Hundreds of sausages gather in Germany for adorable largest Dachshund dog walk
While it’s not uncommon to see a sausage in Germany, if you visit Regensburg, you might see more in the streets than in the restaurants.
Sausage dogs, we mean!
This beautiful medieval town and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany is home to the Dackelmuseum – Dackel meaning Dachshund – where collectors have amassed over 4,500 wiener dog related-items for display.
And last year, they hosted the largest Dachshund dog walk, which paraded 897 dogs of this breed around Regensburg in a delightful dog walk that will certainly make you smile:
While some counts say 1,175 dachshunds attended the Dackelparade, Guinness World Records can only confirm 897. But these adorable dogs were in good company, as their owners took full part in the activities – such as dressing in traditional south German clothing (dirndls and lederhosen) or their best sausage dog merch, waving wiener dog banners, and singing along to the marching band.
The doggies and their owners assembled in a large parking lot in Regensburg before making their way across the historic 12th century stone bridge, through the streets of the old town, past the Dackelmuseum, across the finish line, and finally celebrating in the town square.
The parade surveyors organized the marchers into groups to make counting easier, and divided the attendees into squads based on where they came from. There were many dachshunds from Regensburg, but they also had dogs coming from all 16 German states, as well as from 19 different European countries and international doggies from around the world, like Brazil or the United States.
The whole way, a marching band cheered them on, and the streets were lined with happy spectators and their dogs, no doubt curious why another breed got their own parade!
But the dachshund is a beloved dog breed in Germany, and according to the Smithsonian, the Dachel originated in the land of the bratwurst back in the 17th century as a hunting companion. Because of their long bodies and snouts, they were able to wriggle into the tiny holes where badgers and other subground mammals live, and by the 18th century, they were commonly featured in hunting handbooks.
The breed is particularly popular in Bavaria – the region in southern Germany where Regensburg is located – to the extent that the symbol of 1972 Munich Olympics was a black sausage dog named Waldi.
But the biggest sausage celebrity in attendance at this event was a gigantic parade float in the shape of a black sausage dog wearing lederhosen – which also answers the question how a dog would wear a pair of pants!
When asked by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung why he started the parade, Seppi Küblbeck – who started the Dackelmuseum with his husband Oliver Storz – said he wanted to try and bring some joy to people in these trying times.
“The dachshund isn’t political,” he said. “For the dachshund, all people are equal – regardless of skin colour, or where they come from.”
That’s certainly true, especially when you consider that to dachshunds, they have to look up to everybody!
By the time the event was over, local police estimated that tens of thousands of people attended the parade, who were able to celebrate the sausage dog in style. After some speeches by Dackelmuseum organizers, the partygoers went off to enjoy the rest of the sunny autumn day.
Only we have to wonder…did this event make anyone crave a sausage?