README.md

---
license: cc-by-4.0
language:
- de
pretty_name: German Roof Tent, Roof Box, Roof Rack & Awning Market
tags:
- automotive
- vehicles
- germany
- camping
- outdoor
- tabular
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
---

# German Roof-Mounted Equipment Market: Tents, Boxes, Racks, Awnings

Four datasets covering the German/DACH market for roof-mounted vehicle equipment, collected from **official manufacturer product pages** — the source URL is included in **every single row**, so every value can be verified.

- **`dachzelte.csv`** — 646 roof tents from 107 brands
- **`dachboxen.csv`** — 157 roof boxes from 19 brands
- **`dachtraeger.csv`** — 191 roof rack systems from 58 manufacturers
- **`markisen.csv`** — 272 vehicle awning size variants from 39 manufacturers

**Canonical source & field documentation:** https://dachlast.de/daten/
**DOI (citable, always latest version):** https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21798284
**GitHub:** https://github.com/DACHLAST/open-data · **Methodology:** https://dachlast.de/methodik.html

## Why this data exists

Two numbers drive every roof-tent or roof-box purchase, and manufacturers publish neither in comparable form:

1. **Packed height** (`packhoehe_cm`) of a roof tent. It determines aerodynamic drag and therefore fuel consumption — on flat roads, 95–98 % of the extra consumption comes from air resistance, not weight.
2. **Total weight on the roof.** Rack + tent/box + awning must stay below the vehicle's permissible roof load, typically 50–100 kg for passenger cars.

## What makes it unusual

**Gaps are documented, not guessed.** An empty cell means the manufacturer does not publish the value. Nothing is interpolated or copied from another size variant.

**For roof racks, the gap itself is a finding.** 132 of 191 racks have a manufacturer load rating; for the other 59, the `traglast_notiz` column explains why not — brands like Rhino-Rack, Front Runner, Upracks and horntools deliberately publish no system load rating and refer to the vehicle's roof load instead. Four manufacturers rate load *per crossbar*; those values sit in a separate column so nobody mistakes them for system ratings.

**For awnings, `montagebasis` answers the question nobody else answers:** does the awning mount on the roof (counts against roof load — 150 of 272 variants), on the side wall (73) or in the keder rail (49)? Wall and keder loads don't touch the roof budget.

## Language note

Column headers and categorical values are **German** (source market). Key terms: `marke`/`hersteller` = brand/manufacturer · `gewicht_kg` = weight · `packhoehe_cm` = packed height · `liege_l_cm`/`liege_b_cm` = sleeping area length/width · `hartschale` = hard shell · `softshell` = soft shell · `traglast_dyn_kg` = dynamic load rating while driving · `traglast_stat_kg` = static load rating (parked, e.g. sleeping) · `eigengewicht_kg` = dead weight · `laenge_cm`/`auslage_cm` = length/projection · `montagebasis` = mounting base (`dach` = roof, `wand` = wall, `kederschiene` = keder rail) · `quelle` = source URL · `zaehlt_zur_dachlast` = counts against roof load.

Full field documentation (German): https://dachlast.de/daten/

## Ideas for analysis

Flattest tents ranking (packed height ≈ fuel cost) · hard-shell vs. soft-shell weight/area trade-off · price per kg of rack load rating · remaining luggage budget after rack + tent per vehicle class · which manufacturers publish load ratings at all (`traglast_notiz` makes industry transparency itself measurable).

## License & citation

**CC BY 4.0** — any use including commercial, attribution required:

> Data source: dachlast.de – https://dachlast.de/daten/ (CC BY 4.0)

Academic citation: dachlast.de (2026): *Dachlast Open Data.* Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21798284

No warranty; the manufacturer's official documentation is binding. The awning→vehicle-class mapping is our editorial assessment based on length, type and mounting base — **not a manufacturer approval**.