At a meeting on Monday, councillors backed a motion asking the organisers to serve local organic meat at the event – arguing that the wurst ban is an affront to the city’s identity,

The local Senior Citizens’ Advisory Council has already said that it will boycott the event over the the lack of sausages.

Organisers, UmweltHaus, are standing firm, however, arguing that there is limited space available at the festival and that meat production is resource-intensive and therefore doesn’t fit with the sustainable theme of Earth Day.

But Dominique Kalb, mayoral candidate for the conservative CDU party, said that ahle wurst is “simply an essential part” of local street festivals.

He added: “This is an issue that is close to people’s hearts, and for that reason it is of course something we can’t ignore in local politics.”

The Greens abstained from voting. Their candidate, Eva Koch, suggested people shouldn’t get too worked up over sausages. But she conceded that for some the meat-free event would be “a real kick in the guts”.