Corona thwarted the organizers twice.

But four years later, the time has come again: The rose town of Steinfurth, which belongs to Bad Nauheim, is celebrating the traditional Rose Festival from July 15th to 18th.

Although the pandemic is not over, those responsible have decided to hold the big event.

Wolfram Ahlers

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for central Hesse and the Wetterau.

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The Steinfurt Rose Festival is one of the most popular folk festivals. The show recently attracted around 30,000 visitors to the town in the Wetter valley, which has almost 3,000 inhabitants.

The Rose Festival has a long tradition.

As early as 1911, breeders and marketers had arranged a first exhibition in one of the oldest rose villages in Germany in order to focus even more on the up-and-coming rose cultivation in the community.

Even if the presentation was rather modest compared to today and not nearly as many visitors came as is the case today, the show at that time paved the way for one of the largest folk festivals in Hesse.

Rose breakfast in the beer garden at the marquee

The Rose Festival was held again and again until it was interrupted by the turmoil of the Second World War.

But as early as the late 1940s, the mayor of Steinfurth revived it, essentially in the style in which it is celebrated today.

What happened not least at the suggestion and in consultation with the troops of the American army stationed around Bad Nauheim.

The festival has been held every two years since the 1970s, as it became apparent that organization and construction had become more and more complex.

In addition, the series of events can only be shouldered with a lot of voluntary commitment.

The organizers have announced two premieres for this weekend.

There will be a daily light and laser show set to the beat of music, replacing the fireworks that usually mark the end of the Rose Festival.

In addition, on the final day, a rose breakfast will be served for the first time in the beer garden at the marquee.

The show will be opened on Friday, July 15th, on the fairground by the Steinfurth Rose Queen Sophie Felver, who has extended her "reign" without further ado after the cancellations.

On this day, the rose show opens for the first time, designed in cooperation with the Grünberger Training Center for Floristry.

Designed as a kind of floral music revue, evergreens and newer hits related to the queen of flowers, arrangements with thousands of flowers are interpreted differently.

On Saturday and Sunday, the old town center is transformed into an open-air rose market between half-timbered houses, courtyards, squares and along the way.

There are not only roses of all colors, but also accessories, useful and decorative things for the house and garden are offered for sale.

Visitors can also look forward to cultural offerings and hands-on activities.

Magnificent carriage of the Rose Queen

The highlight is the rose parade on Sunday afternoon, a parade through the town with floats that are handcrafted from tens of thousands of flowers by the people of Steinfurt.

The design and construction of the floats are in the hands of associations that start planning long before the festival.

Because the splendor of the attached blossoms is short-lived, they are picked just before the parade, attached to pins and placed in the structures of the floats the night before the parade.

The carriage of the Rose Queen is always particularly magnificent.

The Rose Museum is open on all festival days, and there is also an exhibition on the rose reflected in literature from five centuries.

If you want to save yourself the queues of cars and long searches for a parking space for the Rose Parade, you can reach Steinfurth on side and hiking trails or with the Rose Express.

The Wetterau Railway Friends museum train and modern railcars run on Sundays between the north station at Bad Nauheim station and Steinfurth and between Rockenberg, Oppershofen and Steinfurth on the historic railway line in the Wettertal.

The festival ticket costs ten euros and is a prerequisite for following the Rose Parade on Sunday.

Information under telephone number 0 60 32/92 99 20 and on the Bad Nauheim homepage.