Spreewald in a pickle over royal couple

Organizers of the 20th annual pickle festival in Spreewald announced on Sunday that no one wanted to be king or queen of the pickles this year.

Despite more than 150 businesses participating in the festival, not one person applied for the queen or king roles, organizers added.

Spreewald, a lush biosphere south of Berlin, is known for its pickled cucumbers.

Read more: Trip tips for the Spreewald

Home to a vast network of lakes, canals and agricultural areas, the Spreewald region draws thousands of tourists each year.

But the lack of a pickle queen or king this year wasn't the only problem Spreewald faced this year.

Due to warm weather, the harvest of the pickles was pushed forward. A lack of help for the harvest meant many picklers struggled to reap their crop.

Read more: Ostalgia: Romanticizing the GDR

For those with a more adventurous appetite, Spreewald offers a 260-kilometer bike path known as the "Gurkenradweg" through the UNESCO nature reserve, dotted with cucumber fields and pickling plants.

ls/rc (dpa, EPD)

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.