GelsenTrabPark

Trotting track in Gelsenkirchen

The GelsenTrabPark (also Trabrennbahn Nienhausen or Trabrennbahn Gelsenkirchen ) is a trotting track that went into operation in 1912 in the Gelsenkirchen district of Feldmark.

history

prehistory

1912: female pilot at the airfield at that time, in the background the boundaries of the trotting track

The Trotting Club Dortmund was founded as early as 1909 with merchants, tenants and breeders. This club organized its first race, still with financial losses, in August 1910 in Huckarde . The next horse race in 1911 on a parade ground in Hamm also left debts. The club, now part of the Trotter Breeding Association Dortmund e. V. , finally found a new location in Rotthausen , which at that time belonged to the Essen district . Here Ernst Nienhausen had leased his 500  acre site to Westdeutsche Fluggesellschaft mbH .

On May 25, 1912, this first municipal airfield in Germany was put into operation on 280 acres. The main plant of Kondor Flugzeugwerke was later located at Rotthausen airfield . The aviation pioneer and flight instructor Bruno Werntgen , who also gave flight lessons here, trained at the airfield .

The remaining, adjacent area of ​​220 acres of land was used by aviation for a 1200 meter long and twelve meter wide run with three stables with boxes for ten horses each. To this end, a totaliser building , a judge's house and the grandstand between the runway and the airfield were built within two months .

Until the First World War

On September 29, 1912, at 2:15 p.m., the first trotting race started on the Nienhauser Busch in Rotthausen. For these six races a total of 24,000 marks were turned over at twelve betting counters  . The first winner came from the Hörmann stable with the horse Intimus.

Because of the now great success, the club applied for a further twelve days of racing for the following year 1913, but only two were approved. In 1914, too, only two days of racing were approved, the second no longer taking place because the First World War had broken out in the meantime . At the end of the war the association was penniless.

Until World War II

After the First World War, the club members collected a total of 65,000 marks in order to finally be able to resume racing in 1919 with two charity races. The adjacent airfield was no longer used for regular flight operations. In 1920 the club was called Westdeutscher Traber-, Zucht- und Rennverein e. V. Gelsenkirchen around. The number of racing days rose to six in 1921, and to 16 the following year.

At the time of the Ruhr occupation in the spring of 1923, the airfield became the parade ground for the French and Belgian occupation troops. Nevertheless, 18 days of racing took place this year. In the following years from 1924 to 1934 there were 22 racing days each. In 1924 Rotthausen was incorporated into the city of Gelsenkirchen. In 1926 the city made a loan available for the construction of a new, covered grandstand. When this was just completed, it was badly damaged by a storm, but was immediately repaired. For this purpose, also in 1926, the course was changed from right to left rotation. The emerging global economic crisis weakened sales despite the high number of visitors. The race prices of 600 to 700  Reichsmarks - 2000 to 5000 Marks in breeding races - could not yet provoke. In 1937 the 25th anniversary of the trotting track was celebrated with tens of thousands of visitors.

At that time, however, the city of trotting races was mainly Berlin . That was to change in 1938, because the popular Monday races, popular races and the new winter races were introduced in Gelsenkirchen. Some excellent horses from Berlin and Hamburg were given new starting opportunities in Gelsenkirchen in the winter that were only available here.

From 1941, racing came to a complete standstill as a result of the Second World War . Heavy bombing by the Allies on the entire Ruhr area was the temporary end for the Rotthausen racecourse. In total, more than 70 horses were killed in the hail of bombs. Over 60 bomb craters were built on the site, leaving little of the terrain.

post war period

After the Second World War there was hunger for horses and riders, there were no more stables, no water and no light. The flight operations of the adjacent airfield could not be resumed because of the Allied flight ban. The airfield was initially used as a potato field, and later, dead rock from the Zollverein colliery was deposited .

Nevertheless, a group of trotter friends got involved in such a way that the first race could take place on October 7, 1945. They asked the city commander of the military government for help, but the government showed no understanding. Their proposal was to slaughter the horses to alleviate the hunger of the population. Trotting enthusiasts were able to prevent this with the help of a guard. They went to the British Rhine Army in Bad Oeynhausen in the next higher instance, which finally reversed the instructions of the city commandant. In addition, 58 tonnes of oats were procured from Hamm and the stables were poorly restored.

The land of Ernst Nienhausen on which the airfield and the horse racing lay was now to the United steelworks belonging hut Oberhausen AG, Oberhausen been sold. The trotting club caused considerable problems that the new owner simply denied existence and a valid lease. After difficult negotiations, the association was re-established and a new lease was drawn up, which clarified the rights of use. In 1946 the city director Ernst Hamann took over the chairmanship of the West German Trotting, Breeding and Racing Association. V. Gelsenkirchen .

Rise to a popular sport

1940s

In 1947 the elite race with the best German trotting horses was launched, but it soon expanded to a European level. Already in its founding year it exerted a very special fascination, because it was possible to bring together the 20 best trotters from all four occupation zones. On November 6, 1947, there was a legendary duel between Stella Maris and the fighter pilot , which was driven by Johannes Frömming . Despite the distance allowance, both horses made the race among themselves. The winner Stella Maris with Johnny Mills in the sulky in the kilometer time of 1: 24.5 (1 min 24.5 sec..). There was also the West German Youth Prize. Structurally, the old, wooden target tower in 1949 gave way to today's concrete. A year later, the construction of new stables began, which later accommodated more than 400 horses.

1950s

In 1951 there were already 44 days of racing. The elite race featured an international line-up for the first time, with visitor and sales figures skyrocketing. In addition, a new lighting system, a casino, a restaurant and a betting desk in the rebuilt grandstand were put into operation. In 1952, the cash prizes exceeded the DM one million mark for the first time on 59 racing days . In 1953, a target photo system was installed. In 1954, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the trotting sport, the German Traber-St. Leger in the program, named after Anthony St. Leger, who founded the English counterpart in 1776. As a result, the Gelsenkirchen trotting track gained reputation. The race control car was introduced in August. In 1956 a trotting race was started here for the first time in Germany with a starter car, a converted Mercedes 300 . Due to its success at the start of the Buddenbrook race and the German Trotter Derby, the starter car was loaned to the Trabrennverein Berlin-Mariendorf. In addition, a new photographic timing system went into operation this year. The 1956 elite race (endowment 36,000 DM) was part of the Grand Circuit International for the first time . It was won by the French mare Gelinotte with driver legend Charlie Mills in a new record time. The record was now 1: 19.5 (1 min. 19.5 seconds). The racetrack area was supplemented in 1957 with the construction of a tea house next to the grandstand, which was heated with radiant heat. In 1958 the prize for the fastest was held for the first time.

Advertisement from the German trotting newspaper

Front page "Deutsche Traberzeitung" May 1st, 1964

1960s

Closed grandstand house 2013, built in 1965

In the 1960 racing year there were 73 racing days, with 6,939 horses at the start. This was an average of 9.3 horses per race. In 1962, following a leasehold contract with the city of Gelsenkirchen, the racecourse was modernized. Among other things, the home straight was widened from twenty to 24 meters, the curves were raised and a more powerful floodlight system was installed. At the beginning of the 1960s, the three-way bet enjoyed growing popularity. Initially, this type of bet was only offered in a few specially marked races during a racing event. The sometimes high payout percentages increased sales in this type of bet. Here, too, one adapted to the time. In 1962, 789 of a total of 815 races with three-way bets were run. According to Dinslaken, Gelsentrab also included the three-way bet as an integral part of every race in 1963. A brief attempt was made to establish the triplet bet. On Sunday, April 5, 1964, champion driver Eddy Freundt unexpectedly set a new world record. He crossed the finish line eight times out of nine races. On May 1st, Eddy Freundt drove the French mare Passiflore in the fastest race against the competition from Germany. In the framework of the race day there was a record payout in the De Sota race . The present 17 meter high grandstand was added to the previous, old grandstand in 1965. The largest, closed grandstand in Europe at the time was built by workers from twelve countries and offered space for 8,600 visitors over a length of 112 meters and a width of 16 meters. In 1979 it was expanded by a thousand places. Also in 1965, the left course, which had been changed in 1926, was switched back to a right course. In 1968, 150 televisions were installed in the grandstand building in order to be able to follow the race from unfavorable places. A year later, a Swedish company installed the electronic Toto, which went into operation on May 1, 1969. The large electronic scoreboard opposite the grandstand showed the current race and betting progress. The increase in sales at the betting desks was unbroken. On the penultimate race day of the decade, on December 26, 1969, another new sales record was set at DM 575,250. In the 1960s, Gelsenkirchen advertised itself as a prosperous metropolis with the slogan City of a Thousand Race Horses .

1970s

In the 24th elite race, the endowment in West Germany reached a six-figure amount of 100,000 DM for the first time. Despite the failure of the Prix ​​d'Amérique winner Tidalium Pélo , a new sales record was achieved . This was now 644,855 DM for a day of racing. The elite race accounted for 94,265 DM of this. In 1971 the stables and training grounds were overhauled. On April 10, 1971 was first Rennquintett -race (5 of 16) on a racetrack instead. The 'world champion' Une de Mai started in the elite race in 1971 . With 754,730 DM, another sales record flowed through the totes (betting counter). For comparison: the VW Beetle in the cheapest version cost DM 5,045 in August 1971. On December 26, 1971, the new lighting system was completed. The middle

Title page "Deutsche Traberzeitung" elite race 1971

Illuminance increased from 200 to 1,000 lux. The 1972 elite race was moved to July. The international racing week was canceled. In the supporting program of the West German Youth Award doped with 50.000 DM was on 30 September Rennquintett (now 5 of 18) went "Great Jubilee Prize 60 years Trabrennbahn Gelsenkirchen". On Christmas day 1972, a new absolute daily turnover record for the German trotting tracks was set at DM 908,822.50 (13 races). So far Munich-Dagelfing has held this at DM 869,170. The annual balance sheet for Gelsentrab showed totalizator sales of DM 37,727,365 for the 1972 racing year. More than half a million visitors came to the 80 events in 1972. The dream of turning over one million D-Marks on one race day, however, was still more than two years away. On July 6, 1975, the sales record broke this sound barrier. On 'elite race day' 1,021,765 DM flowed through the betting box office, of which 132,877.50 marks in the elite race alone (new sales record for an individual race). The elite race was recognized in 1975 as a permanent test of the Grand Circuit International . In 1976, the black cinder track was converted into a natural track with light-colored sand, and from that point on the club was called Trabrennverein Gelsenkirchen . In 1977 a sponsor joined Gelsentrab. The “Fastest Prize” on May 1st was held for the first time as the “Golden BILD Horseshoe”. In the period that followed, the sales records were broken several times. Gelsentrab fought a constant duel with the Munich Trabrenn- und Zuchtverein eV, which has held the record again since October 2nd, 1977 (Race Day Prize of the Best ). In the 1978 elite race, which now bore the additional name Wilhelm Geldbach Memorial , Gelsentrab once again offered its visitors the international trotting elite of its time. Now endowed with 200,000 DM, there was an unprecedented rush at the tote boxes on elite race day. With total sales of DM 1,457,267.50, they were around DM 200,000 above the Munich record. This was also a sales record on the German harness racing tracks. On September 24th, as part of the 25th St. Leger Trotter, the 1,000-seat extension of the grandstand building was handed over to its destination. On May 1st, as part of the 'Golden BILD Horseshoe 1979', an open day was held with free entry and a look behind the scenes. Eddy Freundt and Heinz Wewering gave an autograph session. In July, Pershing won the 1979 elite race. There was a slight drop in sales to 1,404,920 DM on the day of the main annual event. It was considered whether two days of racing in the last five days before the main event had negatively affected the overall result.

1980s

Front page HEAT Gelsenkirchen 1982

In the 1980s, around 60 permanent employees and almost 300 part-time workers worked on the racetrack, plus around 35 trainers with around 140 helpers and trainees in the stables. Idéal du Gazeau started in the elite race in 1980 and attracted around 18,000 visitors to the racetrack. With a turnover of 1,632,730 DM, the racing club improved its record result from 1978. It was said that this result could have been even better, because the rush at the 60 betting boxes was so great that not every bettor was able to bet. In 1982 another 300 horse stalls and an animal clinic were built. In the elite race in 1983 the endowment was reduced to 150,000 DM. In August of that year, WDR was a guest at the 'Grand Prize of the City of Gelsenkirchen'. The program Sport im Westen was broadcast directly from the harness racing track in Gelsenkirchen. In 1984, the Gold Cup , the most highly endowed trotting race in Europe and of the year with one million DM, took place in Gelsenkirchen. The old wooden grandstand, which originated in 1926, was demolished in 1986. Until then, between 1965 and 1986, both grandstands were next to each other. Probably the best European horse at the time , Ourasi , which won the Prix ​​d'Amérique at the Hippodrome de Vincennes several times , ran abroad for the first time in the 1986 elite race in Gelsenkirchen . The German derby winner from last year also started in the supporting program

Ourasi in 2006, already 26 years old

Diamond Way in the A + M Cup. With a turnover of 1,428,287.50 DM, the season record was achieved, but despite the star line-up, it could no longer match the result of 1980. In the year of its 75th anniversary, almost 600,000 visitors came, the totalizer turnover in 1987 was almost 60 million DM. Two years later, the first Night of the Horse was organized for the benefit of the UNICEF children's aid organization . There were around 90 days of racing a year in the 1980s and 1990s.

1980s betting card in DM

1990s

Racing program from 2005

The 40,000. Harness racing was started in 1990. Gelsenkirchen became Germany's top-selling racetrack. In 1992 the name was changed to the current name GelsenTrabPark . Sea Cove became the crowd puller in the 1992 elite race and trotted the 2,011 meter distance in the new record time of 1: 13.3. The turnover of 2,112,581 DM in 13 races was a new record for Gelsentrab. The national record of 2.2 million had not yet been reached, but it was set in 14 races at the 1991 Trotting Derby . A training course for the trotters was set up on the now closed Zollverein dump , which was unique with its height profile. It was inaugurated in September 1992 as part of the event 80 years of Gelsentrab .

Gelsentrab 2005 betting card

Bankruptcy after the turn of the millennium

After the trotting club owed winning premiums, it was boycotted by trainers and breeders in February 2002. Finally, on March 26, 2002, bankruptcy was filed. A Düsseldorf entrepreneur and stable owner took on the insolvent trotting track. The association was re-founded and had to go bankrupt again in November 2005. As with twelve other clubs in Germany, the reason was the totalizator system. One lived only on the bet and not, as in other sports, on sponsors. The more visitors bet, the more betting turnover, higher betting winnings and money for ever more lavish winners' prizes. However, a significant part of this flowed abroad. Nevertheless, the high racing prices were held, which led to the cancellation of unprofitable racing days and finally, with fewer visitors, resulted in a growing deficit.

In 2006 Win Race Horse Racing Marketing GmbH took over five other clubs as well as the Gelsenkirchen harness racing track. Behind it are the owners of the Lasbeck trotting stud near Hamburg with around 30 racehorses. This stud in Lasbek from 1915 now covers around 140 hectares of land. Win Race put start-up funding of almost ten million euros into the GelsenTrabPark, which has led to success again in small steps to this day.

The trotting races in the GelsenTrabPark have been marketed by German Tote Service- und Beteiligungs GmbH since January 2015.

GelsenTrabPark today

The track length is 1200 meters. The entire course extends over an area of ​​525 by 225 meters. The race distances are 2600, 2000 and 1609 meters. The track record is 1: 10.9 over the distance of 1609 meters and was set by Whammer on July 8, 2000. The grandstand house, which was expanded in 1979 and renovated in 2002, offers 9,600 seats and has a VIP area called "Abano As Club". There is an electronic totals display, video on LED screen, a 1000 meter long training track, stables with 300 boxes and a veterinary clinic. 4000 parking spaces are available for this purpose. There is also a betting center that is open daily, where you can watch horse races from all over the world on monitors and place bets on them.

Race days are mostly Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and you can also watch the training. The Bild -Pokal always takes place on May 1st, endowed with around 30,000 euros and includes a show and supporting program. The proceeds from the annual Schalke hilft! Racing day go to social institutions.

Betting card V65 bet approx. 1990

The forecourt is also used as a flea market on non-racing days.

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  View over the racetrack to the stables

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  Start with starter car

• 

  Heroes and Helpers Race Day, May 2013

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  Electronic tote display

See also

• List of horse tracks

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 114 / 46th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1970, p. 3 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 123 / 48th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1972, p. 1 ff .
3. ↑ Winner lists / Retro / Stall - mein-trabrennsport.de. Retrieved June 13, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 33 / 44th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1968, p. 5 .
5. ↑ Herald . Issue 40, 26th year. Verlag des "Herold" KG, Munich 1956, p. 1 .
6. ^ Hall of Fame / German Trotting Sport. Retrieved February 25, 2020 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 54 /40.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1964, p. 3 .
8. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 10 /37.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1961, p. 5 .
9. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 23 /39.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1963, p. 3 .
10. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 44 / 40th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1964, p. 1 ff .
11. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 56 / 40th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1964, p. 6 .
12. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 171 / 48th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1972, p. 1 ff .
13. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 116 / 46th year. Publishing association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1970.
14. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 43 / 47th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1971, p. 1 ff .
15. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 116 / 47th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1971, p. 1 ff .
16. ↑ Etzold: The Beetle . 7th edition. tape 1 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1992, p. 242 .
17. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 82 / 48th year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1972, p. 1 ff .
18. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 3rd / 52nd year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1976, p. 1 ff .
19. ↑ Herald . Issue 23, 49th year. Verlag des "Herold" KG, Munich 1979, p. 1 .
20. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 109 /54.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1978, p. 1 .
21. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 111 /54.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1978, p. 1 ff .
22. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No. 113 /54.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1978, p. 6 .
23. ↑ Deutsche Traber Zeitung . No 153/54 year. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1978, p. 1 ff .
24. ↑ Herald . Issue 24, 49th year. Verlag des "Herold" KG, Munich 1979, p. 1 ff .
25. ↑ Herald . Issue 53, 49th year. Verlag des "Herold" KG, Munich 1979, p. 4 .
26. ↑ Traber Zeitung . No. 69 /56.Jahrgang. Publishing Association Deutscher Sportverlag / Union Sportverlag, Cologne / Berlin 1980, p. 1 ff .
27. ↑ Traben'83 . GR-Turfsport-Service GmbH, Gelsenkirchen 1983, p. 50 ff .
28. ↑ Traben'86 . GR-Turfsport-Service GmbH, Gelsenkirchen 1986, p. 1 ff .
29. ↑ Traben '92 . GR-Turfsport-Service GmbH, Gelsenkirchen 1992, p. 86 ff .
30. ↑ Traben '92 . GR-Turfsport-Service GmbH, Gelsenkirchen 1992, p. 212 ff .
31. ↑ [1] Trotting tip

literature

• Ralf Rydzynski, Philipp Stark, Andreas Willmes: 100 years of top-class sport on the Gelsenkirchen harness racing track . Ed .: Win Race Horse Racing Marketing GmbH. 2012.

Web links

Commons : Gelsentrabpark  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description of this sight on the route of industrial culturehttp: //vorlage.rik.test/~2~10212
• Homepage of the Gelsenkirchen Trotting Track

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 21.6 ″  N , 7 ° 3 ′ 28 ″  E