Sign up for the editor's
weekly newsletter
July 30, 2010
Naked sled race draws 14,000
Published: 22 Feb 10 10:06 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100222-25417.html
A naked sledging event in Germany’s Harz region created a logistical nightmare over the weekend after 14,000 people showed up to watch 30 men and women strip before sliding down the mountain.
- Behemoth wine barrel to be tapped after 400 years - Society (29 Jul 10)
- Police seize 'ancient' bus after 1.8 million kilometres - Society (28 Jul 10)
- Tom Cruise 'rescues' reporter from being sacked in Munich - Society (22 Jul 10)
But the scene was quite different on Saturday, when thousands unexpectedly turned out for a nearly naked sledging contest sponsored by a radio station. Completely taken by surprise, authorities in the small town in Lower Saxony struggled to deal with the massive crowds.
“The traffic is huge problem for us,” complained Braunlage’s police chief Michael Huth.
But the logistical challenges didn’t keep around 30 contestants from stripping down to their panties or briefs and racing the 100-metre course on little red and black sledges. Many of the tanned racers looked more ready for the beach than the piste, as some even bared what had to be rather chilly nipple rings.
Click here for a photo gallery of the naked race.
“We had a lot of luck with the weather,” said André Gierke from the radio station 89.0 RTL. “A proper winter for naked sledging.”
The 26-year-old Christian Schmidt from Blankenburg in Saxony-Anhalt won the race, but the crowd saved much of its applause for a 70-year-old pensioner who spontaneously stripped down to sledge the hill on his own.
DPA/The Local (news@thelocal.de)
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Fark It!
Digg This
Facebook
Share everywhere
Send to a friend
Printable version
Twitter ThisToday's headlines
TRAGEDY IN DUISBURG
Own party now turns on Duisburg mayor
Embattled Duisburg Mayor Adolf Sauerland faced demands to resign from his own conservative party on Friday over the Love Parade tragedy that left 21 people dead. READ »
Germany wins double-gold at European championships
Germany scored double-gold Thursday night at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, taking first place in both the women’s 100 metres sprint and the javelin throw. READ »
Skilled migrants urgently needed, says minister
With Germany industry facing a looming skills shortage, Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle revealed on Friday he was planning a major recruitment drive to attract skilled migrants. READ (2 COMMENTS) »
Behemoth wine barrel to be tapped after 400 years
The world’s oldest giant wine barrel, held in a Saxony-Anhalt hunting mansion, has been refilled for the first time in its 400-year history and will be filling glasses at a festival beginning on Friday. READ (1 COMMENT) »
Elderly woman robbed by fake relative after weekend reunion
Police are searching for a woman who robbed a retiree after she claimed to be a relative and spent the weekend at her home along with a child and dog, police said on Thursday. READ »
Single-parent families on the rise in Germany
The number of single-parent families in Germany has risen over the past decade, with nearly one in five mothers and fathers now raising their children on their own, a national “microcensus” revealed Thursday. READ (3 COMMENTS) »
Weatherman Kachelmann released from jail
Four months after he was arrested for allegedly raping his girlfriend, weatherman Jörg Kachelmann was released from custody on Thursday. READ (3 COMMENTS) »
Home offices should be tax-deductible, court rules
Teachers, professors and other people who keep a second office at home are in for a windfall after a court ruled Thursday that tax deductions on home offices should be expanded. READ (2 COMMENTS) »
More Society
- 29/07 Neo-Nazis hack into Buchenwald concentration camp website (1 comment) »
- 29/07 Single-parent families on the rise in Germany (3 comments) »
- 29/07 Elderly woman robbed by fake relative after weekend reunion »
- 29/07 Behemoth wine barrel to be tapped after 400 years (1 comment) »
- 28/07 Gay German theologian lashes Catholic Church (4 comments) »
- 28/07 Police seize 'ancient' bus after 1.8 million kilometres (18 comments) »
- 28/07 Nazi death camp guard charged with murder (24 comments) »
- 27/07 Political pressure steamrolled safety fears (2 comments) »
- 27/07 Depression and schizophrenia filling German hospital beds (25 comments) »
- 26/07 Duisburg police relieved of Love Parade investigation »
Highlights
See all ads | Join the Marketplace
-
The Potting Shed - Bar & Kitchen
The Potting Shed is a bar and kitchen -
Able Sprachschule Miller King Bird GbR
Language school for people as well as companies with in-house and away teaching. -
Heilpraktiker Joe Ferraro
Massage and holistic healing -
Liz Frey Relocation Service Agency for Furnished Accommodation Munich
Liz Frey Munich - furnished accommodation -
Chambervelt, Rooselain & Cie. Ltd.
The truly independent advisor especially for expats in Germany -
Arenalingua
Arenalingua offers the language you want to learn... -
Belushi's Berlin
Fun, friendly, traveller's bar.
Sponsored Links
Jobs in Germany, in English
799 jobs available
469 new jobs this week
6 new jobs today
- Product Manager Fleet-Management
- Consultant Installation Specialist (m/f)
- Application Support Engineer (m/f) Microcontroller MSP430
- Lawyer, Senior Counsel (m/f) (JA-GER75852)
- Research & Development Controller (m/w) (JA-GER75888)
- Account Executive
- HR Manager Germany - Global IT Consultancy - Frankfurt
- Consultants / Top Graduates, advance your career in Health-Care!
- Business Analyst
- Manager Differentiated Generics m/f
Latest news from The Local in Sweden
- 30/07 Chaos reigns in central Sweden after heavy rain »
- 30/07 Train breaks down from Stockholm to Malmö »
- 30/07 Ibrahimović pledges to stay at Barcelona »
- 29/07 Protestors arrested in anti-US demo »
- 29/07 Couple suspected of dog smuggling set free »
Blog
Essentials
Dating
Looking for your own blonde bombshell? Or is the strong, silent type more your
style? Find a German sweetheart here.
Weather
"After clouds comes clear weather," say the Germans. But what about after that? Find out in The Local's weather
section.
Blog
German stuff that's distracting us today.
Noticeboard
Whether you want to buy, sell, hire, announce or promote something, here's the place to do it - completely free of
charge.
Discuss
Debate the news, ask for advice, make friends - or just let off steam.
Register
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
News from the Goethe-Institut
- High Risk in the Crisis: Start-Ups in the Culture Business
Organisational talent, networks, staying power and, ideally, plenty of start-up capital – these are important prerequisites for a business start-up. - Cooperate or Capitulate? Clubs and All-Day Schools
In view of the massive expansion of all-day schools, clubs are facing unprecedented problems. - Copying Allowed: Creative Commons Licenses
Creative Commons is a licensing system that enables authors to grant the rights to use their own work. - Spaces of Knowledge. Uwe Jochum on his “Geschichte der abendländischen Bibliotheken”
From cave paintings to the digital library on the Net, Uwe Jochum’s "Geschichte der abendländischen Bibliotheken", spans about 20,000 years of library history.... - Creative Small Business: The Writer and All-Round Artist Thomas Kapielski
Among contemporary German authors, one stands out who for years has been able to operate in various forms of expression and does not fit into any category: Thomas Kapielski....
News from Young Germany
- Pop diva from the "Green Hill"
She’s regarded as the great hope of Bayreuth and marks the beginning of a new era in the history of... - University of Heidelberg number one among graduate students
The number of international students coming to Germany to complete their doctorate is on the rise,... - World's best youth orchestras to perform in Berlin
From August 6-22 some of the world's best youth orchestras will come together for the 11th Young... - The "Gigasaur" comes to Frankfurt
Forty meters long and weighing in at over 80,000 kilos, the Argentinosaurus has arrived in... - Backpacking Germany
Many people find backpacking in a foreign country a daunting prospect, but hitting the road with...
News from DeutschlandOnline
- Westerwelle expects autumn talks on Iran nuclear programme
Visiting Turkey German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Wednesday (27 July) said he expected... - Yoko Ono to exhibit interactive Berlin show in September
Conceptual artist Yoko Ono is to unveil a new show in Berlin this September on the subject of... - German banks pass european stress tests
Seven European Union banks have failed the stress tests run by regulators on 91 lenders and will... - German, Swedish truckmakers study collaboration
Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Scania AB said Thursday it is studying non brand-related collaboration...
Noticeboard
Toytown Germany
- 09:44 Cycling tours around Munich
- 09:39 Documents required to open a DKB Cash account
- 09:36 €100K salary before taxes in Berlin
- 09:34 Using VOIP phone in Alice DSL
- 09:32 Customer service positives in Germany
- 09:30 Paulstep's Leipzig BBQ II - Paul dons apron again
- 09:25 Mortgage advice based on personal experience...
- 09:25 Websites to book cheap flights
- 09:12 SATURDAY 2010 Free Museum Entrance in Frankfurt
- 09:11 Updates on Sunday shopping in Frankfurt
JOB: Sales position @ Globe Business College Munich
GBCM is currently seeking an experienced sales person to work in the area of student recruitment in Germany and internationally
FULL JOB DETAILS
GBCM is currently seeking an experienced sales person to work in the area of student recruitment in Germany and internationally
FULL JOB DETAILS
JOB: Customer Service Agent - Munich
Mr Lodge GmbH, Germany's biggest agency for furnished apartments, is looking for an English native speaker
FULL JOB DETAILS
Mr Lodge GmbH, Germany's biggest agency for furnished apartments, is looking for an English native speaker
FULL JOB DETAILS
Sales managers - country wide
The Local is seeking talented and experienced media sales professionals for our online advertising sales in Germany
FULL JOB DETAILS
The Local is seeking talented and experienced media sales professionals for our online advertising sales in Germany
FULL JOB DETAILS
Flat rate internet + free calls to USA, UK, Canada and more
Surf‘n’Talk service from TKS offers a powerful combination of high-speed Internet connectivity along with an around-the-clock flat for calls to your “home country”. Find out more at the TKS website.
INFO > www.tkscable.com
Surf‘n’Talk service from TKS offers a powerful combination of high-speed Internet connectivity along with an around-the-clock flat for calls to your “home country”. Find out more at the TKS website.
INFO > www.tkscable.com
Your comments about this article:
(this type of awesomeness would never fly with the puritanical a-holes back CONUS)
The 15 men and 15 wom…
Some of the blue-eyed, blonde-haired girls were so kind and innocent. But this is type of event is very inappropriate.
It takes away from a really good thing. And the truth is, men don't admire and respect women who "give it away".
Someone needs to inject a strong sense of morality into the German social conscious.
No thanks pal....
I read the article in The Local just now and was actually going to post a new thread.
Don't we have any such competition here in Munich? so sad..
Some places really take too long to develop
I'm both American and German. It's an intertesting position to be in. And although I currently live in the US, I do however follow what goes on in Germany very closely. Both countries would be much more prosperous if they to focus on moral psychology.
As an American, I assert that no American ANYWHERE has the right to lecture anyone about morality. Ever.
Seriously dude, I understand your perspective, but f#ck this "sins of the father" bullsh!t...
I mean, if there are any Americans or Brits on here that wanna be morally righteous and sh!t (post-hoc), consider this a call for arguments. Seriously, I welcome it. But first I suggest you take a peak at the Geneva Convention ("jus in bello"), and then Google the agendas and exploits of individuals like Curtis LeMay and Arthur "Bomber" Harris!
(but we'll leave the survey on humane/preferred methods of mass execution (firestorm vs. Zyklon-B) for a later date....