Oarsmen’s Paradise: 130,000 Rowers in Germany

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 228, 23 June 1936, Page 14

Oarsmen’s Paradise: 130,000 Rowers in Germany

IT was exactly 100 years ago that German merchants in Hamburg first beto take an interest in rowing as a sport (writes M. 11. Ehlert, in an Olympic bulletin). Since that time Germany has become the home of the largest rowing association in the world. A few figures will serve to elucidate this statement. There are to-day in Germany, 662 rowing clubs, possessing a total of 520 boat-houses, and a combined flotilla of some 11,000 racing and pleasure boats. Their total value is estimated at 25 million Reichs-marks. One hundred ■ and thirty thousand oarsmen comprise the membership of the German Rowing Association. including 20,000 students and 10,000 women. Beside these, there are numberless individual oarsmen and oarswonien who do not belong to the association.. Their exact number cannot be determined; but it is certain that rowing is a favourite popular sport in Germany, and that it enjoys the active support and aid State.

An Oarsmen’s Paradise. In August, 1934, the “Deutscher Ruder Verband” organised its firs crui - for foreign ’ d . e . r title of "Round About Berlin. L 0 oarsmen came from England Denmark. Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Da y and Hungary. All were mimh delighted with the ten-day cruise through the beautifi" -'-er' "■■■’ “ t ’”' Bennflenbuig Marches. An Hungarian guest said upon leave-taking: “I must say that Germany, with its many rivers and lakes, is the n'osi ~ e llie most beautiful rowing region in the world. \v hat he said may well be true; for I have cruised through a dozen countries in a rowboat, and nowhere have I found the secluded and drenmv nooks which are to

be met with when rowing on the rivers of Germany. And, who is there who has not heard of the beauties of the Mosel Mid the Main, the Rhenish castles, and the enchanting lake country of Mecklenburg? Rowboats Only One Mark Per Day. Another great advantage is that the German oarsman does not have to buy a boat of his own in order to be able to go cruising. He can rent a boat for his vacation from his own club, or he can obtain one direct from the association (Cruising Department). which has branches in almost every village and town in the Reich. He nays a mark per day for the boat, packs his tent and valise, and starts off through the network of Brandenburg lakes, or those of Mecklenburg or East Prussia. Or he suns himself on the shores of the North Sea or the Baltic. Or ho lets his boat drift lazily down the Rhine, the Main, the Danube, the Elbe, or the Weser, and has it brought up-stream by some steamer. In Germany this kind of boating costs very little, and it is also a sport which can be enjoyed by old and young alike. There are a on„c ; a^v.,'q p number of German oarsmen between 60 and 70 years of age. who every season row a matter of from three to five thousand kilometros. The last cruise held '->v th" association ; n May. 1935. on the Saar, Mosel, and Rhine, the youngest membe- of Hie oruise was 17. and the oldest 76. In order to give foreign visitors an opportunity to see Germany via its rivers and lakes, the “Deutscher Ruder Verbnnd” is Manning to hold such a cruise every year, and in view of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936. this cruise will be arranged to follow after the rowing races.