Klein Zwitserland play park
| Klein Zwitserland play park | ||||
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 Logo Klein Zwitserland |
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| place | Venlo , Limburg , Netherlands | |||
| opening | June 1939 | |||
| Visitors | 125,000 (2010) | |||
| surface | 30 hectares | |||
| Website | www.klein-zwitserland.de | |||
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Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 21 ″ N , 6 ° 9 ′ 50 ″ E
The play park Klein Zwitserland ( German Little Switzerland ) is an adventure play park located in a forest on the German-Dutch border in Tegelen / Venlo . The play park was officially opened in June 1939, making it one of the oldest play parks and the first natural play forest in the Netherlands .
On the total area of approx. 30 hectares, the actual play park occupies approx. 20 hectares. The Klein Zwitserland play park is a so-called outdoor play park and is therefore closed in the winter months. Klein Zwitserland usually opens from March to the end of October.
history
The Klein Zwitserland play park is created
The Klein Zwitserland play park was opened on Whit Monday in 1939 by the then Mayor Pesch in a former clay pit at the Oelespot in a wooded area in Tegelen, Venlo. It is one of the oldest recreational facilities and, thanks to its special location, it is the first natural play forest in the Netherlands.
The stock market crash in New York in October 1929 led to a global crisis that also hit Tegelen hard. In the thirties there were mass layoffs and Tegelen complained about 600 unemployed among the almost 12,000 inhabitants. In the course of job creation measures, many unemployed found a job in setting up the play park. The playground equipment was set up by volunteers.
war
In August 1941, the Klein Zwitserland play park came under fire, which destroyed the play equipment and had to close the park. The population of Tegelen wanted their play park back. Since iron was a scarce commodity at the time, the population was inventive and found a suitable material for seesaws and swings in old Allied fuel lines . Many military remnants found new uses at this time.
After the war and a modernization of the play park, Klein Zwitserland quickly became a popular excursion destination again and was able to record 100,000 visitors annually. At the end of the 1970s, however, the number of visitors fell to around 12,000 and when other play parks were able to invest and modernize, Klein Zwitserland fell far behind.
New heyday
In the mid-eighties the community supported the play park and would like to help it to its old heyday. The starting point has remained the same as before: be active and play in the green. The park deliberately dispenses with mechanically driven venues and thus wants to strengthen the physical activity of the visitors. Green energy! Parts of the play structures are based on the atmosphere of 1939, but combined with modern safety standards. But there are also modern play equipment such as B. the longest tube slide in Europe and the "Tarzanswing", a swing with the highest span in the Netherlands . In the summer months, the Klein Zwitserland play park offers not only the action on the play equipment, but also circus and bird of prey shows. The “Oet de Verf” studio also offers space for visitors to be creative.
Natural play forest
The natural play forest was officially opened in 2000, here the children can experience nature as it is, because here nature goes its course. Fallen trees are simply left lying around so that the animals can hide underneath and build nests. The children can build their own tree hut out of the tree trunks and branches or climb over the tree trunks. The purpose of the natural play forest is to give children a feeling for nature, far removed from today's modern amusement parks with their artificial landscapes.
The play park today
More than 70 years after its opening, the Klein Zwitserland play park still offers a lot of attractions for children from 0 to 12 years. Some attractions are nostalgic and some are more modern. High-tech is searched in vain, because the old principles have always been followed, namely to enable children to play in the countryside in a natural environment.
Web links
- Official website (German, Dutch)