Wormatia Worms v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II
Stuttgarter Kickers v Hessen Kassel
The day started with an untimely 0400 flight from Kutaisi, although the fact that it is called Dave the Builder airport, somewhat made up for it. Apparently he was a 11th century Georgian king, despite sounding like someone from rogue traders.
Here is Germany at 0700, at place calling itself Dortmund Airport, but seemingly closer to the Polish border than its namesake.
It is actually in this place, Holzwickede, twinned with Colditz and Weymouth. One of those two is famous for enduring people to periods of incarceration in hellish conditions, I'll let you decide which.
But it does have a station, with old school DB signage that seems to have escaped re-unification.
As if the German public hadn't been inflicted with enough rail related pain due to the shambles that is DB at the moment, they have now let National Express run some of their services. So I was onto Das Wessex Bahn.
Where is it was down through Wuppertal to Köln, with predictable chaos going on. My intended Frankfurt bound ICE was not going anywhere, the DB app saying it was apparently due to 'urgent medical attention to the tracks', which could have meant anything, a fatality, a broken rail, but no, on enquiring with the staff, it stemmed from high winds in the Berlin area the previous Monday.
This would have incurred much ire, if journey planner hadn't thrown up the alternate option of a Zürich service down the Rhein Valley. And glory be, when it rolled in, it was load 14 Swiss stock, with a panorama car.
Which gave a good view of the museum lok at Köln Nippes.
And the barges and wine bushes in the Rhein Valley.
I was off after a couple of hours at Mainz.
My glass roofed steed continuing on its five hour journey to central Switzerland.
With slightly more mundane haulage for my next move.
German wayside stations that are only one letter too many to describe the posterior of a Reading FC international player you saw play two days previously. See also Robsonkanularse.
I was off at Worms. Worms location on the Upper Rhein has made it an important trading location through the ages, from its 5th century beginnings as the excellently sounding capital of the Kingdom of the Burgundians. It was used extensively by the Romans, and seems to have facilitated the rise of middle class pretentiousness across the continent as originally it was the centre for the distribution of Olive Oil across Europe, but by the 15th century, it had found a new purpose, as it brought Liebfraumilch to the suburbs, and most importantly, by the 1970s it was the home of Blue Nun Wine. Stay classy Worms.
The W of Worms is actually pronounced with a hard V, like vertical. However, the written form still gives great amusement. I'm not sure what this shop actually sells but it is a six week course of tablets to get your dog cured of it.
Sometimes it is better not to speak the native language, just so you are spared the horrific reality of what a poster is actually advertising. (I'd originally started telling a horrifically misogynist 1990s joke about Take That and Lulu but thought better of it).
My walk took me here, which was a large sports complex.
It hosts a multitude of activities, who wouldn't want to get involved in Ozeanic Worms?
Well, me actually. As I was onwards to none other than the EWR Arena Worms.
In the car park there was perhaps a reflection of the different levels of the competing teams, the home team making do with this as their dedicated transport.
Whilst the Bundesliga visitors could offer this.
Although the social cub could offer a bright yellow Hummer. Such refined taste.
Wormatia Worms 1 v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II 4, Regionalliga Südwest
The first of the Wormatia teams were founded in 1908, and a series of mergers finally saw the current VfR Wormatia 08 Worms club emerge in 1919. The club played at the highest levels as Germany slowly developed into being a proper country, playing first in the Kreisliga Hessen, then the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar, as the leagues expanded. Events in the 1930s saw the club forcefully reorganised as Reichsbahn TuSV Worms in the Gauliga Südwest. They reverted back to their original form in the 1950s but this also saw a decline in fortunes in the top level Oberliga Südwest, which meant Wormatia missed out on a place in the Bundesliga when it was formed in the 1960s. They instead joined the second tier Regionalliga Südwest which became the Bundesliga 2. An unsuccessful challenge for the title and promotion to the top tier in 1979, was immediately followed by financial issues and a plum it down to the regional leagues. This has seen them Level out in the Regionalliga Südwest, which is the fourth tier of German football, though survival at this level has mostly been down to finishing in relegation positions but other clubs going bust.
Hoffenheim is some piss arse nothing village of 3,500 people near Heidelberg, however it has somehow spawned a Bundesliga level football club. Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V were formed in 1945 from a merger of a football club and a 1899 vintage gymnastics club. They competed in the Baden-Württemberg A-Liga, which is too far down that even I have only ever watched two games in it. However, come 2000, and the club was taken over by local boy Dietmar Hopp, part owner of SAP, makers of the dullest software imaginable for the dullest people imaginable to undertake the dullest tasks imaginable. He used part of his 6.5 billion dollar fortune to fund a rise up the leagues. Originally this was intended to be by merging a load of local clubs to nick their league positions, but when they all resisted, he instead just bankrolled Hoffenheims eight promotions and 30,000 capacity new stadium. Though he does seem to have scrimped on design costs for the team badge.
The Wormatia Stadion was opened in 1927 as part of a large sports complex in the town. In the 1930s it was completely rebuilt and rather patriotically named Adolf Hitler Kampfbahn. The ground retains its original shape, though these days, sponsorship from an energy company has seen it called the EWR Arena.
The original woodern grandstand was built in 1939, but by the 1980s, it no longer met fire regulations, and this replacement was built.
Although with added pitch side skips and giant beer bottles.
I joined the paramedics watching from the opposite open terrace.
Just in time for it to start lashing it down.
The home ultras were found in the Paddock of the main stand.
The track and main stand made the stadium look more like Palmer Park than Palmer Park itself looks like.
Wormatia had all the chances until now, when from this cross....
...the visitors took the lead.
Half time and a chance to buy badges from a bloke in a wheelchair who had a fantastic array of English swearing.
And a chance for some Germanic fare, with bread and currywurst.
The second half started with Hoffenheim immediately scoring a second.
And a third.
Things got exciting as Wormatia continued to have all the play, and pulled one back.
Only for Hoffenheim to get a fourth.
With the game ending 1-4.
It was a walk back into the centre.
It was back into town where the fake Burger King was overlooked for a fourteen hour kip.
Into Mannheim, with the 'medical attention to the tracks' still going on, so my planned ICE unit was an hour down.
Pulling into the station, and opposite there was a set of OBB stock with white lights on the front, which meant it must be heading for Austria, via my intended destination of Ulm, so I jumped on, just as the doors were closing.
It was only on the reversal at Stuttgart that I realised this was the hideously late IC119, which is the one train a day to head down via Lindau to get to Innsbruck.
The line from Ulm is not electrified, so this means diesel traction in the form of a pair of class 218 'rabbits', so called because the roof mounted exhausts look like bunny ears. Not that you can see them here. Try this.
We stormed through Geislingen, with more classic traction on show, in the form of a class 151.
And being able to watch the reverse drivers view through the glass rear door.
We arrived into Ulm, having made up a decent amount of time.
Which was promptly lost as the train then sat around awaiting the single line to Biberach.
I dropped my stuff at the hotel and headed back to the station, finally succumbing to an ICE.
Back into Stuttgart.
Where it was an s-bahn move out to Stuttgart Neckarpark.
Which is where the Mercedes-Benz Arena is located.
The Neckarstadion was opened in 1933, though named the Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn in honour of the Austrian painter. It hosted games in the 1974 World Cup, before a major rebuild in the 1980s in order to host games in the 1988 Euros, including England's stylish and comprehensive thrashing of plucky underdogs Ireland. This rebuilding, financed by Mercedes who are based in the city, saw a unique fabric panelled roof installed. Further works have now seen the running track removed and the roof extended and renewed to cover the additional seating..
Resident on every single beam were these little dots.
Which turned out to be a huge flock of starlings, who suddenly took flight, turning the skies dark and shitting absolutely everywhere.
Is there a club in Europe that doesn't use this song?
After a disappointing stop off at the closed Stuttgart tram museum.
It was back to the combined station/Macdonalds at Bad Cannstatt.
Another S-Bahn leap.
Back to Hauptbahnhof where it was downstairs to the tram.
And a ride out to Waldau, on the southern outskirts of the city.
Where a distinct lack of working street lights meant a very dark approach to my next venue.
Which was the complete opposite in terms of illumination.
Dominating proceedings was the Fernsehturm TV tower.
It appears to be impossible to take a picture of the ground that doesn't include it.
To me, there is no more an intimidating 'hell' than a few stickers on an electrical cabinet. Especially when those stickers are for the less than threatening sounding 'young care ultras', which sounds like a college group for social workers.
A new main stand was built in 2014 and the exterior looks excellent when lit up.
It is a very odd design, in that half of the rear angles out to form a restaraunt area.
Stuttgarter Kickers 3 v Hessen Kassel 3, Regionalliga Südwest
Sportverein Stuttgarter Kickers e.V. were formed in 1899, and have had a similar history to Wormatia; playing in the top leagues in the early regionalised structure, then post war in the Oberliga Süd, but not getting into the Bundesliga when it was formed. They instead played in the Oberliga Süd which became the professional Bundesliga 2 in 1970s. There they stayed into dropping out in the late eighties. Since then they have been flirting between level 3 and 4, having a spell in the new Bundesliga 3, but currently down in the Regionalliga Südwest. I have absolutely no idea what the badge is meant to be, I can maybe make out a letter S, but beyond that, no, just a bad LSD trip.
Kassel is located in central Germany and is most well known for being the home of the Brothers Grimm and where they wrote their fairytales. Kasseler Sport-Verein Hessen Kassel are a product of various early 20th century mergers between clubs, the oldest being from 1893 and the most recent being in 1947. They held a lowly position in their early years, but The nazi reorganisation of the leagues saw the club in one of the regional top flights, a status they carried on post war in the Oberliga Hessen. However, they too did not get into the Bundesliga, and had dropped from their tier two status when the second division was first formed. However, promotion saw them up to second level in the 1980s, with a number of promotion challenges. However, a couple of bankruptcies saw them plummet to the regional leagues, a level they are only now emerging from.
The Kickers-Platz was opened in 1905, thus making it the longest used ground in German football. It originally had wooden bleachers for terraces, supposedly a scaled down copy of Highbury. A major reconstruction took place in the 1970s, with a cantilever stand and covered terrace. The 1980s saw the ground renamed the Waldau stadium. However, the last couple of years has seen a major renovation of the ground, originally required to meet the liga 3 grading, with the main stand and covered terrace being rebuilt.
The main stand is less impressive once inside.
The end terraces are narrow and uncovered.
But are enclosed in very sturdy full height metal fencing.
However, I was on the Nordtribüne side terrace, which was a real mess. It got rebuilt at the same time as the main stand, but it has horrifically intrusive roof supports. To make matters worse, for some reason the roof cover has now been removed, just leaving the pillars to get in the way.
But, this evening did witness a momentous occasion. For the entirety of my lifetime I have been waiting for a German club to come out to music that isn't a 1980s power ballad. It seems that no club can break free of the shackled of simply the best, eye of the tiger and god forbid, Wuppertal's rousing rendition of Bette Davis eyes. So when the lights dimmed, and the mascots assembled, I was shocked that instead of 'you'll never walk alone', instead the teams emerged to The XX - intro. Hardly a mood lifter, but significant progress for our Germanic brethren. Now if we could just get them to stop with the triple denim.
Also accompanying the teams was a wholly underwhelming display of pyro technics, which was more a heavy vape.
The away contingent who'd made the 300 mile journey down from Kessel. As ever, despite it being only fifteen strong, one lone fan took to watching on his own. Lonely souls at football.
The chronic design of the stand meant I got a great view of goals being scored behind cross struts.
Half time had been reached with apparently the visitors 3-0 up.
But the second half saw a kickers fight back,
This made the final score 3-3.
Not fancying an 0200 return to my hotel in Ulm, I headed off a few minutes before the end.
Back to the U-stadtbahn.
And a hybrid tram/underground with accompanying football artwork.
Back to Hauptbahnhof.
Where one of the two daily TGV services in from Paris was terminating.
I was onto a Berlin-Munchen service, formed of an original ICE unit, which are my favourites as they are about 300 coaches Long with loads of first class, the latest ICE-T units being only seven carriages and 1.5 of first class.
It was on to a less blurry Ulm.
Where the temptation of a midnight rabbit spin down to Lindau was foresaken for sleep.
Good work Sir
ReplyDelete