Elspe Festival

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Elspe Festival GmbH
Aerial view of the Elspe Festival
Earlier names
Naturbühne Elspe e. V., Western Country GmbH, Karl May Festival Elspe
Data
place	Elspe , Germany
Coordinates	51 ° 9 '18.5 "  N , 8 ° 2' 19.5"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 9 '18.5 "  N , 8 ° 2' 19.5"  E
owner	Elspe Festival GmbH
opening	1958
Events
Karl May Festival, dinner show, concerts, events

The Elspe Festival is one of the largest and most visited show and festival parks in Europe. The approximately 120,000 m² site is located in Elspe in the Sauerland in the district of Olpe , Sauerland and South Westphalia .

The Elspe Festival with its Karl May Festival attracts around 180,000 visitors every year. In the company's over 50-year tradition, a total of more than 12.5 million viewers have attended the various events.

In addition to the natural stage, on which around 60 actors and up to 40 horses appear as part of the Karl May Festival, the site has a festival hall and several Western-style locations with restaurants.

Since 1957 there has been an annual production on the open-air stage in Elspe. However, the 2020 season fell victim to the corona epidemic . The production of “The Oil Prince” should find its way onto the stage in 2021.

history

Scene with steamboat and waterfall from the performance of “The Treasure in Silbersee” (2015)

The Elspe open-air theater developed from the Elsper Theater Association after the Second World War. Initially, Naturbühne Elspe e. V. played various works such as Wilhelm Tell and Die Nibelungen in front of around 8,000 spectators per season.

In 1958, a play based on the works of Karl May was performed for the first time with Winnetou , and the audience doubled to around 19,000. Since 1964, when Hajji Halef Omar was played, only Karl May has been on the stage.

In November 1974 the registered association Naturbühne Elspe e. V. converted into Western Country GmbH and exceeded the audience mark of 100,000 for the first time. Jochen Bludau became the managing director . From 1974 to 1994 the ensemble of the Karl May Festival performed annually in guest performances on the Blauer See open-air stage in Ratingen.

In 1975 a true-to-the-original western saloon and the western railway, which is still in use today, were built. The grandstands were expanded from 2000 to 4400 seats

The Karl May Festival in Elspe increased its popularity enormously in 1976 with the engagement of Pierre Brice . At the same time, the range of programs was expanded and horse shows, puppet theater and Indian folklore were offered.

In 1978 all the seats in the auditorium were roofed over, the construction of the roof is based on the Munich Olympic Stadium . The advantage of this construction is that there are no pillars blocking the view of the audience. From 1978 to 1980 and then again in 1983 the ensemble of the Karl May Festival performed in the Wiener Stadthalle .

Also in 1982 Lisa-Film shot essential parts of the film Ein dicker Hund with Helga Feddersen , Tommi Ohrner , Anja Schuess and many others in Elspe . TV spots for Jürgen von der Lippe , Rudi Carrell and Dieter Hallervorden have been filmed with the Elspe ensemble over the years in Elspe or at other locations.

In 1989, the Karl May Festival was given a supporting program of music and acrobatic shows and the entire range was presented under the name Elspe Festival. A large tent made it possible to present shows in the preliminary program. In the premiere year, the Golden Dragon Acrobats from China and the dance and singing group Dance to the Music from Las Vegas will perform.

In 1992, a gastronomy area made up of various adventure restaurants was built on the site.

The movie Texas - Doc Snyder keeps the world in suspense with Helge Schneider in the title role was shot entirely in Elspe in 1993. All stunts were performed by Elspe performers. Helmut Körschgen , one of the protagonists in Helge Schneider's films, was until then the parking attendant at the Karl May Festival and was "discovered" by Helge personally.

In 2011, the Karl May Festival was voted 9th among the most popular destinations in North Rhine-Westphalia by WDR viewers . More than 12 million people have visited the Elspe Festival to date.

program

Scene in front of the saloon from the performance of “Der Schatz im Silbersee” (2015)

Since 1958, the Karl May Festival has been staged in the summer months from June to September . In the winter season, the Elspe Festival has been showing a 4-course dinner show since around 1990, with performances changing every year. Outside the Karl May season in spring and autumn there are concerts and other events.

Karl May Festival

Since 1958, eight pieces by Karl May have been performed on an open-air stage at regular intervals:

Winnetou I Winnetou II Winnetou III

The oilprince Among vultures The treasure in Silbersee

In the valley of death Half-blood

The scripts - freely based on Karl May - will be written by Jochen Bludau, who has also directed the film since 1994. Before that, from 1973 to 1994, the Aachen theater director Karl-Heinz Walther was the director. The dialogue direction is in the hands of Benjamin Armbruster from Theater Bielefeld .

While in the 1960s mainly amateur actors from the region appeared on stage, the Karl May Festival became a professional theater company with the involvement of Pierre Brice, who played Winnetou in Elspe from 1976 to 1986. Today around 80 people are engaged in a production, around 25 of them professional actors and riders. There are also 35 extras and around 20 people behind the stage who are responsible for pyrotechnics, sound, light and animals. The Elspe Festival also has 40 horses of its own.

Birds of prey show

The Karl May Festival has offered a full-day program since 1989. Before the main piece, the viewer can visit three shows in the supporting program, in 2012 for example a rodeo, a stunt and pyrotechnic show and a musical show. Since the 2017 season, the supporting program has been supplemented by an additional bird of prey show.

Dinner show

Since around 1990 the Elspe Festival has been producing its own 4-course menu dinner show every year, which is performed in the Elspe Festival Hall in the run-up to Christmas. In front of the backdrop, the 60-person dinner show team presents the respective production, which is mostly staged with action, humor and music.

Concerts and events

After the Elspe Festival gained importance as a concert venue in the 1980s and 1990s - Udo Jürgens , Spliff , Jethro Tull , Procol Harum , die Prinzen , die Schürzenjäger and BAP played there - it is around the turn of the millennium in this area became calmer. In 2012, the Elspe Festival picked up on the old days of concerts with an a cappella festival and performances by the Schürzenjäger and various rock and country bands.

Rent for meetings and celebrations

Outside of the performances, the Elspe Festival site can be rented all year round for business or private events such as conferences, seminars and product presentations, company outings, company or private parties. The festival offers to hold events from 10 to 4,000 guests. Conference rooms for up to 1,300 conference participants are available for conferences.

Locations

Natural stage / open-air stage

Grandstand at the Elspe Festival seen from the plane during a performance

Evening performance of Winnetou III in 2019

The heart of the more than 120,000 m² outdoor area is the natural stage with its completely covered auditorium. It is 96 m wide, 34 m deep and has a height difference of 25 m. The natural features offer sand-lime stone rocks, heather grass and juniper bushes. In addition, depending on the piece performed, a saloon, an Indian village, the railway, a fort, a waterfall, an oil derrick or other facilities will be built.

The sound system consists of a microphone system with 24 wireless microphones, which can be mixed with music and noises in the sound control room. The PA system was renewed in 2014 and replaced by a modern line array system in a left / center / right arrangement. Near-field loudspeakers, which are integrated into the appearance of the stage, are also used for the front seats. Six 15 ″ woofers were installed as subwoofers, invisible to the audience. In this way, the actors can be understood equally well in all seats. Eight weatherproof monitor speakers were installed on the stage to facilitate understanding.

For evening performances, which are on the program four times a year, the stage is illuminated with up to 54 spotlights with a total output of 80,000 watts.

The auditorium is 96 m wide and up to 38 m deep. It offers around 4,000 seats or around 6,000 standing places. It is equipped with a pillar-free roof made of textile membranes, which is suspended from four 37 m high pylons. The covered area is around 3,700 m². The roof is reminiscent of the roof construction of the Munich Olympic Stadium, because both roofs were designed by architect Günter Behnisch .

As a result, the spectators are not affected by the weather.

In the north, the festival site borders directly on the Melbecke and Rübenkamp nature reserve .

Elspe Festival Hall

Elspe Festival Hall

In 1994 the 7 million DM expensive Elspe Festival Hall was inaugurated and replaced the show tent that had been in use until then. The hall is 60 m wide, 40 m deep, 16.5 m high and fully air-conditioned. The preliminary programs moved to the new venue. Christmas fairy tales and dinner shows have been added as a new offer. The stage landscape is modeled on the Grand Canyon and consists of sandstone plaster shaped rocks with a height of up to 12.5 m.

The stage equipment is an eight meter high and four meter wide artificial waterfall, which is operated with 6000 liters of water per minute. There are also three snow cannons, a nitrogen fog system, a 60 m wide rain system, three stroboscopes for lightning effects, pyrotechnic effects such as explosions, fireworks, etc., a curved sky (1800 m²) made of aluminum sheets, on which the sun, moon and stars and sink, four entrances for vehicles and horses, two for pedestrians and horses, two only for pedestrians, and a sprinkler system.

In terms of lighting and projection technology, the hall has 420 spotlights with a total output of 830,000 watts in all colors, six golden scans, two pursuit spots and three projectors for broadband projections on the hall ceiling.

The sound engineering is provided by a microphone system with 14 wireless microphones, which are mixed with effects and music in the sound control room. The sound system was renewed in 2014 and replaced by modern line arrays in a left / center / right arrangement. For the bass range, three subwoofers, each with two 18 ″ woofers, were installed. All signals are mixed using a digital mixer.

With a width of 60, a depth of 15 and 13 rising rows, the hall offers a total capacity of 1,300 seats and can be reduced to 700 seats with retractable stands. For conference seating at tables or for the dinner show, 500 seats remain.

Western saloon

Western saloon at the Elspe Festival

The saloon was originally in Bisbee , Arizona . It was faithfully reproduced in Elspe. With its 450 seats on two floors, 2 stages and a 16 m long counter, it has often been the setting for film and television productions. In 2012 the facade of the saloon was completely renewed after 40 years.

executive Director

The company was renamed from Western Country GmbH to Elspe Festival GmbH in 2011. From May 2011 to December 31, 2014 Oliver Bludau was managing director and Old Shatterhand actor. He was followed by his father Jochen Bludau , the first Winnetou actor on the stage, longtime Old Shatterhand actor, book author and director . Philipp Aßhoff has been in charge of the Elspe Festival since January 1, 2020.

Productions

Winnetou and Old Shatterhand at the performance of "Der Schatz im Silbersee" (2015)

year	piece	Visitors
1950	William Tell	8,421
1952	The Maid of Orleans
1954	Bonfazius
1955	the Nibelungen	9,600
1957	The lost Son	6,500
1958	Winnetou	19,000
1959	The treasure in Silbersee	19,665
1960	In the gorges of the Balkans	15,911
1961	William Tell	6,250
1962	Michael Kohlhaas	6,250
1963	Dreizehnlinden	11,060
1964	Hajji Halef Omar	17,500
1965	The oilprince	14,867
1966	Old Surehand	15,883
1967	Winnetou	20,068
1968	The treasure in Silbersee	25,476
1969	In the gorges of the Balkans	25.003
1970	In the valley of death	29,164
1971	The oilprince	40,412
1972	Among vultures	54,324
1973	The treasure in Silbersee	54,324
1974	Half-blood	104.276
1975	In the valley of death	145.632
1976	The oilprince	252,602
1977	The treasure in Silbersee	326.453
1978	Winnetou I	392,663
1979	Winnetou II	387.092
1980	Winnetou III	404.758
1981	In the valley of death	301,675
1982	The treasure in Silbersee	351.061
1983	The oilprince	336.744
1984	Winnetou I	366,829
1985	Winnetou II	311.100
1986	Winnetou III	339.429
1987	The treasure in Silbersee	251.188
1988	The treasure in the Silbersee (preseason) / The Oil Prince	276.133
1989	The treasure in Silbersee	194,622
1990	The Oil Prince (preseason) / Under vultures	233.712
1991	In the valley of death	228,680
1992	Half-blood	236.860
1993	Winnetou I	229.263
1994	The Oil Prince / The Treasure in Silbersee (show hall)	210.981
1995	Among vultures	190.356
1996	The treasure in Silbersee	204.732
1997	Winnetou's last fight	199.051
1998	In the valley of death	200,632
1999	Half-Blood - The final battle at Fort Grant	176,727
2000	Winnetou I	195.313
2001	The oilprince	184.221
2002	Among vultures	208,481
2003	The treasure in Silbersee	191.149
2004	In the valley of death	172.998
2005	Half-Blood - The Final Battle for Fort Grant	169,809
2006	Winnetou I	171.124
2007	The oilprince	177.910
2008	Among vultures	186,303
2009	The treasure in Silbersee	208.932
2010	In the valley of death	199,525
2011	Winnetou and the Half-Blood - The Final Battle for Fort Grant	166,822
2012	Winnetou I - The story of a great friendship	209.164
2013	The Oil Prince - Black Gold at Gloomy Water	201.724
2014	Among vultures - the spirit of the Llano Estacado	203,457
2015	The treasure in Silbersee	201.038
2016	In the valley of death	approx. 205,000
2017	Winnetou I - The story of a great friendship	214,000
2018	Winnetou II - The fight for oil	219,000
2019	Winnetou III - Winnetou's last fight	216,000
2020	The Oil Prince - Black Gold at Gloomy Water	0

literature

• Klaus Bröking: 40 years of Elspe. Wild West made in Germany. Heel, Königswinter 2004, ISBN 3-89880-300-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stephanie Arens: Development of town centers against the background of demographic change. Sauerland 2011/3: 124-131
2. ↑ Program flyer 2017. Accessed July 8, 2017 . 
3. ↑ http://elspe.de/infos/kalender  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; see "summer season"; Access: May 22, 2012  
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; "Natural stage" section; Access: April 22, 2012  
5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; "Elspe Festival Hall" section; Access: April 22, 2012  
6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; "Western Saloon" section; Access: April 22, 2012  
7. ↑ New managing director at the Elspe Festival: Philipp Aßhoff succeeds Jochen Bludau. Retrieved April 24, 2020 . 
8. ↑ LokalPlus: Kerstin Sauer: Huge success: 214,000 visitors see “Winnetou I” - the last curtain has fallen 2017 / Elspe Festival takes stock . In: LokalPlus news . ( Lokalplus.nrw [accessed on September 10, 2018]).
9. ↑ LokalPlus: 219,000 spectators attend Elsper Karl May Festival in the anniversary year - the Wild West is a little quiet . In: LokalPlus news . ( Lokalplus.nrw [accessed on September 10, 2018]).

Web links

Commons : Elspe Festival  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Internet presence of the Elspe Festival