Wadden Olympic Games
The Wattolümpiade is an event that has been held annually since 2004 (from 2016 every two years) in Brunsbüttel at the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea . Recreational athletes compete against each other in several disciplines that have been specially adapted for the staging in the Wadden Sea of the North Sea .
The Wattolümpiade, which takes place in summer, attracts several thousand spectators every year. The supporting program includes the Wattstock music festival , which is held on the evening before the Wattolümpiade. The proceeds from the event will be used to provide advice and information to cancer patients . The money goes to the West Coast Clinic and other information and advice centers.
Photos and pictures of the event in particular are popular in the media around the world in the summer months and have already appeared in newspapers and television programs on several continents.
history
The event first took place in 1978. At that time it was an event for a few friends who moved to the dike with beer crates and radios. In the following years there were irregular repetitions, which took place in a similar framework. The initiator of the event is the artist Jens Rusch . When Rusch was looking for an idea to raise money for other sufferers after his cancer, he fell for the leisure spectacle. In 2004, the Wattolümpiade took place for the first time on a larger scale with public participation. It has also been an annual event since that year.
In 2005, the event won a special prize for creative marketing at the German Tourism Prize of the German Tourism Association .
In 2009 the Wattolümpiad attracted around 400 athletes . In 2010 the documentary Meerkampf was released. Watt? which was shown in the regular cinema programs at several film festivals and in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The number of athletes rose to 500 that year.
In the following years the event fell into a crisis. The Wattstock Festival had to be canceled as early as 2010 because the event costs could not be covered by sponsorship alone. In 2011, the Wattolümpiad had to be canceled at the last minute due to a strong storm on the North Sea coast. The withdrawal of one of the two main sponsors threatened the existence of the 2012 Wattolümpiad. This year the event was saved through extra charity campaigns, but it is still facing economic difficulties.
In 2012, around 300 athletes competed and watched by 2200 spectators. In the same year, the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Torsten Albig , lit the Olympic flame . The patron of the event is the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament president , in 2012 this was Klaus Schlie .
The event has raised over 200,000 euros since 2004, including 26,000 euros in 2013. The city of Brunsbüttel itself describes the event as the city's tourist flagship.
In 2013 the Wattolümpiade was nominated for the Schleswig-Holstein Citizens' Prize and was awarded the Dithmarscher innovation prize "Plietsche Lüüd" (society prize).
procedure
The entire Wattolümpiad lasts about four hours, during which the tides expose the playing field. The number of athletes is limited. In the first few years, registration was terminated after the starting places were occupied. Since in 2012 almost all starting places from the previous year were already taken due to the failed 2011 Wattolümpiad, the remaining places were auctioned on eBay this year . The athletes come from the region, but regular participants also come from Italy, Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
In the team disciplines there are several events in which conventional sports are adapted to the mudflats. These are soccer, handball and volleyball (Wolliball) . There is also a sledge race and the eel relay race , in which the relay baton is replaced by a bicycle tube filled with cooked rice. A small vibrator on the head causes the hose to vibrate during the run. In addition to prizes for the most successful athletes, the best costumes and the funniest team are also awarded. In the history of the event, there were other sports that currently are not held as Boot Throwing, Fish Tennis, udder ball and tug of war (Tampentrecken) . For a few years the program was supplemented by a golf tournament in the Friedrichskoog mudflats . This is less muddy and harder than the mud flats of the Elbe estuary, but still made for an extraordinary game of golf.
It is part of the folklore of the event to “weave” numerous terms. The organizers speak of "Wattleten", the "Wattkampfleiter", wish for "dirty sport" etc. The current Wattkampf manager is Oliver Kumbartzky , member of the Brunsbüttel state parliament , and Michael Behrendt has been the head of organization for many years.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b ndr: Mud battle at the mouth of the Elbe , July 29, 2012
- ↑ Wattopedia: Weltpresse ( 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. , July 21, 2011
- ↑ a b Hauke Mormann: "Sea battle. Watt?" - Slush in the cinema , February 26, 2010
- ↑ a b c d shz: Thick intake at Wattolümpiade
- ↑ Martina Miethig: North Sea Coast Schleswig-Holstein HB Bildatlas, 2005 ISBN 3616061873 p. 87
- ^ Gerhard Schoolmann: First German Tourism Prize awarded. , Hospitality Thought Chips November 13, 2005
- ↑ a b abl / dpa: Wattolümpiade 2009: Quatsch im Matsch , Spiegel Online August 31, 2012
- ^ Hauke Mormann: "Wattolümpiade" - cinema premiere in Marne , 3 March 2010
- ^ "Wattolümpiade 2010": Mud battle on the North Sea coast , Spiegel Online June 6, 2010
- ↑ Bike campaign: The Wattstock Festival is back ( 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. , Dithmarscher Landeszeitung February 16, 2011
- ↑ Beate Meißner: Security takes priority over a good cause ( memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) , Dithmarscher Landeszeitung, July 25, 2011
- ↑ David Siems: Brunsbüttel: "Olümpiade" im Schlamm , Hamburger Morgenpost July 29, 2012
- ↑ sh: z: Landtag President Schlie new patron of the Wattolümpiad , shz June 6, 2012
- ↑ dapd Video: Dirty mud battle for a good cause ( Memento from December 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , July 30, 2012
- ↑ a b dao: Throwing rice bags on the dyke: Wattolümpiade becomes multicultural , shz April 7, 2012
- ↑ Wattoluempia.de
- ↑ Wolfgang Runge: Brunsbütteler "Wattolümpiade" in bright sunshine , Hamburger Abendblatt 6 June 2010
- ↑ Pera Fell: That muds so nicely ( 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. , Dithmarscher Landeszeitung June 14, 2011
- ↑ dapd: Schlammschlacht im Watt , Frankfurter Rundschau July 29, 2012
