  • With browned butter and almonds - recipe at YourGuide

Have you tried asparagus in Germany, or would you like to? Or maybe you have a good white asparagus recipe to share?

Images in this post, except those labelled otherwise, are from Pixabay.

All our top tips about Germany. Click on the image!

You might also like:

Restauranger i HamburgRestaurants in Hamburg - our top 7 tips Rätter på julbordet13 dishes on the Christmas table - the history of Christmas food Midsummer food - 15 classics & readers' favourites Swedish food - 25 classic Swedish dishes Crayfish in Sweden - when, what and why? Durian, the king of fruits - Auntie Anna's fruit session

Subscribe to our newsletter

27 February 2019 6:00
Food and drink, Germany
, , , ,

Next post

Iceland and restarting the internet

Previous post

New layout on FREEDOMtravel - how it works!

Administrator

33 Comments

Add yours →

  1. Eva/Living like Eva says:

    Fun nerdiness! I would love to go on an asparagus tour! And re-evaluate the white asparagus, from the flabby preserves of my childhood... I also prefer green asparagus, and grow two plants myself. When I can harvest, it's a party! Melted butter, Parma ham and Parmesan are my go-to accompaniments.

    27 February 2019 - 7:10

    Reply

  2. Johnny Friskilä says:

    Hmmmm, delicious. And I booked a ticket to Berlin yesterday. I wonder if there is already asparagus then 🙂.

    27 February 2019 - 7:27

    Reply

  3. Solan says:

    On the way home from winter storage, we always (almost) visit asparagus farmer Fritz, who is also a winemaker in southern Germany.
    Very tasty and practical.
    We feast on both green and white asparagus...?

    27 February 2019 - 8:09

    Reply

  4. Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:

    Asparagus is big in Germany but so good it is too. We have been that period a few times White asparagus and a good piece of meat
    Here in Kullabyggden we have asparagus growers of the green asparagus, have been and visited a bar singer.

    27 February 2019 - 8:53

    Reply

  5. Ama de casa says:

    Asparagus is soooo good! Here in Spain you see mostly green asparagus among the fresh vegetables. The white one is more common among the tinned ones.
    But if we have any asparagus roads here, I don't know... 🙂 ðŸ™'

    27 February 2019 - 9:02

    Reply

  6. JoY says:

    It is good with white asparagus. When we have travelled in Germany in the spring, we have also stopped and bought white asparagus in the small stalls along the smaller roads. Some also have peeling machines, in with the asparagus on one side and out on the other side it comes peeled and rinsed.
    We have been growing green asparagus in the garden but for longer.

    27 February 2019 - 9:09

    Reply

  7. Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

    Asparagus = Spring
    Last year we visited our friends south of Cologne at the end of May/beginning of June and on the last evening we ate fresh white asparagus and bacon-wrapped pork fillet (it looked just like one of your pictures).
    A great food experience closer to home is Gotland in May. There we bought green asparagus along the way and enjoyed it grilled with smoked fish....
    All the savings events in Germany sound great.

    27 February 2019 - 9:19

    Reply

  8. Lena in Wales says:

    What a nice post. Love asparagus.
    I always used to buy it from northern Germany or Holland when I worked there.
    Nice ideas and recipes, thanks!

    27 February 2019 - 11:53

    Reply

  9. Elisabeth says:

    A great post! Of course, we have been to countless different asparagus parties over the years! It is something very special, which we highly recommend.

    27 February 2019 - 13:15

    Reply

  10. Lena - good for the soul says:

    Wow, I had no idea there was such a strong culture. Will have to ask my "other family" about their relationship with asparagus. You can really see in the picture with the perfectly hilly sowing what prestige there is in that, haha.

    And I had no idea about the underground and overground thing either. Good to know.

    Hug Lena

    27 February 2019 - 17:52

    Reply

  11. BP says:

    My God, I'm soooooooo hungry for white asparagus now. What pictures! Dregel, dregel.
    We probably also use mostly green asparagus for the simple reason that white asparagus is rarely good in the shops here. It is often stringy and tasteless. I definitely like white asparagus better, but as I said...
    Yep, the Germans like their asparagus and wine festivals.
    I know that a former blogger from Gothenburg always travelled to a village in northern Germany just to enjoy the fine white asparagus.

    27 February 2019 - 20:58

    Reply

  12. Evy Knoph says:

    But yeah...fun post...remember the time when you got to go to the Achema fair in Frankfurt earlier...in May....
    ..and lately 6 years in a row in Cologne for the handball Champions league Final 4..always around the turn of May-June and "asparagus week"..like the white asparagus... was not away last year, but this year I am booked for Final 4 and asparagus week again 31 May-3 June :-).

    27 February 2019 - 21:32

    Reply

  13. 4000mil says:

    Oh I remember that from the year I lived in Karlsruhe. All restaurants changed their menus and feasted on asparagus. Very good! 🙂

    27 February 2019 - 21:37

    Reply

  14. Veiken says:

    Yummy! We go over to Kiel every year by ferry, of course in spring so we can enjoy the white asparagus cooked in the asparagus "homeland". A tip!

    28 February 2019 - 1:35

    Reply

  15. Margaret says:

    All villages and towns have a Spergel menu. Super tasty. But if you miss, buy asparagus from the asparagus kiosks that are available in most towns and buy their holandese sauce which has a very good flavour that I have not found here at home.

    06 April 2019 - 0:20

    Reply

  16. Johan Jorfors says:

    Sprris Festival, here we come!

    22 January 2021 - 17:39

    Reply

4 Pingbacks

  1. 10 amazing nature areas in Germany | FREEDOMtravel
  2. Adventure by motorhome in Schleswig-Holstein | FREEDOMtravel
  3. Holiday routes in Northern Germany - 6 great themed roads | FREEDOMtravel
  4. Beautiful roads in Germany - themed holiday routes | FREEDOMtravel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ABOUT FREEDOMtravel

FREEDOMtravel is a digital travel magazine, launched in 2009, and operated by FREEDOMtravel AB. The magazine has about 120,000 unique readers/month according to Google Analytics.

Here you will find over 4000 stories on travel, adventure and camping - a new article every morning at 06:00.

CEO and responsible publisher: Peter Bergström

Editor-in-Chief: Helena Bergström

Peter och Helena FREEDOMtravel resemagasin

CONTACT US

Feel free to contact us for questions, tips and cooperation proposals!

FREEDOMtravel: kontakt@freedomtravel.se

The editorial team: redaktion@freedomtravel.se

Social media and newsletters

Feel free to follow us on social media, or fill in your email address below to receive our weekly newsletter with this week's stories.

Facebook: @freedomtravelnews

Instagram: @freedomtravelnews

Youtube: @freedomtravelnews

SEARCH AND FIND ON FREEDOMTRAVEL

Use the search box or browse the categories and archives. You can also scroll to the menu at the top of the page, where you will find country-by-country and landscape-by-landscape destination reports, as well as themed roads, car parks and much more.

Categories

Archive

Cookies
We serve cookies. If you think that's OK, just click "Accept all". You can also choose what kind of cookies you want by clicking "Settings".
Settings Refuse all Accept all
Cookies
Choose what kind of cookies to accept. Your choice will be saved for one year.
Sava Refuse all Accept all