Hello, Guten Tag, and Grüß Gott!
It is February 2023,
it is the week of Valentine’s Day,
and I’m in the gorgeous town of Hornberg
in Germany’s romantic Black Forest region.
And today we’re talking about toilets.
Yes, once again, this channel asks the important questions.
Because where is the world’s biggest toilet?
And if this is it, what possessed them to put it in a lovely place like this?
This is Hornberg, a town of about 4000 people
that calls itself “the centre of the Black Forest”
and, to be fair, it is pretty much bang in the middle of the region geographically.
It’s home to a partially ruined castle,
a church that dates back to the year 1600,
and a collection of lovely cosy old buildings,
all surrounded by beautiful Black Forest scenery.
And of course,
we’re not here to see any of that.
In 2004, the residents of Hornberg became the proud owners of a new world record.
The largest monument of its kind anywhere on planet Earth.
And the moment I heard about it
I was desperate to pay a visit.
Ladies, gentleman,
and any other type of toilet that’s watching this,
you are looking at the world’s largest lavatory.
Civilisation’s most capacious khazi.
The planet’s most palacial potty.
And I might be the first person ever to say this sentence on the internet...
This is not just a giant toilet.
Hang on I’ve got to check that.
No, I genuinely might be the first!
But it isn’t just a giant toilet,
because it’s also a viewing platform
and you can go in it.
I mean you can’t GO in it.
But you can go… you know what I mean.
So why did they build this?
Well Hornberg is the headquarters of a major bathroom fittings company,
- this is just their front office -
and in 2003, the boss decided he wanted to do something
to try and create more publicity for the brand.
So he called up his mate,
world famous French designer Philippe Starck.
RING RING
Euh... Oui allo?
Hallo. Can you make us the world’s biggest toilet?
Euh what?
Ja. We have done the science,
and we think the bigger the toilet,
the more likely it goes viral. You see?
And so the multi-award-winning superstar designer went off
and designed a dunny of dramatic dimensions.
- Feels a bit weird filming myself on the toilet…
But the question is:
does Hornberg still hold the record?
Because 2004 is nearly twenty years ago now,
and that is a long time to hold on to a number one.
In fact you can almost guarantee some random American town has tried to break the record
to bring in a few tourists.
And sure enough, in 2005,
the city of Columbus, Indiana decided they wanted to have the World’s Biggest Toilet.
And here is what they built...
And... it’s…
just nowhere near as big is it?
(Seriously, if there’s one country that should be able to make a super bowl…)
And of course, if you know about any other giant toilets,
please do let us know in the comments.
But after an hour of google searches that I hope I never have to explain to the authorities,
I cannot find any other rival to the Black Forest behemoth.
The only other thing I could find that has a potential claim to the record
is this two-story house in Korea
that was designed deliberately to look like a bit like a toilet.
But at the end of the day, I’d say it still looks more like a house.
I don’t know about you, but my toilets don’t have wrap-around windows.
And look, if you want to be a pedant about these things
(which we absolutely do)
technically this isn’t a toilet either, it’s a viewing platform.
And it’s certainly not supposed to be used as toilet.
I’m just saying that technically it has the capacity to be one.
(And if this was in Britain, there’s no way it survives its first office Christmas party.)
So there we are. We’ve all been in that situation
where you’re caught short on your travels, and you’re desperate to go,
so next time you’re absolutely bursting,
and you just want to know where the world’s biggest toilet is,
you need to come right here,
to beautiful Hornberg.
If you’d like to take a holiday to Hornberg,
- perhaps you’ve been given some time off in lieu -
the town is located on the very scenic Black Forest Railway,
with trains running every hour to Karlsruhe in the north and Konstanz in the south.
The giant latrine is a 10-minute walk from the station
and entry is completely free.
Seriously, you can ask as many times as you want,
they won’t let you spend a penny.
And yes, I am delighted to say it is a wheelchair-accessible toilet.
Right, I’m off to fire whoever wrote this script,
so thanks for watching,
and I’ll see you soon.