Association for Canoeing Wuppertal
| Surname | Association for Canoe Sports Wuppertal eV |
|---|---|
| Club colors | Red White |
| Founded | May 4, 1928 |
| Members | about 150 |
| Chairman | Guido Wrede |
| Homepage | http://www.vfk-wuppertal.de/ |
The Verein für Kanusport Wuppertal eV (VfK) is a canoeing club based in Wuppertal .
The association operates Canoeing in the areas of dragon boat , canoe racing , Outriggercanoe and Canoeing , sometimes also Canoe Marathon and Canoe Slalom . In the 1970s and 1980s, it was one of the three sponsoring associations of the Wuppertal Canoe Sports Association, one of the most successful canoe racing clubs in Germany, and won more than 100 German championship titles, especially in the canoeing disciplines. In 1972 the VfK took part in the Olympic Games with Hans-Martin Röse and Klaus von der Twer , in 1984 and 1988 with Hartmut and Wolfram Faust , and numerous athletes from the club also took part in canoeing world championships .
The club's dragon boat division has won more than 21 world championship titles since 1999 and was the winning team at the World Games in 2005 .
The VfK maintains a boathouse on the Beyenburger reservoir on the Wupper in the area of the city of Ennepetal near Wuppertal- Beyenburg .
The VfK is also the host of the Bergisches Drachenbootfestival , which attracts five-digit visitor numbers every year.
Club history
The club was founded on May 4th, 1928 in the then still independent town of Barmen as the "Barmen Canoeing Club". The later president of the German Canoe Association , Otto Vorberg , was elected as the first chairman . The first boathouse - a simple wooden house on the banks of the Wupper in the Beyenburg district - was inaugurated in 1929.
In 1933/1934 one merged with other associations of the newly founded city of Wuppertal under the name "Verein für Kanusport Roemryke Berge". Since 1945 the name has been "Verein für Kanusport eV Wuppertal".
In 1948, the Helsper / Heinze team succeeded in winning the first German championship title in the two-man canoe . In the canoe slalom, Marlene Engemann won a German championship title in this discipline for Wuppertal for the first time and once in 1958.
At the beginning of the 1950s, the previous boathouse had to give way to the enlargement of the Beyenburg reservoir, as the water level should be increased by 2.30 meters. The members decided on a new building in the immediate vicinity. In 1953 the newly built boathouse was inaugurated at its current location.
In 1971 the VfK was involved in the founding of the Canoe Sports Association Wuppertal (KSGW) alongside the Wuppertal Paddler Guild and the ESV Wuppertal-Ost. In the 1970s and 80s, the KSGW advanced to become the most successful canoe racing club in the Federal Republic of Germany and won more than 200 German championship titles.
As one of the first German associations, the VfK founded a dragon boat department in 1991 and quickly reached the national and international top in this discipline. As the "Drag Attack Team Wuppertal", the club's athletes won numerous German championship titles as well as various titles at world championships and European championships.
In August 2006 the boathouse with all boats was largely destroyed by arson . After considerable efforts by members and sponsors, it was rebuilt in 2008.