Everybody has heard of the great Heidelberg Tun, and most people have seen
it, no doubt. It is a wine-cask as big as a cottage, and some traditions say
it holds eighteen hundred thousand bottles, and other traditions say it holds
eighteen hundred million barrels. I think it likely that one of these statements
is a mistake, and the other is a lie. However, the mere matter of capacity is
a thing of no sort of consequence, since the cask is empty, and indeed has always
been empty, history says. An empty cask the size of a cathedral could excite
but little emotion in me. I do not see any wisdom in building a monster cask
to hoard up emptiness in, when you can get a better quality, outside, any day,
free of expense.
- A Tramp Abroad
Original postcard
of Heidelberg Tun from the Dave Thomson collection
Heidelberg
Tun as illustrated by Benjamin Day in first edition of A TRAMP ABROAD
[The
world's largest wine cask, the Heidelberg Tun was built in 1751 from the trunks
of 130 oak trees and has a capacity of 58,124 gallons. It is 28 feet deep by
23 feet high. The balustraded platform on top was built as a dance floor. Today
(2005) the Tun is still a popular attraction for tourists visiting Heidelberg
castle. - Dave Thomson]
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