The story
Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart
Cannstatter Volksfest began on September 28th, 1818, as an agricultural festival at the Cannstatter Wasen conceived by King Wilhelm the First as a symbol of hope after crop failures caused by the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption in Indonesia. Its signature fruit column, donated by Wilhelm and originally used as a band podium and race marker, fell out of favour for decades before a new twenty-six-metre version was installed for the festival's 1935 centenary, when it also extended to sixteen days.
Cannstatter Volksfest began on September 28th, 1818, one day after King Wilhelm the First of Wurttemberg's thirty-sixth birthday, as an agricultural festival held at the Cannstatter Wasen featuring horse races and awards recognising outstanding achievement in livestock breeding, a response to a genuine agricultural crisis rather than simply a celebratory whim.