Potato Record in Lower Franconia – The World’s Largest Dumpling

A village makes history—with potatoes

For its 700th anniversary, the small village of Wombach served up something extraordinary: a potato dumpling weighing nearly 465 kilograms. It didn’t just exceed all expectations—it officially entered the record books as the largest of its kind.

The road to a world record

The idea for the record attempt emerged early on: an event designed to draw regional and national attention to the village's anniversary. But execution was anything but easy. Planning took a full year and a half—including the hunt for a suitable cooking pot.
The organizing team eventually found what they needed in Bremen: a 3,000-liter pot, 1.60 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters tall. It became the centerpiece of a custom-built cooking station.

Big quantities, bigger plans

A half-meter test dumpling was prepared as early as May. For the record attempt, the dough volume was significantly increased—though not made from hand-peeled potatoes as originally intended. Instead, a commercial dough producer stepped in to help.
In theory, the massive dumpling would have needed three days to cook. Since that wasn’t practical, the dough was pre-heated and then cooked for 21 hours at 90 degrees Celsius in 2,500 liters of water.

Dumpling pride with flavor

The result not only impressed the official adjudicator from the Record Institute for Germany—it also won over the 2,000 guests attending the event. Weighing in at 464.8 kilograms, the Wombach dumpling beat the previous record from Jena by nearly 100 kilograms. Many said it tasted just like a traditional Sunday dumpling.

Wombach’s world record shows one thing clearly: that small communities can achieve big things.