The barrel itself
220,000 litres from 130 oak trunks. The largest wine barrel in the world.
Ramessos — Public domain · Avi1111 dr. avishai teicher — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Hiroki Ogawa — CC BY 3.0
The Heidelberg Tun is the largest wine barrel in the world, standing in a cellar inside Heidelberg Castle. It holds around 220,000 litres and is built from 130 oak trunks. The present barrel is the fourth on the site, made in 1751. The earlier ones wore out or were drunk. Its purpose was to store wine collected as tax from the region's growers, who paid in wine rather than money. On top is a wooden platform reached by stairs, once used for dancing at celebrations. Climbing it is part of the visit, and the view from above shows the barrel's size far more clearly. Beside it stands a wooden figure of Perkeo, a dwarf who served as the barrel's keeper in the eighteenth century and became famous for drinking enormous quantities. The story is half fact and half legend. The Tun is included in the Heidelberg Castle ticket and needs no separate admission.
220,000 litres from 130 oak trunks. The largest wine barrel in the world.
A wooden dance floor above the barrel, which you can climb to.
The dwarf who guarded the barrel in the eighteenth century — half his story is legend.
Schlosshof 1, 69117 Heidelberg
Heidelberg CastleHeidelberg Castle stands on a hill above the town, and it is the most famous rui1 minute walk4.6
KarlsplatzKarlsplatz is a quiet square in Heidelberg's old town near the market square, an2 minutes walk4.7
KornmarktThe Kornmarkt is a small square in the old town a few steps from the market squa3 minutes walk4.6
Ethnological MuseumHeidelberg's Ethnological Museum occupies the Palais Weimar, an eighteenth-centu3 minutes walk4.2
Documentation Centre of German Sinti and RomaThis centre is the world's first permanent museum devoted to the genocide of the3 minutes walk4.8No. The Tun is inside Heidelberg Castle and comes with the standard castle ticket, along with the courtyard, the Pharmacy Museum and the funicular. It cannot be visited on its own.
No — it has been empty for a very long time. Even at its height it was rarely filled, because the wood leaked. The value today is the scale and the story, not the contents.