Rotkäppchen Sektkellerei
About This Site
The Rotkäppchen Sektkellerei began as a wine business three friends opened here in 1856 and is today, by market share, Germany's best-selling sparkling wine — still made in Freyburg, with tours through the historic cellars.
From a wine shop to a state combine and back, 1856–1993
Moritz and Julius Kloss opened the business with their friend Carl Foerster on 26 September 1856.[1] The state expropriated the Kloss family's firm in 1948 and ran it as VEB Rotkäppchen-Sektkellerei through the GDR years; its own staff bought it back in a 1993 management buyout, after which it grew again into one of Germany's leading producers.
The historic cellars today
The visitor centre runs guided tours across two levels of the nineteenth-century cellar buildings, more than fifty stations explaining how the wine is made, alongside a pavilion and tasting rooms.
Questions visitors ask
- What is the Rotkäppchen Sektkellerei?
- Germany's best-selling sparkling wine by market share, made in Freyburg since the wine business three friends opened here in 1856 — the historic cellars are open for guided tours.
- What happened to Rotkäppchen during the GDR years?
- The state expropriated the Kloss family's firm in 1948 and ran it as VEB Rotkäppchen-Sektkellerei through the GDR years; its own staff bought it back in a 1993 management buyout, after which it grew again into one of Germany's leading producers.
- Can I visit the Rotkäppchen Sektkellerei?
- Yes. Guided tours start at €17, booked online; the exhibition is open daily, 10:00–15:00 from January to March and 10:00–16:00 from April to December.
Sources
- Rotkäppchen Sektkellerei — Wikipedia, retrieved 30 August 2026
Visit Information
Guided tours from €17, booked online
Exhibition: Jan–Mar daily 10:00–15:00; Apr–Dec daily 10:00–16:00
Sektkellereistraße 5, 06632 Freyburg (Unstrut)
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
Run as the state combine VEB Rotkäppchen-Sektkellerei from the 1948 expropriation until the 1993 management buyout returned it to private ownership.
For forty-five years Weimar was a provincial town that the state could not afford to neglect, because the classics it kept were the pedigree East Germany wanted for itself.