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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.

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.

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