Germany’s quirkiest theme park

DW (English)

Euromaxx reporter Brant Dennis visits Tripsdrill, a theme park where you can explore Swabian legends, stories and food.

Transcript

00:00This is one of the weirdest theme parks in the world, where behind all of these amusement

00:11rides are a bit of Swabian culture and history.

00:14Poor bro, it's okay, it's exactly how I feel.

00:20Swabia is a region in southern Germany, and the Swabians are its indigenous people.

00:24It's also the location of the Tripsdrill amusement park.

00:27There are many cliches about Swabians, stingy and straight-laced, but also hard-working

00:32and innovative.

00:34What kind of humor do Swabians have?

00:36How do you call it in English?

00:38Ironic.

00:39A rather dry humor, like English humor.

00:41And very dirty.

00:42Okay, I think I need someone to be my guide on a tour of what they call the Schwabenländer,

00:50the region just outside Stuttgart.

00:52Berger Meierjohann is the right man for that, and he knows Germany's oldest amusement park

00:57like the back of his hand.

00:59What kind of park would you say this is?

01:02Our park is based on stories from Swabia in the 19th century, and we also like to use

01:09some legends and tales of the area.

01:13Nearly every one of the 100 attractions has a Swabian connection, so does the architecture

01:19of the park's Dorfstrasse.

01:21The half-timbered houses are typical of Swabia.

01:25Our first stop is the rollercoaster.

01:31So what kind of ride is this, Berger?

01:34The ride is called Vorder, which means like full steam.

01:39The theme is the Swabian Railway.

01:42It's a folk song from the 19th century, from the area.

01:45Auf der Schwäbische Eisenbahn, dürfen Kühe und Ochse fahren,

01:50Wir bleiben immer weit und nah, gut und alles was zahlt.

01:54Incidentally, the rail line from the song still exists.

01:58Memory of how I was a child on a child's ride.

02:03How wonderful.

02:05The Swabians may not have invented the steam engine, but they can take credit for many

02:09other things, as I'll soon find out.

02:12But first, Berger and I have a challenge to take on.

02:15We have to move the wings just right to make as many turns as we can.

02:23So you did three turns.

02:25Three.

02:26Yeah, that's not bad at all.

02:27Me, I only did one.

02:28Is there some sort of Swabian tradition behind this?

02:30The history is Swabian.

02:33It's a true story of the tailor of Ulm.

02:37And in 1811, he invented a flying device.

02:41Was he successful?

02:42Partly.

02:43He announced that he would give it a try at the Danube River, and then he jumped off with

02:49his flying device.

02:50But there was just bad luck, there were some strong winds, he fell into the Danube River,

02:56he was rescued, so he did survive that.

02:58In spite of this one mishap, the Swabians have a reputation as inventors.

03:03They came up with the first type of match, maybe even the first teddy bear.

03:08They even created Hollywood.

03:10In 1912, Carl Laemmler, a Swabian, bought a poultry farm in Los Angeles and used the

03:15land to start Universal Studios.

03:18The spatula press was invented here, too.

03:20Of course, it's indispensable to Swabian cuisine.

03:25The classic Swabian dishes are simple and hearty.

03:30Small wonder the Swabians were generally poor farmers.

03:34I had hoped we could slow down a bit after that big meal, but Birger likes action.

03:39Or is it just his way of having fun with me?

03:41That wasn't fun.

03:42That wasn't fun at all.

03:44That was not fun.

03:45I don't want to...

03:46I...

03:47I feel okay.

03:48It's fine.

03:49I hope you feel better than him.

03:51But what's wrong with him?

03:52I think he ate more than you did.

03:55That's beautiful.

03:56The sarcastic, folksy, Swabian sense of humour seems to be infectious.

04:01On every corner of Tripstil are these odd, funny little figures.

04:05Like this talking litter basket.

04:10Maybe you want to climb that ladder and see what happens there.

04:13Why?

04:14Well, there's a nice surprise for you.

04:17In Swabian, it's called Fenstern, an old-fashioned method of courting a bride from the Schwabenländler.

04:23The gentleman would come calling on his sweetheart by climbing a ladder up to her window.

04:28Sometimes, instead of his one and only, he would find her parents at the top.

04:32A rude surprise.

04:36And so, our day at Tripstril theme park comes to a close.

04:39Thanks for having me.

04:40Yeah, thanks for this visit and please be our ambassador for Swabia all around the world.

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