Transsexual wine queen wields tiara for rights
Sep 27, 2013 14:15 CET

Claudia Schmidt initially seems like a typical 'wine queen' (Weinkönigin). She's got the flowing white dress, long silk gloves and very sparkly tiara - and lit up the otherwise downbeat Greens election party at Berlin's Columbiahalle last Sunday.

But her rather deep voice offered a clue into the Weinkönigin's past - she has not always looked so lady-like. The 47-year-old started life as a boy and only fully 'came out' as a transsexual five years ago.

Germany's tradition of electing wine queens to mark the grape-picking season dates back to 1932 when Ruth Bachrodt was selected as a wine representative for Pfalz, a wine region near the French border.

Pretty girls in dirndls invariably win these contests, still held across the country. But the competition in Berlin's inner-city Kreuzberg district is a much more inclusive affair.