Countdown to Winnweh!
Since the very end of the last century, Winneweh-Festival takes place once a year at the beginning of the summer holidays.
For almost a quater of a century, it's hosted by Dudelquetsch at the Open Air Museum in Gottersdorf, Southern Germany.
2.+3. August for audience ~ 1.-3. August for musicians
Every year during the Winneweh-weekend, the Freilandmuseum Gottersdorf becomes a stage for musicians from near and far, playing traditional (predominantly) european folk music on acoustic instruments. The kind you know from medieval markets or renfairs: Bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies, shepherd's pipes and drums but also accordeons and alphorns, fiddles and guitars.
On Saturday and Sunday, there's music all over the museum as well as dancing and catering at the big thrashing-barn. It's up to you whether you just listen to the music or take an active role and try your feet at some instructed historic dances like An Dro, Branle or Bourée.
Musicians and dancers from all over Germany and abroad meet at the Music Camp on the museum grounds where there's the opportunity to camp (bring your tent or caravan), to meet likeminded people, rehearse new music, barbeque and simply have a nice time.
For participants, the festival offically takes place from Friday till Sunday (see FAQ below for more detailed info), with Saturday and Sunday being the "showtime" days where you can take the stage and perform acoustic traditional music for an audience.
Participating musicians
If you have any more questions, take a look at the FAQ, contact us or join the Winneweh festival group on facebook.
Impressions from Winnewehs past
What lead to Winneweh...
Back in the last millennium, there was a music festival called „Pfifferdag“ ("Pipers’ Day“) quite similar to what Winneweh is today at the open air museum of Neuhausen ob Eck in southern Germany. When it was discontinued in 1998, a lot of participants were sad that a special opportunity like that - to meet (and make new) friends with a common interest, present traditional music in a historical setting to the public and camp out together for a weekend - should have vanished.
Cue Dudelquetsch: the members of the band figured that it would be a shame not to have a laid-back, uncommercial festival nearby, so they decided that if no one was to organise one, maybe they should just do so themselves. So they started looking for locations, and finally found one close to their home base: The castle moat of the Temple House in Mosbach, the grounds of a small medieval castle of the Knights Hospitaller. It had already played host to medieval markets and reenactments, is a great venue and seemed like the perfect choice.
All that was missing now was a name for the festival. They finally found one in a book from 1902 by Augusta Bender, a woman from the very village were Dudelquetsch rehearse and who collected traditional tunes and songs. "Winneweh“ is the name of a dance was quite popular in the area in the eighteenhundreds (and has had quite the comeback, even if only at one place once a year).
And so it came to pass that at the end of the last century in 1999, the first Winneweh festival took place, with the musicians camping in the castle moat, making music and having a good time. What wasn’t there much, however, was an audience, so the musicians went into the picturesque old town of Mosbach to present their music. But: today, the Templar house is used as a church, and true to the medieval setting, disagreements arose about when the musicians should be allowed to play their music. Since a music festival like the one Dudelquetsch and their friends envisioned was not really compatible with restricted hours, they decided to avoid any further conflict and started looking for a new home for the Winnewehs to come. (That being said, today, the area around the Templar house is used by the city for many cultural events such as concerts, open air cinema and the Folk am Neckar festival, which takes place in the end of July or in early August.)
...and where Winneweh is going
Finally, Dudelquetsch managed to convince the director of the nearest open air museum to host them: In the outmost corner of Baden-Wurttemberg – one step too far west and you are in Hessia, one step to far north or east and you are on Bavarian soil – lies the small village of Gottersdorf. Unlike Mosbach with its role as district town, Gottersdorf is of little importance to the outside world, the museum being its main attraction. What the village and its museum did have to offer was a familiar setting similar to the one of the Pfifferdag in Neuhausen: a historic setting, an opportunity to camp out and make music without disturbing any neighbours or clergymen as well as presenting their music to the public in one place.
So all was well, the festival became a fixed part in the museum’s and many a musician’s calendar and evolved over the years. Starting out with about 20 participants in 1999, on its 20th anniversary in 2018, Winneweh welcomed over 200 participants from all over the world - for example France, Great Britain, Sweden and Brazil - and many visitors of the museum who enjoyed listening to their music. Quite a few musicians have returned every year, meeting old friends and getting to know new ones, making and listening to music, dancing and enjoying the laid-back atmosphere that, we’ve been assured several times, has not been found anywhere else at similar festivals yet.
So of course Winneweh and Dudelquetsch are more than happy to welcome you (back).
How to get there
The Odenwälder Freilandmuseum in Gottersdorf ist best reached by car, since its location is idyllic but somewhat remote. It's a 10 minute drive from Walldürn, 20 from Miltenberg and Buchen, 30 from Tauberbischofsheim, 40 from Mosbach and Michelstadt and 1 hour 20 minutes from Heidelberg, Heilbronn and Frankfurt.
The Open Air Musem is located in the village centre netxt to the village pond and hard to miss. There's a signposted parking lot next to the Weiherstraße close to the main entry by the pond.
The adress for the museum is
Weiherstraße 12, 74731 Gottersdorf, Germany
Active participants that want to stay at the Camp over night (see also: Info for newbies) continue on either on the lefthand side of the museum grounds past the thrashing barn or follow the way on the righthand side of the village pond to the back of the muesum where the camping green is located. Just follow the Winneweh-signs.
The coordinates are 49.642061, 9.312384
Alternatively: what3words-adress:
Admission audience
The Winneweh admission fee for audience/vistitors is the same as the regular museum fee:
Adults 6,50 €
Severely handycapped 4,00 €
Children from age 6 - 11 2,50 €
Pupils age 12 upwards & Students 3,50 €
Children under the age of 6 and wheelchair users (incl. 1 accompanying person) are granted free admission.
Family pay for one child only.
The museum opening hours are 10 - 18 o'clock, the Winneweh-programme runs on Saturday approx. from 12 - 22 o'clock and on sunday approx. from 10 - 16 o'clock.
Admission participants
Active participants (musicians, dancers) and their entourage and people staying over night at the camp don't have to pay any admission fee.
But of course we are grateful for any contribution towards the costs of the festival infrastructure.
Countdown to Winnweh!
Participating musicians
Date 2025: 1.-3. August
offical beginning Friday noon, official end Sunday afternoon
earliest arrival Friday morning, latest depature Monday noon
If you have any questions, take a look at the
FAQ,
contact us or join the
Winneweh festival group on facebook.
Impressions of the Camp life
Info for Newbies
For those who have never been there, here’s what a typical Winneweh could be like for a participant – since we’re not all musicians here: there are also dancers and other random tag-alongs like, you know, pets, partners, friends or kids.
You arrive at the village of Gottersdorf and enter the museum at the back entrance at the Camp. You can’t really miss it, just drive around the lake and around the museum’s grounds until you reach it. There, you simply drive inside, look for a cosy place on the camping green to park your car, pitch your tent and make yourself at home.
On the camping green, there is one historical building, the Honey Barn. Next to it, there’s the big Party Tent: there are tables and benches to sit on, drinks like water, lemonade and beer in a big refrigerator which you can take and pay for later, shared food (so feel free to bring cake or whatever, place it on the counter table next to the others and help yourself to it!) and coffee and hot water for tea. Usually, there is always someone hanging around the Party Tent making music, eating or talking, so come by and say hello. There, you will also find someone to help you to get electricity to your car or tent should you need it, just remember to bring an extension cord. If you only need to charge your mobile of any other device, there are also shared power strips somewhere in the Party Tent where you can just plug your charger in and call it a day.
Please make sure to collect your Winneweh badge and pin it somewhere on your clothing. For participants, the festival is free of charge, but the museum asked us to wear some kind of identification so they can tell us apart from the regular visitors (for checking if all have payed the admission to the museum, since the grounds can be entered from different sides). Someone in the Party Tent will be able to give you one.
Once set up, you can roam the museum’s grounds, explore the historical buildings and of course make music in and between them. Maybe the most important thing: please play only traditional songs that no-one holds the rights to and that are in the public domain (or composed by yourself, of course, as long as you haven’t registered the songs. See FAQ „Gema“ for more).
If you arrive early before the official beginning of the festival at Friday noon, you can help set up the festival infrastructure: pitching the big Party Tent, putting up the tables and benches, screwing together the boards of the dance floor and so on. Because all of the festival is organised and set up by us, not all the infrastructure will be up and running before that time.
By Friday evening, most of the participants have arrived and there is time to plan the running order for the „stage“ in the big Dreschhalle (thrashing barn) on Saturday and Sunday: bands pay sets of around half an hour (Saturday 12 - 22 o’clock, Sunday 10 - 16 o’clock). So if you want to play on stage, be sure to be there.
Every evening, there will be a casual get-together in the Party Tent with music sessions, the opportunity to barbecue and have a drink.
Saturday and Sunday morning, there will be breakfast at the Party Tent. Coffee and bread rolls are provided by us, (just put some money in the donation box) cutlery, dishes and toppings you have to bring yourself.
Saturday and Sunday, there’s the musical programme in the Dreschhalle. Some bands also instruct traditional dances to their songs, so it’s always fun to be around to listen or maybe join the dancing even if its not your "turn" to play on stage. There’s also catering by the museum, where you can buy food and drink. Apart from the organised programme, there is of course the opportunity to spread across the museum’s grounds and make music wherever you like. Sunday afternoon, after the last band has finished their set, there will be a sort of big finale where all musicians can get on stage and play a few songs together. After that, the official part of Winneweh is over but you can stay at the slowly dissolving Camp another night till Monday noon (and maybe help pack up).
So as you can see, Winneweh is a "handmade" festival that is kept running pro bono by unprofessional, if somewhat seasoned, organisers and helpers in their free time – so if you want to lend a hand, there's always something to do.
If you have any more questions, take a look at the FAQ, contact us or join the Winneweh festival group on facebook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please note that due to savety reasons and fire risk (the region is on second highest forest fire alert level as it is, and the museum with its historical buildings is an whole other matter!), this year open fire stricty forbidden: no firebowls, charcoal grills, gas cookers, candles etc. If you want to barbecue: we'll provide serveral save barbecue grills at the party tent