Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

European International Series

Entrants 1965: Belgium (B) • West Germany (D) • France (F) • Italy (I) 

Presenters  / Commentators of International Heats:
Pierre Brive, Paule Herreman and Jean-Claude Menessier (RTB - B)
Georges Kleinmann (SSR - CH)
Ernst-Ludwig Freisinkel (SRG  - CH)
Arnim Dahl, Camillo Felgen, Lilo Katzke, Albert Raisner and Otto Ernst Rock (ARD-WDR - D)
Simone Garnier, Yvonne Kasawicz, Guy Lux, Joseph Pasteur and Léon Zitrone (ORTF - F)
Lea Landi, Giulio Marchetti and Enzo Tortora (RAI - I)

International Referees:
Kurt Hauser (Heats 3-6, Semi-Finals and International Final)
Jean Lutz
Gennaro Olivieri

National Referees:
Gian Paolo Carusi, Livio Orvani, Alessandro Trapassi (I)

Collaborator/Assistant Referee:
André Lange

Production Credits:

National Producers: Pierre Chevreuille, André Lange, Diane Lange (B), André Pergament (CH), Wolf Citron, Marita Theile (D), Guy Lux, Jean-Louis Marest, Roger Pradines, Claude Savarit (F), Lucciano Vecchi (I); National Directors: Albert Deguelle (B), Jean-Marcel Schorderet (CH), Fred Kraus (D), Pierre Badel, Henri Carrier (F), Pierre Turchetti (I)

Produced by the European Broadcasting Union and
RTB (B), SSR-SRG (CH), ARD-WDR (D), ORTF (F), RAI (I)

Key: International Heats and Semi-Finals ● = Qualified for next stage / ● = Heat Winner ● = Bronze Trophy Trophy International Final ● = Gold Trophy / ● = Silver Trophy   ▲ = Promoted to Position / ▼ = Demoted to Position DST = Daylight Saving Time (None of the participating countries observed DST)

D & F

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 1

Event Staged: Wednesday 26th May 1965
Venues: Deutsch Nationalen Reitschule (German National Riding School),
Warendorf, West Germany
and Arènes de Dax (Dax Arena), Parc Théodore Denis (Theodore Denis Park), Dax, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
WDR 1 (D): Wednesday 26th May 1965, 8.15pm-9.45pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 26th May 1965, 8.20-9.40pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 26th May 1965, 8.20-9.40pm (Live)
RTB (B): Wednesday 26th May 1965, 9.00-10.15pm
SSR (CH): Friday 28th May 1965, 8.35-9.50pm

Neutral Jury in Paris, France:
Pierre Brive (Chairman), André Rosat [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich],
Mascia Cantoni [Lugano] and Sandra Schutzer (Miss Switzerland 1964) (Interpreter)

Referee Locations:
Jean Lutz in Warendorf, West Germany
Gennaro Olivieri in Dax, France

Weather Conditions:
West Germany - Warm and Dry
France - Warm and Dry

Themes: Arena Games (F) and Equestrianism (D)

Teams: Warendorf (D) v. Dax (F)

Games: The Bull and the Chariot (in France), The Gymkhana (in West Germany), The Capstan (in France), The Tractors (in West Germany), The Trampolinists (in France), The Feathered Ponies (in West Germany) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A weightlifter must raise a bar above his head five times and return it to the floor on each occasion in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - France: Arranging European rivers in order of their lengths; West Germany: Matching European museums to their respective famous exhibits;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A 15m pole must be climbed on two occasions to retrieve balloons (in France) or flags (in West Germany) in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - West Germany: Arranging European countries in order of biggest spenders on clothes; France: Matching book titles to their respective European authors.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 D • Warendorf ● ●
 F • Dax

4
0

Running Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - not yet competed
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Dax -4pts difference
Italy (I) - not yet competed

The Host Towns

Warendorf, West Germany

Warendorf is a town in Nordrhein-Westfalen state with a population of around 37,000 inhabitants. Situated on the Ems river in the eastern part of the Münsterland area, some 30km (18mi) west of the closest city of Münster, it is best known today for its well-preserved medieval town centre, horse-riding and the opportunities it provides for cycling. Bicycles are such a common means of transport in the area that many cycle paths have been built, even alongside main roads outside the town.

The origin and name of Warendorf dates back to the ancient Saxon royal court of Warintharpa (the village on the embankment), which was most likely already formed in 700 BC.

The town is home to the Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung Eingetragener Verein (German Equestrian Federation Registered Association) headquarters, an umbrella organisation of all breeders, riders, drivers and vaulters in Germany. The international designation is the Équestre Fédération Nationale (FN for short) and was founded in Berlin in 1905 as Verband Deutscher Halbblutzüchter (Half-Blood German Breeders Association). Today it consists of 17 national associations along with 403 local associations and over 7,500 riding and driving clubs. With a total of almost 750,000 members, the FN is the largest equestrian association in the world, with approximately 70% (550,000) of its members being female. As well as this, the complex is home to the North Rhine-Westphalia's Landgestüt (stud farm) and the National Olympic Committee for horse-riding.

Dax, France

Dax is a commune in Aquitaine in the Landes département in south-west France with apopulation of around 21,000 inhabitants. It is particularly famous as a spa, specialising in mud treatment for rheumatism and similar ailments. It is also a market town, former bishopric and busy local centre, especially for the Chalosse area. It is an aquatic town in every sense of the word! Its name, which comes from the Latin word aquae, was transformed over time to Acqs, d’Acqs and then Dax.

Built in the 19th century on the site of the former Roman baths, the famous Fontaine Chaude (hot water fountain) has become the key symbol of Dax as a resort, which proudly proclaims its status as France’s leading spa destination. Well-known as a treatment for many afflictions, the waters of Dax can also be enjoyed for fun in the swimming pools and balneotherapy facilities. All of the town’s 15 spas use a special mud called Péloïde, a natural product applied to the body, coming from a 62°C (143°F) natural source. The area around the Néhe (the ancient hot water spring) used to be the town’s butchers’ and tripe sellers’ district. Housewives back then would use the 64°C (147°F) water for cooking eggs and plucking poultry!

The Venues

Deutsch Nationalen Reitschule
(German National Riding School), Warendorf

The games at the West German venue were played in the grounds of the Deutsch Nationalen Reitschule (German National Riding School), which is part of the headquarters complex.

Arènes de Dax (Dax Arena), Dax

The games at the French venue were played in the Dax Arena, built in 1913, and which is one of the seven first-class arenas in France. The others being sited at Arles, Bayonne, Beziers, Mont-de-Marsan, Nîmes and Vic-Fezensac.

Until the 18th century, the bullfights, or races as they were known, took place at the southern end of Rue de Fusillés near to the City Hall. They were not official and in so much, many of the participants, including bystanders, suffered injuries. It was not until 1784 that they were officially authorized by the Governor of Guyenne (a large province of pre-revolutionary France), provided that the place that they were staged was enclosed and barriers erected to prevent accidents. This led to the bullfights taking place at the site of the former Franciscan monastery, which later became the site of its permanent home. In 1857, the arena, originally built of wood, was in the shape of a horseshoe with a capacity of about 2,000 spectators. With the better safety aspect, the fights became more popular and in 1890, the arena was enlarged. However, during the year’s events, a bull escaped and ran wild down Rue du Toro, before being downed by matador Felix Robert. The local préfecture saw this incident as a reason to try and stop bull-fighting, but despite their efforts, the fights continued until a devastating fire in 1912, destroyed over three-quarters of the arena. With the wooden remnants removed, a new arena was constructed of reinforced concrete, following a vote of 16-4 by local councillors. The mayor of Dax, Octave Lartigau, officially opened the current arena on 10th May 1913 at 4pm.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - The Bull and the Chariot

With this being the first-ever heat, the programme was hit with problems from the start. The first game 'The Bull and the Chariot' - held in France, involved a Roman-style chariot being attached to a bull by way of a yoke and leather strapping. The idea was to release the bull and as it made its way around the ring in a random fashion, the gladiator inside the chariot had to burst colour-coded balloons which were hanging above his head on a wire matrix above the bullring.

However, as the bull was ‘wild’, there was no way of determining the direction in which it would go, and on the first run, the bull headed towards the sidewall of the ring, crashing into it causing the chariot to overturn which in turn caused the leather strapping to split and break away from the bull and the wooden yoke. It was determined that this could not be repaired or replaced in time for a re-run and so the first game was deemed a draw, and both teams were awarded 1pt each (even though Warendorf hadn’t yet taken part!).

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Warendorf (D) (1pt awarded / 1pt total) =1st Dax (F) (1pt / 1pt)

Game 2 - The Gymkhana

The second game (the first held in West Germany) - 'The Gymkhana' - was equestrian-based and involved two riders on top of one horse circumnavigating a course of small fences. The course was overlaid on a map of the four competing countries in the series and Switzerland (which was also broadcasting and producing the programme). On the whistle, the riders carrying up to eight small boxes inscribed with the ident letters of the four competing countries (B, D, F, I) had to circumnavigate the course dropping the respective boxes in the countries as they ‘passed’ through them.

The French team went first but just could not find their rhythm in equestrianism and continually fell from the horse. Eventually one of the riders fell badly and was injured and the team were unable to complete the game and the timer was stopped after 1 minute 55 seconds. The West German team appeared to have been training for this game all their lives, and not surprisingly as the heat was staged at the National Riding School, and completed the game in just 36 seconds! Warendorf's victory witnessed them take the lead in the competition.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (2pts awarded / 3pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (0pts / 1pt) ▼

Game 3 - The Capstan

The third game (the second in France) - 'The Capstan' - was a variant of the classic tug-o-war, but played on a large capstan - a vertical-axled rotating machine used mainly on ships to apply force on ropes or sails.

On the whistle, the teams had to push forward on their arm of the capstan, and whilst it looked like it was going to be a stalemate game, the Warendorf team managed to make some ground forward, forcing the Dax team backwards. This slight advantage began to increase and within the next 5 seconds Warendorf had concluded the game. A simple but enjoyable game to watch! The West Germans were now leading by 4pts.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (2pts awarded / 5pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (0pts / 1pt)

Game 4 - The Tractors

The fourth game (the second in West Germany) - 'The Tractors' - was an entertaining and ingeniously designed game which involved drivers having to do ‘wheelies’ with full size tractors. Although this may sound hard to imagine, it was quite easy to achieve. On the front of the tractor was a long L-shaped pole and on the back was a platform, both which were set at upward inclined angles of 45° to the vehicle. Also on the back of the tractor were four team-mates leaning forward onto the tractor whilst standing on the platform closest to the tractor’s rear. On the whistle, with the tractors already lined up, the four players simply moved backwards out onto the platform and their total body weight lifted up the front wheels of the tractor. This then had the effect of setting the pole at a 90° angle to the ground and it was then able to be used as a ‘needle’ to collect large rings hanging above the course. Once a ring had been successfully hooked, it fell to the bottom of the pole. The players on the rear of the platform then moved forward to the tractor and the front wheels came back to terra-firma, which allowed the driver to turn the vehicle around and the whole procedure repeated.

Despite both of the teams making errors and missing rings with the ‘needle’, at the final count they had both collected 13 rings each and the game ended in a draw.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (1pt awarded / 6pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (1pt / 2pts)

Comments: This game was later re-used in the second heat of the West German Domestic Series Spiel Ohne Grenzen at Uelzen in 1970.

Game 5 - The Trampolinists

The highlight of the programme was the fifth game (the third in France) - 'The Trampolinists' - which, although it featured a live animal, was somewhat enjoyable to watch. The idea of the game was to transport a player from one side of the bullring to the other on a small trampoline. On reaching the other side, the ’trampolinist’ had to bounce on the trampoline and reach for a trapeze swing. Once caught, he had to dangle from it whilst the other team members ran around the perimeter of the bullring until reaching the original starting point and travelling across the ring again. On reaching their dangling player, he could release himself and then bounce again for the swing and the game was repeated. Although this sounded simple, the element of surprise was that a bull was in the ring with the two teams and it continually attacked the team members whilst they were traversing it.

The hilarious element of the game was when the bull literally jumped on one of the trampolines itself to get to the players and it bounced off the other side. This happened on a couple of occasions and whilst today scenes of such treatment to animals would cause outrage to many, it was hilarious to watch and even caused West German presenter Camillo Felgen to burst out with laughter. A rare feat in itself! This game was to give the French their first outright win and they had now closed the gap to their opponents.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (0pts awarded / 6pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (2pts / 4pts)

Game 6 - The Feathered Ponies

The final competitive game (the third game in West Germany) - 'The Feathered Ponies' - would certainly have been banned if played in today’s society. It involved a small herd of horses with feathered tassels attached to their rein’s headpieces. On the whistle, opposing team members, whose hands were already manacled to their feet to hinder their movement, had to chase the horses around a corral, which somewhat put them in a state of panic to begin with, trying to collect one of the tassels and place it in a holder. Once completed, the game was repeated. In order that the horses did not congregate in any particular place, four ‘ringmasters’ were located on the outside of the corral. They used elongated circus-type whips to coerce the continual movement of the horses. Whether by accident or not, a dachshund was also in the corral barking at the horses and snapping at their heels.

The French repeated their success from the previous game and with their second win, they had brought the scores level. It was now up to the 'intellectuals' to decide the outcome.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Warendorf (D) (0pts awarded / 6pts total) =1st Dax (F) (2pts / 6pts) ▲

Game of Questions

The final game - ‘Game of Questions’ - was similar to that used in the Interneige series earlier in the year. The questions would be answered on home soil (i.e. the French team were asked their questions at the French venue etc.). It was played by ‘intellectuals’ representing each team and a dignitary from each of the two towns had a choice of two envelopes (A or B) each valued at either 3pts or 1pt. Both teams were given the same two questions in the envelopes. However, if in the first round the team choosing the question first opted for envelope A1, the second team was automatically given envelope A2. In the second round, the team that had been given no option in the previous round, were then given the choice of envelopes B3 or B4, which resulted in the other team automatically being given the ‘no option’ envelope. If the question in the envelope was answered correctly by the town’s ‘intellectuals’, then their team would be awarded the points pertaining to the choice of their dignitary. If however the ‘intellectuals’ were unable to answer the question correctly, then their team would be penalised with a minus score of the value chosen. Each of these ‘questions’ was in fact just to put a number of items into a particular order. After the first questions had been asked and the answers given, then the remaining envelopes would be given a value by the dignitary and the process repeated. However, the time allowed to complete these ‘questions’ was determined by the time it took an opposing team member to complete a task. A point to note was that if the team had scored poorly on the first six games it meant that it was possible for a team to finish the contest with a minus score.

After recouping the four point deficit, the French team really blew their chances in this heat in the Game of Questions. The French dignitary chose a 3pt question and the intellectuals failed to score and the team were deducted 3pts as a penalty.

►GQ1 France - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (6pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (-3pts penalty / 3pts) ▼

The West German played safe with a 1pt question, but in turn also failed to answer correctly.

►GQ1 West Germany - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (-1pts penalty / 5pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (3pts)

Despite this penalty, the Warendorf team still held a 2pts advantage over Dax. Their dignitary again played safe, choosing the 1pt option, but the question was again answered incorrectly.

►GQ2 West Germany - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (-1pts penalty / 4pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (3pts)

All the French team needed to do was to answer the question correctly and they would either tie the match or win by a 2pts margin. The Dax dignitary stated that he would chose a 3pt question for fairness and in the spirit of the game, but again the team failed to deliver and the final score ended 4-0 to Warendorf.

►GQ1 France - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (4pts total) 2nd Dax (F) (-3pts penalty / 0pts) Points Differences: Warendorf (D) +4pts Dax (F) -4pts

Comments: Ironically, none of the ‘intellectuals’ in this heat answered a question correctly!

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

There was an early appearance in this heat by future TSI Swiss-Italian presenter Mascia Cantoni. She appeared as one of the members of the neutral jury speaking Italian to her studio in Lugano.

The first two series of the programme were officiated over by numerous referees including stalwarts Gennaro Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi. Making his first appearance in this heat was Swiss ex-FIFA International football referee Jean Lutz.

Belgian André Lange assisted the resident referees throughout the series from 1965-1982. For fairness, he never assisted at Belgian staged heats when he returned to his other role as producer and games designer.

Additional Information

The West German team wore dossards in this event at both venues whilst the French Dax team wore none. This might not seem strange but instead of the normal ‘D’ for West Germany, all the dossards were notated as ‘W’ for Warendorf!

On the opening shots of the French venue a large white banner displaying the words ‘Dax - Capitale du Rhumatisme’ (Capital of Rheumatism) was seen hanging from the spectator stand. Not a good advert for the town some might say! In this case, the banner referred to the thermal spas located in the town which are still renowned for their soothing effect upon sufferers of the ailment.

The qualifying criterion for a place in the semi-finals for the first two series of Jeux Sans Frontières was based on the difference in scores between the winning team and their respective opponents, which led to some teams scoring more points than the actual qualifier. An example can be seen in the following heat where the winning French team scored 7pts whilst the score for the actual qualifier for the semi-final was just 4pts. The reason for this was that the difference in points between their score and their opponent’s was just 2pts, whereas the actual qualifier’s score had a difference of 6pts.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

F & I

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 2

Event Staged: Wednesday 9th June 1965
Venues:
Théâtre Antique d'Orange (Ancient Theatre of Orange), Orange, France
and Il Porto (The Harbour), Camogli, Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 9th June 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 9th June 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 9th June 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 9th June 1965, 9.00-10.36pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 12th June 1965, 3.45pm-5.15pm

Neutral Jury in Milano, Italy:
Georges Kleinmann (Chairman), Claude Evelyne [Genève], Max Ernst [Zürich],
Grytzko Mascioni [Lugano] and Sandra Schutzer (Miss Switzerland 1964) (Interpreter)

Referee Locations:
Jean Lutz in Orange, France
Gennaro Olivieri in Camogli, Italy

Weather Conditions:
France - Warm and Dry
Italy - Warm and Dry

Themes: Arena Games (F) and Nautical and Seafaring (I)

Teams: Orange (F) v. Camogli (I)

Team Members included:
Camogli (I) - In Italy: Riccardo Sorrentino (Team Captain), Luigi Astro, Ilio Avellino, Vittorio Barilli, Elena Bolla, Guiseppe Borri, Luigi Canella, Renzo Gualco, Ubaldo Lemucchi, Italo Lovadina, Adriano Marsilli, Giancarlo Otris, Antonio Pallavidino, Mauro Silvano, Roberto Sirio, Dario Traversa; In France: Ido Battisloni, Enrico Bortulus, Massimiliano Braggio, Giovanni Capato, Vittorio Castigliolo, Rodolfo Ferraris, Giancarlo Ferraro, Guiseppe Fregasi, Alfio Frescura, Lino Fulgenzi, Giovanni Foti, Maurizio Foti, Romano Lacroix, Silvio Lacroix, Franco Marcialis, Pietro Mazzano, Annunziato Plati, Albano Rebora, Rino Taretto, Carlo Vella, Italo Vella

Games: The Waiters' Walk (in Italy), Human Pétanque (in France), The Tightrope Sailors (in Italy), The Mountaineer (in France), Nautical Tug-o-War (in Italy), The Water Carriers (in France) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A large balloon must be inflated by mouth until it bursts in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Italy: Matching European cities to their respective rivers; France: Arranging European national rail systems in order of track length;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must complete 20 revolutions on the high bar of a trapeze in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - France: Matching operas to their respective European composers; Italy: Matching famous Europeans to their respective birthdates.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 F • Orange ●
 I • Camogli

7
5

Running Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - not yet competed
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Orange +2pts difference
Italy (I) - Camogli -2pts difference

The Host Towns

Orange, France

Orange is a town with a population of around 30,000 inhabitants in the Vaucluse department of the Provences-Alps-Côte d’Azur region in south-east France. Located about 21km (13.5mi) north of Avignon, the area is primarily of an agricultural economy.

The town is renowned for its Roman architecture and its Roman theatre is described as the most impressive still existing in Europe. The fine Triumphal Arch of Orange is said to date from the time of Emperors Augustus (63 BC-AD 14) and Tiberius (42 BC-AD 37), but it has been suggested that it dates from much later. The arch, theatre and surroundings were listed in 1981 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a World Heritage site.

Camogli, Italy

Camogli is a small fishing village and tourist resort of around 6,000 inhabitants, located on the Portofino penisular of the Golfo Paradiso on the Riviera di Levante, in the province of Genoa.

The name Camogli is certainly of ancient origin, but of uncertain etymology and there are different schools of thought on the meaning of the word itself. Many scholars derive the word from Camulo, the name given to Mars by the Sabines and Etruscans. Other studies consider that the word is of Greek origin and means ‘down near the ground’ from cam (bottom) and gi (earth). This translation would coincide with the topographic feature of the village, downstream from the Rua river. Then there are very suggestive, but quite fanciful, derivations from Genoa, which derive the word Camogli (Camuggi in Genoan) from Casa delle Mogli (house of wives), referring to those wives who stayed at home alone waiting for the return of their husbands on board ships, or to Ca Muggi (clustered houses), referring to the particular arrangement of the houses in the village.

The Venues

Théâtre Antique d'Orange
(Ancient Theatre of Orange), Orange

The games at the French venue were played in the Théâtre Antique d'Orange, a Roman amphitheatre built in the early part of the 1st century.

As the Western Roman Empire declined during the 4th century, by which time Christianity had become the official religion, the theatre was closed by official edict in AD 391 since the Church opposed what it regarded as ‘uncivilized spectacles’. After that, the theatre was abandoned completely. It was sacked and pillaged by the ‘barbarians’ and was used as a defensive post in the Middle Ages. During the 16th century' religious wars, it became a refuge for the townspeople. During the 19th century, the theatre slowly began to recover its original splendour, due to the efforts of Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870), a French dramatist, historian and archaeologist, who then held the position of director of Monuments Historiques. Under his direction, restoration work began in 1825 and in 1869 the theatre became the home of a ‘Roman Festival’ which celebrated the glory of Rome. By the end of the century, the tiered seats were restored, a reflection of the bureaucratic process. In 1902, the festival was given a new name, the Chorégies d'Orange. The name Chorégies coming from the tax that was imposed on wealthy Romans to pay for theatrical productions. The theatre is currently owned by the municipality of Orange.

The Musée (Museum) displays the biggest cadastral (a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country) Roman maps etched on marble ever recovered, and has dimensions measuring 7.56m x 5.90m (24ft 9ins x 19ft 4in)!

Il Porto (The Harbour), Camogli

The games at the Italian venue were all played on or above the water in the town’s harbour.

During the early summer, thousands of people flock to the resort for the annual Fish Festival, which has taken place on the second Sunday in May every year, since 1952. The day before the festival, a local band is followed through the streets by a procession of townsfolk carrying an effigy of the saint of the country. At around midnight, fireworks are set off for several minutes after which two huge large bonfires are built, one on the beach in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assumption and one in front of the Rotunda.

The bonfires are prepared by residents of the local districts of Porto and Pinetto, who compete to see which can produce the longest-lasting and most spectacular. The following day, the festival takes place and is dedicated to frying fish in a giant frying pan made of stainless steel. The frying pan used today is a copy of one from 1954, and has a diameter of 3.8m (12ft 6in), a handle of 6m (19ft 8in), weighs 2,845kgs (2.8 tons) and has a capacity of 2,000 litres (440 gallons). Although its size is immense, there have been larger ones used in the past, with the one used in 1960 having a diameter of 5m (16ft 5in)! The pan is placed on scaffolds that arise from the seabed of the harbour with a huge fire blazing from below. The festival has become one of the main highlights for tourists over recent years.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - The Waiters' Walk

At first glance, the first game - 'The Waiters' Walk' - which was held in Italy looked a very simple affair. Two opposing waiters had to cross the water by means of netted hammocks, collect a tray of four glasses and carry it back to the start using only their right hand and deposit it on a table. This had to be repeated until the time limit was reached. However, in order that there were no underhanded tricks, the left hand of each waiter was handcuffed to his waist so that he could not lift it high enough to assist himself. After three minutes play, the results were announced and referee Gennaro Olivieri declared that both teams had scored 20 glasses and as such the game had been drawn.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Orange (F) (1pt awarded / 1pt total) =1st Camogli (I) (1pt / 1pt)

Game 2 - Human Pétanque

The second game (the first in France) - 'Human Pétanque' - was based on the game of pétanque, similar to French boule or English bowls, but with a twist. A platform built above the arena had ten large holes indented into the top, five marked with the letter ‘F’ and five with the letter ‘I’. Dangling below the platform were ten mini-trapezes which were attached to clips under each of the holes. On the whistle, an obligatory bull was released into the arena, whilst ten team members (five from each side) would stand on the trapezes. The idea of the game was for the player above, whilst hanging upside down on a trapeze himself, to bowl a ball into his opponent’s hole, which would then release that player into the arena and then he had to avoid being attacked by the bull. However, there was nothing preventing the ball from rolling into his own team-mates hole, so it was purely luck rather than judgement which holes the ball went into. To prevent further balls dropping into holes already ‘hit’, covers were placed over them.

In this game the need for the bull in the arena was not really necessary as it really served no purpose, because the game was decided purely on the total number of players dropped. Also with it being a young bull, it just stood around not doing much and appeared that it was quite unaware as to what its purpose in the arena was. The game ended with Italy ‘losing’ four players to France’s three, and the win was awarded to Orange.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Orange (F) (2pts awarded / 3pts total) 2nd Camogli (I) (1pt / 1pt) ▼

Game 3 - The Tightrope Sailors

The third game (the second in Italy) - 'The Tightrope Sailors' - was a straight-forward game on a tightrope over the harbour waters. Two players, one from either end of the tightrope, had to cross towards the centre and along the way pick up three items of maritime wear (trousers, sweater and sailor’s cap) and dress themselves in them. On reaching the centre of the tightrope, they had to descend a rope ladder into the water, and then swim a short distance to tag Gennaro Olivieri who was waiting in a boat.

The game was very closely fought and lasted just 1 minute 6 seconds (the shortest game in the first two series of the programme), with each player finishing within 1 second of each other! But with the Italians just having the edge and finishing first, they were awarded the 2pts and had levelled the scores to 3-3.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Orange (F) (0pts awarded / 3pts total) =1st Camogli (I) (2pts / 3pts) ▲

v

Game 4 - The Mountaineer

The fourth game (the second in France) - 'The Mountaineer' - was decided by the neutral jury rather than the actual outcome of the game. The idea was that on each side of a ramped bridge were 30 large polystyrene cubes belonging to the two teams. On the whistle, five roller-skaters had to cross from their side of the bridge to their opponent’s side and each ‘steal’ a cube. They then returned to their own side and deposited it there. This continued until time limit was reached. However, the skaters only had the time taken by an opposing team member to climb the front of the theatre’s façade and return to its base to complete the game. This was then repeated by the opposing team to do the same, basically returning as many of the transported cubes back to their own area. This was repeated once more by both teams, and the team with the greater number of cubes in their area after the two rounds was declared the winner.

The end result was Camogli had 31 cubes whilst Orange had only 29 in their section and it looked like the 2pts were going to be awarded to the Italians. However, future Jeux Sans Frontières presenter Georges Kleinmann, acting here as Chairman of the neutral Swiss jury, deemed an infringement of the rules on the first round by Italy and stated that the game would therefore end 30 boxes each. After much deliberation by Guy Lux, referee Jean Lutz and the dignitaries on-site, this was upheld and the game was declared a draw.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Orange (F) (1pt awarded / 4pts total) =1st Camogli (I) (1pt / 4pts)

Game 5 - Nautical Tug-o-War

The fifth game (the third in Italy) - ‘Nautical Tug-o-War’ - was a very frustrating game to watch for the viewer. Based on the normal principle pitting one team's strength against the other, this was played out in boats on water in the harbour. Six oarsmen from each team had to row their boats back far enough in order to release an opponent sitting on a trapeze above the harbour.

However, no matter how hard either team tried, there was very, very little progress made throughout the game. The game lasted an excruciating 4 minutes and on the whistle neither team had completed the game. Referee Gennaro Olivieri declared that the Italian team would be awarded 2pts as they had progressed further up the course (it could only have been a few centimetres) when the whistle was blown. This resulted in the Italians being ahead for the first time on the night.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Camogli (I) (2pts awarded / 6pts total) 2nd Orange (F) (0pts / 4pts) ▼

Game 6 - The Water Carriers

The final competitive game (the third game in France) - 'The Water Carriers' - was played in the semi-circular area at the front of the stage of the theatre in Orange. The stage standing somewhat higher than the playing area in this case resulted in this game having a very unexpected outcome to it. The idea was that a team member from each team had to climb a rope to a platform which was at the same height as the stage, collect a bucket of water and slide down a pole to deposit the water in a large tub on the side of the original playing area.

On the whistle, a bull was released from a holding pen at the top of some stairs at one side of the playing area and was supposed to charge around the semi-circle hindering the players. However, the bull after running down the stairs was somewhat perturbed and ran back up the stairs and out of the arena onto the stage area. Charging around, viewers were treated to an hilarious scene of cameramen, presenters, technicians and gendarmes panicking as the bull ran around loose. The bull eventually ran back into the playing area, but so much time had been wasted it was decided to end the game in a draw.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Camogli (I) (1pt  awarded/ 7pts total) 2nd Orange (F) (1pt / 5pts)

Game of Questions

Despite the fact the Italian team from Camogli went into the deciding round of the Game of Questions with a 2pt advantage, the French ‘intellectuals’ came up trumps and turned the result in their favour. The Italians opted for a 'safe' 1pt question first, but answered it incorrectly.

►GQ1 Italy - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Camogli (I) (-1pt penalty / 6pts total) 2nd Orange (F) (5pts)

The French dignitary boldly opted for a 3pt question and the French intellectuals answered it correctly, giving their team the advantage leading into the last stage of the contest.

►GQ1 France - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Orange (F) (3pts awarded / 8pts) ▲ 2nd Camogli (I) (6pts total) ▼

The second round saw the French answering first and they opted for the 1pt question (which in hindsight was a good choice) but this they answered incorrectly, meaning the Italians were now just 1pt.

►GQ2 France - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Orange (F) (-1pt penalty / 7pts) 2nd Camogli (I) (6pts total)

In a bizarre move, the Italian mayor decided against selecting the 3pt question, which would have given the Camogli team a chance of victory, and instead opted for a 1pt question to level the scores. Despite this, his ‘intellectuals’ failed to answer correctly for the second time and with another single point penalty incurred by the Italians, the Orange team were victorious.

►GQ2 Italy - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Orange (F) (7pts) 2nd Camogli (I) (-1pt penalty / 5pts total) Points Differences: Orange (F) +2pts Camogli (I) -2pts

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

There were early appearances in this heat by current Interneige and future Jeux Sans Frontières Swiss presenters Georges Kleinmann and Claude Evelyne. Georges was acting as jury chairman, whilst Claude Evelyne appeared as one of the members of the jury speaking French to her studio in Genève.

Additional Information

The West German broadcaster ARD-WDR elected to transmit live only those programmes that featured West German teams. They recorded the other events and transmitted them on Saturday afternoons. The International Final would prove to be the exception to this rule, transmitted on the night of the live broadcast, but with a half-hour delay.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

B & D

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 3

Event Staged: Wednesday 23rd June 1965
Venues:
Grand' Place (Great Square), Binche, Belgium and
Mühlentorplatz (Mill Gate Place), Park der Abtei Michaelsberg (St. Michael’s Mount Abbey Park), Siegburg, West Germany

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 23rd June 1965, 8.30-9.45pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 23rd June 1965, 8.30-9.45pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Wednesday 23rd June 1965, 8.30-10.00pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 23rd June 1965, 8.30-9.55pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 23rd June 1965, 8.30-10.06pm (Live)

Neutral Jury in Köln, West Germany:
Joseph Pasteur (Chairman), André Rosat [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich],
Marco Blaser [Lugano] and Sandra Schutzer (Miss Switzerland 1964) (Interpreter)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Siegburg, West Germany
Gennaro Olivieri in Binche, Belgium

Weather Conditions:
Belgium - Warm and Dry
West Germany - Warm and Dry

Themes: Natural Strengths (B) and The Laws of Physics (D)

Teams: Binche (B) v. Siegburg (D)

Games: The Jeep Obstacle Race (in West Germany), The Flower Power Shower (in Belgium), The Tightrope Potters (in West Germany), The Space Walkers' Relay Race (in Belgium), The Waiters' Obstacle Race (in West Germany), The Water Carriers (in Belgium) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - Two thick planks of wood must be sawn through, which when cut dropped a rival team member into a small pool of water in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - West Germany: Arranging European countries in order of number of cars per 100 households; Belgium: Matching European airports to their respective cities;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must catch 40 small sandbags thrown over the wall in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Belgium: Arranging European cathedrals in order of the heights of their steeples; West Germany: Matching famous Europeans musicians to their respective instruments.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 B • Binche ●
 D • Siegburg

4 *
4

* Result decided by neutral Swiss jury. See ‘The Games in Detail’ section below

Running Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - Binche 0pts difference
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Orange +2pts difference
Italy (I) - Camogli -2pts difference

The Host Towns

Binche, Belgium

Binche is located in the province of Hainaut, between the cities of Mons and Charleroi with a population of around 34,000 inhabitants. In former times, Binche was a mining and textile town, and today is known for its architectural heritage (somewhat unique in Belgium) and its town walls which include 22 towers.

It was in the 16th century during the reign of Charles V (1500-58), who was German Emperor, King of Spain and Earl of Hainaut, that Binche reached its heyday. His sister, Mary of Hungary (1505-1558), often lived in Binche where she replaced the old feudal castle by a magnificent Renaissance palace.

Siegburg, West Germany

Siegburg, whose name literally means fort on the Sieg river, is a city of 40,000 inhabitants located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, approximately 10km (6mi) from the former capital of Bonn, in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Famed for its pottery, especially for the Siegburger Krüge (Siegburg pitchers) and the Holzgasse, a picturesque cobblestone street with traditional buildings, the city itself is renowned for being the birthplace of Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921), composer of the opera Hänsel und Gretel, not to be confused with Indian-born British singer, Arnold ‘Gerry’ Dorsey, who changed his name to that of the composer in 1965.

The Venues

Grand' Place (Great Square), Binche

The games at the Belgian venue were played on the cobbled square of Grand’ Place. Each year the square bears witness to the town’s pièce de résistance - its world-renowned carnival. The carnival itself takes place in the town during the three days leading up to Ash Wednesday. It is the most known of all the carnivals that take place around the same time and dates back as far as the 14th century. Events associated with the carnival can begin up to seven weeks prior to the carnival, with the main street performances and displays occurring on the three days prescribed above. Most of the town’s inhabitants spend the Sunday in full carnival costume.

The centrepiece of the event is the appearance on Shrove Tuesday of the clown-like performers known as Gilles. Dressed in vibrant attire, wax masks and wooden footwear, they perform their carnival dance whilst throwing soft balls into the audience. The honour of being a Gille at the carnival is something that is aspired to by local men. From dawn on the morning of the carnival's final day, Gilles appear in the centre of Binche, to dance to the sound of drums and ward off evil spirits with sticks. The participants can number as many as 1000 at any time with ages ranging from 3-60 years old, with most being predominantly male. The carnival was proclaimed as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003.

Apart from the carnival, the town is also recognized for its craft lace and its brewery, La Binchoise. The brewery was founded in 1986 by husband and wife André Graux and Françoise Jauson, who were both unemployed at the time. They set up their business at home, but soon moved to the building of an old malthouse and quickly achieved commercial success, gaining a gold medal at the annual beer festival in Chicago. The bottles of their beers, La Binchoise Blond and La Binchoise Brune both feature the Gilles on the labels.

Park der Abtei Michaelsberg
(St. Michael’s Mount Abbey Park), Siegburg

The games at the West German venue were played in the park at the base of the city’s Benedictine monastery. Archbishop Anno II of Köln (1010-1075) founded the Michaelsberg Abbey (Abtei Michaelsberg), a monastery of the Benedictine Order, belonging to the Subiaco Congregation, in 1064.

The monastery is situated on the Michaelsberg (St. Michael's Mount), about 40m (131ft) above the town of Siegburg, and for this reason it is occasionally referred to as Siegburg Abbey.

From 1504, the monks produced liquor called Siegburger Abtei-Likör and, 500 years later, began brewing Michel beer in 2004. Sadly, the monks are no longer resident in the monastery and since 2011, the building has remained closed.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

This programme began in a more conventional style than the previous two. Taking over from the continuity announcer, West German commentator Otto E. Rock voiced over two 2-minute films of the two competing towns with the now familiar film postcards. This was followed by the normal Eurovision theme music and the show’s opening credits. And then there was a very, very long wait of another 21 minutes before the games actually started!

Introductions of dignitaries, referees and teams were followed by an explanation of the rules, regulations and details of what had gone before in the previous two heats. West German presenter Camillo Felgen had obviously stage-managed what happened next. On cue from him, the West German spectators greeted the visiting Belgian spectators with “Bonsoir, Binche” and he immediately got the Belgian spectators to reply to the West Germans with “Guten Abend, Siegburg”!

It was not until 25 minutes into the programme that the games finally commenced in Siegburg, so overlong and ponderous had the introductions been!

Game 1 - The Jeep Obstacle Race

The first game (in West Germany) - 'The Jeep Obstacle Race' - involved a jeep being driven around a course of three large circles and having to negotiate various obstacles. Not only a test of eye co-ordination and speed, it was also imperative that the jeep did not come into contact with the various bollards or small ‘bridges’ that the competitors had to pass under, as these all incurred time faults.

The Belgian team participated first and although they completed the course in 2 minutes 23.9 seconds (the time is shown with tenths of a second as the referees deemed to time it in this way), but they incurred a total of 30 seconds in time faults. This gave the West Germans a target of 2 minutes 53.9 seconds to aim for. However, the Siegburg player was not much faster than his counterpart as he completed the course in 2 minutes 22.7 seconds. Where he fared better compared to his Belgian rival was in only incurring time faults totalling 15 seconds, and this resulted in a total time of 2 minutes and 37.7 seconds. First blood went to the Siegburg team.

Game 2 - The Flower Power Shower

The second game (the first in Belgium) - 'The Flower Power Shower’ - was a real test of strength. A train bogey on real rail tracks containing 750kgs (15 x 50kgs sacks) had to be pushed along to the other end where it had to be stopped by members of the opposing team. If the bogey was not stopped in time, an iron bar on its side would knock down a flowerpot. This was repeated by the other team in the reverse direction. Each team had a total of ten pushes and the team knocking off the greater number of flowerpots would be declared the winners. The team had the added distraction of a water shower raining down on them from the bogey itself.

The Siegburg team knocked down five of the Belgian pots, whilst the Binche team could only manage to knock down one of the West Germans'. The West Germans had won the second game.

Game 3 - The Tightrope Potters

The third game (the second in West Germany) - The Tightrope Potters' - caused somewhat of a controversy and on two occasions within the programme the subject of its outcome was raised. Quite a simple game, it involved two opposing team members walking along tightrope wires, knocking down pots below by means of a wooden stick. This was achieved by both teams, but there was a second element to the game and it was this that caused the controversy. With both times recorded (although it appeared that the Belgians had finished ahead of the West Germans, both teams were deemed to have the same time), each member had to descend a small children’s playground slide holding a metal rod. At the base of the slide, there was a small inflatable paddling pool. As the competitor reached the base of the slide, he had to secure it in a hooked trapeze above himself and therefore not fall in the pool or let his feet touch the ground. After this had been achieved, the competitors had to manually swing themselves backwards and forward without any contact with the ground or equipment, to enable themselves to dismount from the trapeze without making contact with the water. Both competitors had two attempts at this element of the game and a five second penalty was added to their original times if contact with the water, ground or equipment was made. However, if no contact was made a bonus of 10 seconds was deducted from the original time.

The Belgian team member made a complete hash of things on the second element, and not only did his feet touch the equipment, but also he landed in the water on both attempts. However, the West German had no problem on his first attempt and dismounted the trapeze like a real professional. On his second attempt, his feet clearly touched the ground when dismounting the slide in the area between the base of the slide and the pool. The referees did not see it but the Belgian team captain and others (including the television audience) did and the protest began. The result was upheld by the referees and they gave the West Germans a total time of 43 seconds (1 minute 3 seconds minus 20 seconds (2 x 10) bonus) and the Belgians a time of 1 minute 13 seconds (1 minute 3 seconds plus 10 seconds (2 x 5) penalty). The neutral Swiss jury also confirmed the result and with the points being awarded to Siegburg, they now led Binche by a 6pts margin. It looked like it was going to be a whitewash victory, but the disputed foot fault was not going to lie down and would surface again later in the programme!

Game 4 - The Space Walkers' Relay Race

The fourth game (the second in Belgium) - 'The Space Walkers' Relay Race' - was one that involved an electromagnetic board and was played upside-down by competitors wearing metallic-based shoes. On the whistle, a team member had to walk upside-down across the board carrying a lighted fuse. If he lost his footing, he fell to the ground onto some thick straw matting, and was helped by stagehands to continue from the point where he fell off. On completing the space-walk, he handed the fuse to another player, whose ankles were tied together, and he had to make his way to the top of the board via a flight of steps. On reaching the top, he then handed the fuse to a third player, who had to walk across the top of the magnetised board in large flat metallic shoes carrying a sack and negotiating small hurdles as he went. On reaching the other side, he had to then descend another flight of steps and bang a podium to stop the game. This all had to be completed before the fuse exploded!

The Belgians went first, and although their competitor fell off the board at the start of the game, they did not have another mishap and completed the game in an incredible time of 1 minute 11 seconds. It was a different story for the West Germans, as their space-walking competitor had a few problems completing the first element. Although he finally found his footing, the team were only able to complete the first two elements of the game when the fuse finally exploded after 1 minute 15 seconds whilst it was being carried by the third man. The Belgians had finally won a game (and some points) and closed the deficit to their opponents.

Game 5 - The Waiters' Obstacle Race

The fifth game (the third in West Germany) - 'The Waiters' Obstacle Race' - was played in unison over four legs of a 50m obstacle course which included beams, seesaws, steps and hurdles. Each player, dressed as a waiter, had to carry a tray with a stein of beer on it whilst wearing diver’s flippers on his feet. On reaching the end of the first leg, the player had to pull a lever to ‘release’ a team-mate who then played the game in the opposite direction over eight different obstacles. He then ‘released’ the third player to traverse the third course and on reaching the third end, he set forth the final player. However, instead of negotiating obstacles, the fourth player had to stand aloft a large wooden roller whilst it was pulled back to the final end without falling off. The first team to complete all four runs of the course would be deemed the winners.

Both teams were almost neck and neck until the third leg when the West Germans began to get ahead. Eventually, the game finished with the West Germans repeating their victories on the first two games.

Game 6 - The Water Carriers

The final competitive game (the third game in Belgium) - 'The Water Carriers' - was an amusing obstacle race that had quite an unexpected end to it. Four team members had to negotiate an obstacle course of nine hurdles while carrying a large plastic bath. On the whistle, the bath had to be filled with five bucketfuls of water. After each three hurdles completed, the team was permitted to empty any water left in the bath into a container and then refill the bath with five new bucketfuls. This was repeated until any water left at the end of the course was emptied into a large barrel which had been placed on a personal weighing scale. Whilst the other two containers (en route) were being emptied into the barrel, Gennaro announced the time it had taken to complete the course. He then went to the weighing scale but it seemed that it was not working as, although a considerable amount of water had been emptied into the barrel, the scale was still showing 0 kgs. It was then that the unexpected occurred. Gennaro produced a 1 Franc Belgian coin and placed it in the slot and the scale came to life, just as it would have if it had been used in normal circumstances weighing a human. It has to be borne in mind that this was 1965 and technology had not quite reached the world (and Jeux Sans Frontières) as today! The scoring was done in two parts, with the amount of water collected being converted into seconds and then being deducted from the time taken to complete the course.

West Germany went first and completed the game in 2 minutes 38 seconds and they had collected 82kgs of water. This gave them a total time of 1 minute 16 seconds (2 minutes 38 seconds minus 1 minute 22 seconds). The Belgians played next and although they finished the course in a slower time of 2 minutes 50 seconds, they had collected 109kgs of water and their final total was 1 minute 1 second (2 minutes 50 seconds minus 1 minute 49 seconds). With the Belgians winning the game and again reducing their deficit to the Germans to 4pts, the programme now moved into the final round of questions.

Objection!

Before the questions began the Belgian dignitary raised the subject of the result of the third game and lodged a protest of the scoring. Camillo Felgen handed the problem to the Swiss jury and after a little time of deliberating, the result was upheld. Camillo explained that that the programme wanted to be seen as fair and the jury had made their decision and would like to see it respected and accepted. Although reluctant, the Belgian dignitary shook hands with Camillo and the West German delegation and accepted the result. However, he needn’t have worried because the whole competition was about to be turned on its head.

Game of Questions

With a strong lead, the Siegburg burgermeister chose a 1pt question but the West German ‘intellectuals’ were unsuccessful.

With no real option to do otherwise considering the lead that the Siegburg still held, the Binche dignitary opted for the 3pt question. If it was not answered correctly, the competition would be over and Siegburg declared the winners. Fortunately, the Belgian intellectuals proved their mettle and were successful.

The second round saw the Belgian dignitary taking a chance on another 3pt question, but this time the team’s intellectuals were not as lucky and they lost the points that they had just gained in the first round.

To achieve certain victory in Siegburg’s favour, the team only needed to answer a 1pt question (correctly or incorrectly). However, the Siegburg burgermeister stated that, like his counterpart in Warendorf four weeks earlier, he would play fair and attempt a 3pt question. This was the biggest error of the night because the teamed failed to answer correctly and the scores were levelled.

But the ruling in this series was that should there be a draw, then the neutral Swiss jury would determine a winner by overall team performance and deportment. The result went over to the Köln (the location for this heat’s jury) and jury member Inge Hausener announced that although both teams had been judged as playing the game in the real spirit, the result of their decision went in Binche’s favour and they were declared the winners with Siegburg being placed in 2nd place!

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

Along with the two regular referees, Camillo Felgen introduced new referee Kurt Hauser to the viewing and assembled audience, stating that this was the first time that he was taking part in the programme. In common with Gennaro Olivieri, Kurt Hauser was an Olympic ice-hockey referee and was the first of only two people ever to officiate at four consecutive Olympic Games. Kurt first officiated at the London Games in 1948 and ended this association in Roma in 1960.

There was an early appearance in this heat by future Jeux Sans Frontières Swiss director Marco Blaser. He appeared here as one of the members of the jury speaking Italian to his studio in Lugano.

Additional Information

An interesting point to note in the first series of the programme was that whilst in the latter years competitors were assumed to have trained rigorously when they showed off their lean muscular physiques, those in this series were picked for their brawn as many were very large rotund and pot-bellied men!

This heat saw country-coded dossards being worn by all members of the teams for the first time.

With the extended beginning to this programme it would seem that all of the live broadcasters would have missed out on showing the final outcome, including the two host nations! The programme began at 8.35pm (the time showing on the Grand’ Place town hall clock), which would correspond with 8.30pm start with the four-minute introduction and opening titles. The programme ended on the live transmission at 10.15pm corresponding once again with the Grand’ Place clock. It is most likely that the broadcasters stayed with the programme, but we have no evidence to absolutely confirm this.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

B & F

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 4

Event Staged: Wednesday 7th July 1965
Venues: Le Cour Extérieure (The Outer Courtyard), L'Abbaye de Stavelot (Stavelot Abbey),
Stavelot, Belgium and
Grand' Place (Great Square), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 7th July 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 7th July 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 7th July 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 7th July 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 17th July 1965, 3.30-5.00pm

Neutral Jury in Paris, France:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich] and Mascia Cantoni [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Stavelot, Belgium
Gennaro Olivieri in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

Weather Conditions:
Belgium - Raining
France - Cold and Dry

Themes: Strength in Numbers (B) and Up and Down (F)

Teams: Stavelot (B) v. Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F)

Games: The Railway Wagon Hurdlers (in France), The Tug-o-War Monks (in Belgium), The Ice-Cream Waiters (in France), The Soup Bowls and the Tables (in Belgium), Climbing High, Falling Fast (in France), The Hydraulic Digger and the Egg (in Belgium) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - The mayor from each of the competing towns must score three goals against the opposing team’s national goalkeeper to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - France: With Genève as the hub, arrange five European cities in the correct compass sector; Belgium: Arranging European seaports in order of number of docking vessels per year;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - The professional goalkeeper must score seven goals against the opposing team’s mayor in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Belgium: Arranging European written works in order of date of their respective debuts; France: Separating five famous people (from ten listed) who lived during the life of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 F • Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ● ●
 B • Stavelot

4
-2

Running Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - Binche 0pts difference
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Saint-Amand-les-Eaux +6pts difference
Italy (I) - Camogli -2pts difference

The Host Towns

Stavelot, Belgium

Stavelot, with a population of around 7,000 inhabitants, is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège.

The town is famous for the Laetare des Blancs-Moussis, a traditional carnival held in Stavelot on the fourth Sunday of Lent, when 200+ local men clad in white and wearing masks with long red noses (known as Blancs-Moussis) parade through the town in the same costumes, throwing confetti and beating bystanders with dried pig bladders!

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux is a commune of just under 20,000 inhabitants located on the Scarpe river in the Nord département.

The town has several natural springs and even produces its own labelled bottled water. Discovered around 50BC during the Roman Empire, Saint Amand mineral water draws its properties from the depths of the earth and offers exceptional mineral qualities. Pure and protected, Saint Amand mineral water is one of the rare pure waters to be nitrate-free.

The Venues

Le Cour Extérieure (The Outer Courtyard),
L'Abbaye de Stavelot (Stavelot Abbey), Stavelot

The games at the Belgian venue were played in the confines of the outer courtyard of the beautiful 11th century Stavelot Abbey, located on the banks of the River Amblève near to the waterfalls of Coo. The Abbey was founded around AD 650, out of what had simply been a villa, by Saint Remaclus. During the French Revolutionary Wars, from 1793 to 1804, the abbey was abandoned by the monks. Stavelot was incorporated into the French Republic by a decree of 2nd March 1793. Stavelot Abbey itself was sacked and the church sold and demolished. Today, just the western doorway remains, as a free-standing tower. Two cloisters - one secular, one for the monks - survive as the courtyards of the brick-and-stone 17th century domestic ranges.

Today, the historic abbey accommodates three museums dedicated to the surroundings and the history of the Abbey. There is also one museum dedicated to the nearby Spa-Francorchamps race track, which is considered to be ‘the most beautiful track in the world’ by many motor sport lovers and is part of the original course of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, the venue of the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix races, as well as the Spa 24 Hours endurance race.

The town’s coat of arms, granted in 1819, is parted fesswise (a band running horizontally across the centre) between Stavelot’s founding bishop, and the wolf, which in the town’s founding legend, carried the bricks for the building of the Abbey.

Grand' Place (Great Square), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

The games at the French venue were played in Grand’ Place, located in the centre of the town. The square was home to Saint-Amand Abbey, formerly known as Elnone Abbey, from its foundation around AD 630 by Saint Amand, until its dissolution in 1789. The only remnant of the abbey itself, and which has now become the town’s symbol, is the 82m (269ft) bell tower.

Although no longer used for its original purpose, the abbey’s tower is still used to ring the carillon of 48 bells and also houses the local museum devoted to the faience (local tin-glazed pottery on buff earthenware). Since 18th February 1802, the carillon has rung the bells each day between half past eleven to twelve o'clock to warn the workers that lunchtime approaches.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

During the introduction of the dignitaries at the start of the transmission, Guy Lux handed over the microphone to the Mayor of Andernach in West Germany, the twin town of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, to wish the team well in their battle against Stavelot.

Game 1 - The Railway Wagon Hurdlers

The first game - 'The Railway Wagon Hurdlers' - was held in France and involved a wagon, shaped like a modern-day skateboard, on rail tracks and ten small hurdles in close proximity to each other. On the whistle a competing team member stood aloft the wagon whilst an opposing team member pushed it down the track. As the wagon passed under the hurdles, the player had to clear the hurdles by either leaping over them or dropping down into a prostrate position to pass under them. However before the game began, referee Gennaro Olivieri stated that the hurdles had to be cleared in the following prescribed order - over, over, over, over, under, over, under, over, over and the final hurdle which was made up of two tiers had to be passed through the middle.

Both teams were quite successful on their first runs scoring nine points each, but then they both began to falter. On the last of the three runs the Belgian player completely lost his rhythm and not only did he miss the prescribed order but also fell off the back of the wagon a couple of times and had to watch as it rolled under the hurdles ahead of him. Although he had cleared three hurdles in the correct manner, he was awarded a score of zero as he had not stayed on the wagon throughout the game. The French had won the first game of the heat.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 2pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (0pts / 0pts)

Game 2 - The Tug-o-War Monks

The second game (the first in Belgium) - 'The Tug-o-War Monks' - was a twist on the classic tug-o-war scenario. Six players from each team dressed as monks (tying in with the setting) were positioned on either side of a large four-wheeled cart which had an open step-ladder positioned in the middle of it.

On the whistle it was a straightforward match, pitting the strength of one team against that of the other. However, after a team had pulled the cart over a designated line, the front player of the ‘winning’ team had to get onto the cart, climb the step-ladder to reach a pole, and then swing across in order to ring a bell. He then had to slide down another pole and rejoin his team once more. Whilst this was occurring, the tug-o-war was continuing below with the premise that the ‘losing’ team had an advantage to pull the cart back towards them as they temporarily had one player more for a short time. However due to the wet conditions, once the Belgian team had scored the first ‘pull’ they were able to hold their position over the line and it was just a matter of their player repeating the climb and continue to ring the bell. Although the game had a time limit of three minutes, the French team relinquished the rope after 2 minutes 20 seconds and allowed the Belgians to continue to ring the bell unfettered and eventually won the game 7-0. This brought the scores level.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Stavelot (B) (2pts awarded / 2pts total) ▲ =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts / 2pts)

Game 3 - The Ice-Cream Waiters

The third game (the second in France) - 'The Ice-Cream Waiters' - was virtually an impossible game to complete. On the whistle, a waiter carrying a tray and a plate of ice-cream had to run up an inclined conveyor belt which covered sets of rollers to a platform, then place the plate on to a serpentine shaped slide. Whilst the plate made its way to the bottom, the waiter had to slide down a pole, run to the base of the slide and attempt to catch it. If the plate was caught it would count towards the opposing team’s final score. If unsuccessful it counted towards the competing team’s score. However as the conveyor belt was placed over rollers, the weight of the player set it in a descending motion whilst he attempted to ascend it. Coupled with this, the shape of the slide had supports below which obstructed the player’s run to its base and therefore hindered the players from catching a single plate. The French team went first and succeeded in placing five plates on the slide, and although they were unable to catch any of them at the base, they were given a score of five for achieving this element of the game. The Belgian team fielded two 16-year olds and despite their youth and agility, they found it impossible to ascend the conveyor at all, falling foul of its downward motion on all of their twelve attempts! The French team were awarded the 2pts simply for reaching the top of the conveyor belt and placing some plates on the slide. This resulted in them taking the lead for the second time on the night.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 4pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (0pts / 2pts) ▼

Game 4 - The Soup Bowls and the Tables

The fourth game (the second in Belgium) - 'The Soup Bowls and the Tables' - was like many others in the first two series of the programme which involved several elements in its scoring. The idea of the game was for two players to transport one hundred various shaped soup bowls along an obstacle course using just two tables. In order to do this they had to place all the bowls from one table to the other and with both players positioned on the table as well, bring the now empty table in front of them. They then had to move the bowls back onto the lead table and repeat the procedure up the course. Obstacles on the course included a greased inclined ramp and a seesaw which they had to use to transport the bowls. The game had a time limit of four minutes, and the teams were penalised with time faults every time their feet touched the ground (excluding the ramp and seesaw) and if any of the bowls were broken en route. Neither team completed the course and were both awarded an interim score of 4 minutes. Referee Kurt Hauser declared that the French had attracted a 60 seconds penalty (3 x 20 seconds) for foot faults and an additional 10 seconds (5 x 2 seconds) as five of their bowls had been broken, and the total French score was 5 minutes 10 seconds (4 minutes + 1 minutes 10 seconds). When co-referee Jean Lutz announced the Belgian score, he stated that the team had not broken any of their bowls and had just two foot faults attracting a 40 seconds penalty, and the crowd went wild. With a total of 4 minutes 40 seconds, the Belgians had won the game and once again they drew level with the French.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Stavelot (B) (2pts awarded / 4pts total) ▲ =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts / 4pts)

Game 5 - Climbing High, Falling Fast

The fifth game (the third in France) - 'Climbing High, Falling Fast' - was played over the best of three rounds and involved two opposing players shimmying up ropes to the top of a scaffold. The first player to reach the top pulled a lever and dropped his counterpart into a muddy pool below.

The French won the game by 2-1 and took the lead for the third time on the night, regaining the 2pts advantage that they had enjoyed twice before.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 6pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (0pts / 4pts) ▼

Comments: At the end of the game, French presenter Simone Garnier presented each of the three losing competitors with a complimentary box of spa treatment items! Above the top of the scaffold were two large banners (one on each side) advertising local titles for the French town. On the Belgian side was written Ville de Week-end du Nord (the weekend city of the North) and on the French side was Station du Rhumatisme (the Rheumatism Station) - the latter relating to the thermal spas located in the town which are renowned for their soothing effect on sufferers of the ailment.

Game 6 - The Hydraulic Digger and the Egg

The final competitive game (the third game in Belgium) - 'The Hydraulic Digger and the Egg' - was one that involved eye and hand co-ordination as well as utilising a large hydraulic excavator. The idea of the game was for a team member to lift an uncooked egg from the top of a pole using the claws of the excavator’s bucket, swinging it around and dropping it onto an angled platform. As the egg descended down an incline it had to be caught in a skillet by a team mate attached to an elasticated belt. The Belgian team played first and despite transporting several eggs onto the platform, his team mate did not correctly coordinate his run forward to meet the descending egg, and only achieved a score of one egg. The French team however were dab hands at the game and scored two eggs with their first two attempts. With two points in the bag, the French team had now widened the gap to 4pts and the score stood at 8-4.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 8pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (0pts / 4pts)

Game of Questions

The timing tasks in this heat were different from others this year by the fact that they were the same in both rounds and that the mayors of the competing teams participated in them. The first round saw the mayors trying to score three penalties against the national goalkeeper of the opposing country, and the second round saw the roles reversed as the goalkeepers tried to score eight goals against the mayors.

The French dignitary sportingly chose a 3pts question and quickly came to regret the decision as the Saint-Amand-les-Eaux intellectuals were found wanting. This cut their advantage over Stavelot to a single point.

►GQ1 France - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (-3pts penalty / 5pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (4pts)

The Belgian dignitary then chose a 3pts question, hoping that the Stavelot intellectuals would answer correctly and put the team into a 2pts lead. Unfortunately, this was not to be and when the question was answered incorrectly, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux were left in a very strong position in the contest.

►GQ1 Belgium - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (5pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (-3pts penalty / 1pt)

With no option other than to choose a further 3pts question, the Belgian dignitary did so. If they answered correctly and the French failed to answer their own final question, there was the possibility for Stavelot of a draw or even a win (if the French chose a 3pts question). This proved academic as their intellectuals blew it once more...

►GQ2 Belgium - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (5pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (-3pts penalty / -2pts)

With the competition now over and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux guaranteed the win, it was just a question of what the points margin between the two teams would be. The French dignitary chose a 1pt question and this was again answered incorrectly, but the winning margin of 6pts would prove to be important in terms of the team's qualification for the semi-finals.

►GQ2 France - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (-1pt penalty / 4pts total) 2nd Stavelot (B) (-2pts) Points Differences: Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) +6pts Stavelot (B) -6pts

Comments: As was the case in the first-ever heat of Jeux Sans Frontières six weeks earlier, none of the four questions in the final round of this heat were answered correctly. It certainly seemed like a case of ‘back to school’ for the so-called ‘intellectuals’. In fact, at this point, only two of the 16 questions asked so far had actually been answered correctly!

Additional Information

Despite this being only the fourth summer International Heat ever held, it will be remembered as the first-ever to have had rainy conditions. The French venue had been subjected to a heavy rain storm earlier in the evening but had fortunately cleared up just before the transmission. The storm had then moved north to the Belgian venue and drenched everyone with heavy rain for the majority of the transmission.

At the end of this heat, the first of the four qualifiers for the semi-finals had been decided and was announced. The team of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux from France with a difference of 6pts, would compete in the second semi-final against the Italian qualifier (to be decided after Heat 6).

Highlights of this edition were broadcast in 1985 by the RTBF in Belgium as part of the television programme, Il Était Une Fois La Télé: Jeux Sans Frontières.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

D & I

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 5

Event Staged: Wednesday 21st July 1965
Venues: Marktplatz (Market Square), Lemgo, West Germany
and Piazza del Duomo (Dome Square), Orvieto, Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
WDR 1 (D): Wednesday 21st July 1965, 8.15-9.45pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 21st July 1965, 8.20-9.35pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 21st July 1965, 8.20-9.35pm (Live)
RTB (B): Wednesday 21st July 1965, 9.00-10.15pm
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 21st July 1965, 9.45-11.00pm

Neutral Jury in Zürich, Switzerland:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich] and Dario Robiani [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Lemgo, West Germany
Gennaro Olivieri in Orvieto, Italy

Weather Conditions:
West Germany - Warm and Dry
Italy - Very Warm and Humid

Themes: Occupations and Professions (D) and Strength and Power (I)

Teams: Lemgo (D) v. Orvieto (I)

Team Members included:
Lemgo (D) - Josef Abrahams, Georg Erklich, Ernst-Auguste Krantz;
Orvieto (I) - Marcello Fornicca.

Games: The Jouster’s Rings (in Italy), The Fireman’s Ladder (in West Germany), The Elasticated Footballers (in Italy), The Chimney Builders (in West Germany), The Sand Wagon Push (in Italy), The Magnetic Knights (in West Germany) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A blindfolded pugilist must burst five balloons from ten which are attached to a punch-bag in the middle of a boxing ring in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - West Germany: Arranging European countries in order of number of telephone lines per 100 households; Italy: Matching European rivers with the respective bridges that they flow under;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must lift a large vaulting pole above his head and ring a large bell on eight occasions in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Italy: Matching both fictional and factual female love interests to their respective beaux; West Germany: Matching famous Europeans to their respective trades or professions.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 I • Orvieto ● ●
 D • Lemgo

10
4

Running Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - Binche 0pts difference
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Saint-Amand-les-Eaux +6pts difference
Italy (I) - Orvieto +6pts difference

The Host Towns

Lemgo, West Germany

Lemgo is a city with a population of 42,000 inhabitants lying in the heart of the Lippe district of Nordrhein-Westfalen, with a population of around 43,000. Surrounded by wooded countryside, between the Teutoburger Forest and the hills of the Weser-Wiehen, Lemgo remains one of the most beautiful towns in the region.

The city, founded in the 12th century by Bernhard II (1140-1224), Lord of Lippe, at the crossroads of two merchant routes, was soon influenced by international activity and wealth due to the activities of the Hanseatic League. Witnesses to those times are the 250 buildings, within the town wall which are listed and protected and form part of the restored town centre.

Orvieto, Italy

Orvieto is a city of 25,000 inhabitants in the province of Terni in the south-west of Umbria region. The city has been established since Etruscan times when it was called Urbs Vetus (Latin - hence Orvieto today) and its location is among the most dramatic in Europe, being surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides.

Although the city is located high on a flat summit of volcanic tuff, it has long kept the secret of a labyrinth of caves and tunnels that lie beneath the surface. Dug deep into the tuff, these secret hidden tunnels are only now open to view through guided tours.

The Venues

Marktplatz (Market Square), Lemgo

The games at the West German venue were played in market square, home to the Rathaus (City Hall). The building is listed as a piece of European Union artwork by UNESCO. The eastern nave of the building was erected in 1325 and from 1480-1490 the western gable was constructed.

In 1565, the city council offices located on Mittelstraße were built. Furthermore, in 1589, the Kornherrenstube (The Lord Mayor’s house) was constructed at the same time as the new city hall meeting area on the southern side of the market place at the height of the Wesserrenaissance, with a pharmacy being added in 1612. Particularly noteworthy are the lovely stone reliefs near the pharmacy that account for the interesting overall view of the building. During the restoration of the market square, the Ballhaus was also included as well as the Zeughaus which is located to the east of the Ballhaus. Even the city hall cellar has been restored from the top to bottom. The last step in the renovation process was the removal of the old Sparkasse bank that once stood next to the Ballhaus in order to enhance the architectural view of the south side of the market place.

During the summer, the square is often filled with people participating in the Sommertreff, which is marked by various outdoor cultural events. Kläschen, a traditional Lemgo holiday, begins every year on the first Thursday of December. It is celebrated with a Christmas market in the city centre and a fair at Regenstor Square.

Piazza del Duomo (Dome Square), Orvieto

The games at the Italian venue were played in front of the city’s main tourist sight - the 13th century cathedral known as the Il Duomo di Santa Maria Assunto. Striped in white travertine and greenish-black basalt in narrow bands, it is similar to many other central Italian cathedrals of that era.

Under the orders of Pope Urban IV (1195-1264), the building was constructed to not only commemorate but to provide a home for the Corporal (white cloth) of a miracle which is said to have occurred around 1263. A travelling priest in the nearby town of Bolsena, witnessed his host (consecrated altar bread) was bleeding, and had stained the altar cloth. This cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal in the Cathedral.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - The Jouster's Rings

The first game - 'The Jouster's Rings' - was held in Italy and involved a knight with a lance on a horse and was played over two one-minute rounds. On the whistle, the knight had to circumnavigate a figure-of-eight course as many times as he could within the time limit and each time he passed the ‘crossroads’ he had to collect a ring which was hanging from a statue of a Roman soldier by spearing them with the lance. In the first round, each ring speared was valued at 3pts. In the second round, the rings were slightly smaller and were each valued at 5pts.

The Italian knight appeared to be a dab hand at the game by piercing five rings in the first round whilst the West Germans could only muster two rings. The second West German equalled his team-mate’s performance of two rings bringing their total to just 16 pts (2 x 3pts + 2 x 5pts). With the first Italian already having scored 15pts his team-mate only needed to spear one ring for victory. However, the team decided that the second player should not participate and for the first rider to repeat the game. He did not disappoint them as he speared another six rings bringing his personal total to 45pts. The first win gave the Italians an early lead.

Game 2 - The Fireman's Ladder

The second game (the first in West Germany) - 'The Fireman's Ladder' - featured firemen, fire tenders and ladders and involved two elements of scoring. The idea of the game was that a fireman would jump from a building into a blanket below (represented by an inflatable dirigible) and climb onto the rear of a fire tender which moved along a course. At various points along the course, the ladder of the tender had to be raised and extended whilst the fireman climbed up to collect two very large water-filled balloons. The balloons then had to be dropped individually to a team-mate below, who then had to place them in a net at the front of the tender. Any balloons that burst whilst dropping did not count towards the final score. After the balloons had been dropped, the ladder had to be lowered again to enable the tenders to pass under the wires supporting the balloons. For each balloon collected 10 seconds was deducted from the time taken to complete the game.

After bursting both balloons on their first drop, the West Germans did not recover and the Italians won the second easily and doubled their overall lead.

Game 3 - The Elasticated Footballers

The third game (the second in Italy) - 'The Elasticated Footballers' - was a six-a-side football match with an unusual twist. All twelve footballers, including the goalkeepers were tethered by elastic ropes to anchor points in the ground. The ropes hindered the players from moving out of a specific area of the field of play.

After losing the first two games, the West Germans won the game 2-1 and began to make a comeback.

Game 4 - The Chimney Builders

The fourth game (the second in West Germany) - 'The Chimney Builders' - proved to be the most exciting of the night and will be regarded as a classic Jeux Sans Frontières game. On the whistle, the two teams had to pass household bricks along a chain of seven players to the end of a course. The bricks then had to be placed on their sides onto a platform and make a hollow square of four bricks. This had to be repeated with another row of four bricks and gradually a chimney of bricks began to emerge.

Time limit for the game was four minutes and the Italians began to make headway on the West Germans from the outset. As the chimneys grew taller the builders had to be raised up on their team-mates shoulders to reach the top of the stack. The Italians stretched their lead further when they had reached the 25th row whilst the West Germans had only just reached their 23rd row. But trouble was brewing for the Italians as the stack could clearly be seen to be wobbling and with one minute remaining the Italians were still ahead by two rows, 27-25. Then disaster struck the Italians' endeavour for, as they completed their 29th row, the stack wobbled for the last time and came crashing down to the ground amidst cries of despair from presenters Camillo Felgen and Lilo Katzke. The West Germans immediately stopped building and moved away from their chimney, and with just 20 seconds remaining on the game it was too late to try and rebuild. The Italians had been beaten by their own haste by not stacking their bricks tightly enough together, preferring to go for height first. The West Germans had pulled the scores level.

Game 5 - The Sand Wagon Push

After the excitement (and tension) of the previous game, the programme returned to Italy for the fifth game (the third in Italy) - 'The Sand Wagon Push' - which was purely a test of strength for the two teams. A wagon loaded with four 50kg bags of sand had to be pushed along a rail track and at a given point released to continue up an incline. If the wagon reached its quarry, it freed another 50kg bag which had to be transported back to the beginning of the course by a team-mate, whilst the wagon made its return journey back along the track. The transported bag of sand was then placed in the wagon and the process repeated until the teams could no longer reach the quarry or time ran out.

The Italians participated first and managed three runs bringing the total weight in their wagon to 350kgs. However, with two victories under their belts, the West Germans went one better and managed a total of 400kgs. The West Germans now led the competition for the first time on the night.

Game 6 - The Magnetic Knights

The final competitive game (the third game in West Germany) - 'The Magnetic Knights' - involved two knights with large magnetised shoes attached to their feet behind castle portcullises. On the whistle, the knights had to wait whilst the portcullises were raised halfway and then walk along an obstacle course built on top of a metal platform, collecting a bouquet along the way. On reaching the end of the course, the knights had to pick up a team-mate dressed as a princess and carry her back along the course and deposit her in the castle behind the portcullis. The game was scored with the time taken to complete the course and 5 second penalties were added each time a knight had fallen over whilst carrying the princess back to the castle.

The two teams finished the game just 2 seconds apart with home team Lemgo having the advantage. Then referee Kurt Hauser announced that the West Germans had attracted four penalties giving them a total time of 2 minutes 37 seconds. However, co-referee Jean Lutz declared that Orvieto had attracted five penalties giving them a total of 2 minutes 44 seconds. The West Germans of Lemgo had now won four consecutive games and recovered from a 4-0 deficit after the first two games. Could their comeback lead to the win and a semi-final place?

Game of Questions

The Game of Questions had different significance to both teams. The West Germans were drawn to answer first and the mayor of Lemgo opted for a 1pt question. Unfortunately the ‘intellectuals’ failed to answer correctly and the team dropped a point.

The Italian mayor had no choice but to opt for a 3pt question and his team came up trumps and levelled the scores at 7-7.

The second question as normal was answered firstly by the team answering second in the first round, and once again the mayor of Orvieto opted for the 3pt question and for the second time on the night the ‘intellectuals’ answered correctly. The Italians had regained the lead for the first time in five games and now led the West Germans by 3pts.

The programme moved back to West Germany for the final time, and despite presenter Camillo Felgen asking the Lemgo mayor what question value he wanted, everybody knew it would have to be a 3pt question. The Italian performing the timing task was very quick and did not leave the West German ‘intellectuals’ much time to answer the question, and when the correct answers were revealed they had answered one part of the question incorrectly. The team were deducted another 3pts and the competition had been won by Orvieto by virtue of the success of their intellectuals rather than on a meritous team performance.

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

During his opening introduction, West German presenter Camillo Felgen made his first of very few mistakes during his nine year association with the programme. Whilst explaining to the assembled crowd and viewing audience the format of the qualification criteria for the semi-finals, he inadvertently stated that in the previous programme, the final French team to compete in the heats (Saint-Amand-les-Eaux) had qualified for the semi-finals by beating Belgian team Stavelot by a difference of eight points. However in reality, the team had only beaten their opposition by six points as the score had ended 4 to -2! He then went onto to tell the audience that Lemgo was the final West German team to compete in the heats and had to beat Orvieto by five clear points. He went on to say that Warendorf (which was met with a resounding roar from the town’s visiting audience) were currently qualifying with a difference of four points over their opposition.

Italian commentator Giulio Marchetti was on duty in Lemgo, but instead of the usual commentary box to broadcast to Italian viewers, he was based in a room in the City Hall overlooking the arena.

Additional Information

At the end of this heat, the second of the four qualifiers for the semi-finals had been decided. The team of Warendorf from West Germany, with a difference of 4pts, would compete in the first semi-final against the Belgian qualifier (to be decided after Heat 6).

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

B & I

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

Heat 6

Event Staged: Wednesday 4th August 1965
Venues: Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney, Belgium
and Il Porto (The Harbour) and Ischia Ponte, Ischia (Ischia), Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 4th August 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 4th August 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 4th August 1965, 9.00-10.20pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 4th August 1965, 9.00-10.22pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 7th August 1965, 3.45-5.15pm

Neutral Jury in Zürich, Switzerland:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich] and Franz de Sasse [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Ciney, Belgium
Gennaro Olivieri in Ischia (Ischia), Italy

Weather Conditions:
Belgium - Warm and Dry
Italy - Very Warm and Humid

Themes: Occupational Hazards (B) and Nautical Sports (I)

Teams: Ciney (B) v. Ischia (I)

Team Members included:
Ciney (B) - Jean Alexandre, Robert Alexandre, Victor Alexandre, Jules Bleret, Olivier Demeuse, André Even, Christian Evrard, Raymond Gerard, Marc Jottard, Michel Lahaut, Leonce Poncelet, Jacques Roberfroid.

Games: The Bakery Production Line (in Belgium), Aquatic Handball (in Italy), Plates and Balloons (in Belgium), Speedboat Basketball (in Italy), The Scaffolding Skaters (in Belgium), Escape from the Castle (in Italy) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must raise a bucket of water to a given height by means of a small winding mechanism in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Belgium: Arranging European countries in order of percentage of births per 4000 of the population; Italy: Matching Trans-Europe Express trains to their respective European routes;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor standing on top of a ladder must catch 20 plates and place them on top of a high podium in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Italy: Matching European palaces to their respective famous residents; Belgium: Matching European composers to their respective countries of birth.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 B • Ciney ● ●
 I • Ischia

6
4

Semi-Final Qualifiers

Belgium (B) - Ciney +2pts difference
West Germany (D) - Warendorf +4pts difference

France (F) - Saint-Amand-les-Eaux +6pts difference
Italy (I) - Orvieto +6pts difference

The Host Towns

Ciney, Belgium

Ciney is a small city in the Walloon region of Namur with a population of 16,000 inhabitants, covering an area of about 147km² (57mi²), with the main industry being beer production.

During a heavy storm on 14th July 2010, the city was damaged and the bell tower of Saint-Nicolas’s church collapsed on its nave. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the bell tower - which had long been the city's and Ciney's beer symbol - no longer exists.

Ischia, Italy

Ischia is a volcanic island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, with its capital town sharing the same name. It has a total population of 65,000 inhabitants although at the time of this competition, the island's population stood at only 12,000 people. The island lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples about 30km (18mi) from the city of Naples and is the largest of the Phlegrean islands.

Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately 10km (6mi) east to west and 7km (4.5mi) north to south, the island has about 34km (21mi) of coastline and a surface area of 46.3km² (17.9mi²). It is almost entirely mountainous, with the highest peak being Mount Epomeo at 788m (2,585ft).

The main industry is tourism which centres on the thermal spas resulting from the island’s volcanic activity, catering mainly to European (especially Germans) and Asian tourists eager to indulge themselves in them.

The Venues

Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney

The games at the Belgian venue were played in front of the church of Saint-Nicolas in the city’s main square, Place Monseu. The Prince Bishop of Liège had acquired the gardens and courtils behind the houses of Chinrue (land which today lies between the college and former post office). He wanted them to create a public square called Bishop Court (in Wallonian, Cour Monseigneur).

In the centre of the square, there is a bandstand known as Le Kiosque. Built in 1896, it is octagonal in shape, raised on a small granite base and is open on all sides enclosed by a railing of wrought iron. Local legend goes that during its first renovation, the painter had slathered plaques, which were attached to the stone perimeter, without noting down the names of the famous composers and musicians engraved on them. Not being able to locate the last name, he wrote down the name of local composer and musician, Xavier Schögel.

In July of each year, the square, which is surrounded by chestnut trees on its north and western sides, is transformed into a huge sandy beach for 15 days, when locals and tourists are encouraged to partake in sports activities during the day and musical events in the evening.

Il Porto (The Harbour) and Ischia Ponte, Ischia

All the games at the Italian venue - bar one - were played in the picturesque harbour of Ischia with its ascending rows of multicoloured houses and other buildings. The exception, the final competitive game, was staged on Ischia Ponte, another volcanic island (though much smaller than Ischia itself), and involved one competitor from each team abseiling down the steep cliffs from the Castello Aragonese at the summit to a waiting boat in the bay below.

Ischia Ponte is connected to the main island via a stone causeway which dates back to the 14th century. In addition to the medieval castle, which for many is the defining image of Ischia, the volcanic outcrop is also home to the Tower of Michelangelo, the Rocks of Sant Anna, Cartaromana Beach and a luxury five-star hotel, the Mirame e Castello.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - The Bakery Production Line

The competition opened in Belgium with the first game - 'The Bakery Production Line' - which was representative of a bakery production line complete with conveyor belt. Halfway down its length there was a large trapeze swing with a metal sheet attached to its base, hanging above it. With the metal sheet attached, it resulted in there being only a few centimetres clearance above the belt. On the whistle, an opponent standing upright on the swing began to put it in motion. Once a good rhythm had been achieved, the competing team had to send tarts along the conveyor belt to a team-mate at the other end. However, with the low clearance of the swing, many of the tarts were sent flying in both directions by its back and forth motion.

This was quite an amusing game to watch especially when the Italians played the game. The Belgian opponent got quite a rhythm going with the swing and the tarts were flying everywhere, even back into the faces of the competitors placing them on the belt. Each team had to transport as many of their 100 tarts to the other side within a 2-minute time limit. The Belgians narrowly won the game, despite their competitor’s agility, by a score of 34 to 29.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 2pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (0pts / 0pts)

Game 2 - Aquatic Handball

At the start of the second game (the first in Italy) - 'Aquatic Handball' - Italian presenter Enzo Tortora introduced referee Gennaro Olivieri to the camera, and there is a rare sight of him wearing a casual T-shirt rather than his usual formal blazer / jacket that he was accustomed to wearing throughout his time on Jeux Sans Frontières. The game itself comprised of a goalkeeper on a floating platform located some 10m out into the harbour, and a very long springboard attached to the harbour wall, which protruded some 4m out over the water towards the goal. The springboard was actually several large planks of wood attached and secured to each other.

On the whistle, three team members began to walk out (one at a time) onto the springboard and the idea was that when they reached the end of the board, they would hurl the ball towards the goal to score. However, due to the length of the springboard, it sagged into the water with the player’s weight, the further he moved out on the springboard. After hurling their ball, they swam back to the harbour wall, ascended a short ladder to its top and repeated the game until the time limit of two minutes. The game ended with a win for Italy by 9 goals to 5, and they had levelled the scores.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (0pts awarded / 2pts total) =1st Ischia (I) (2pts / 2pts) ▲

Game 3 - Plates and Balloons

The third game (the second in Belgium) - 'Plates and Balloons' - was very convoluted and involved three competitors and two motorcycles. In the centre of the arena was a tripod acting as a pivot which had a long plank attached to it. This in turn was attached to one of the motorcycles, which meant that the rider could only move in a given circle. On the floor of the circle were stacks of plates and many large balloons filled with water. The other motorcycle was on the outside of the circle and moved around it in the opposite direction to his team-mate. On the whistle, the third member of the team had to lie face down on the plank and as the motorcyclist rode around at a slow speed, had to pick up as many of the plates using only one hand but could assist himself by using his foot. Each time he achieved this, he had to pull himself to the outside of the circle and hand the plates to the other rider. The rider in turn placed them on a tray attached to his bike and transported them to a table on the other side of the arena. If the competitor on the plank wanted to try for a good score, he could attempt to pick up a large balloon, as they were worth 10pts each as opposed to 1pt per plate. However with the balloons being filled with water, it was much more precarious to attempt them because they were liable to burst with any sudden motion.

The Belgian competitor on the plank was extremely lithe and had no problem with his hand and foot co-ordination and ended his round with a score of 140 (120 plates and 2 balloons). The Italian competitor was not as agile and had difficulty using his foot to assist him. After a few attempts where he was only picking up a few of the plates from the stacks, he tried the balloons but it seemed he had pins all over his hands because they kept bursting no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he managed to pick up one balloon and with only 41 plates collected, he finished with a score of just 51pts. With Belgium's second win on home soil, they had secured another 2pts and once again lead the Italians bringing the score to 4-2.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 4pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (0pts / 2pts) ▼

Game 4 - Speedboat Basketball

The fourth game (the second in Italy) - 'Speedboat Basketball' - was held on water and was a twist on the game of basketball using speedboats with large inverted pyramid shaped nets set in their hulls. On the whistle, the two teams had to speed around a marked-out area in the boats, retrieving balls from the water which were being thrown there continuously by the referee. Any balls collected had to then be thrown into their opponent’s nets, and it was just a simple case of the team scoring the greater number of netted balls winning the game. The teams were permitted to get as close as they wanted to each other to score.

The game was very close throughout and with just 3 seconds to play, the Italians were able to get one final attempt and scored the winning basket just before the whistle blew. The final score was Italy 9, Belgium 8, and as with their Belgian opponents, the Italians had won their second consecutive home game. With the 2pts added to their total, they had levelled the scoring again.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (0pts awarded / 4pts total) =1st Ischia (I) (2pts / 4pts) ▲

Game 5 - The Scaffolding Skaters

The fifth game (the third in Belgium) - 'The Scaffolding Skaters' - involved competitors having to skate down an incline on scaffolding and then jump and grab for a rope. If the rope was caught successfully then he was pulled up to a similar incline on the other side of the scaffolding by his team-mates. If he failed, he fell about six feet into a shallow paddling pool below and then was assisted by his team mates who pulled him back to the next phase. If the competitor fell, there was no penalty but more time was taken to get the player to the next level. The game was repeated on the other side of the scaffolding and this carried on until time limit. The team with the greatest number of levels completed was declared the winner. Viewed in an age obsessed with health and safety, it has to be said that the pool, placed on the concrete of Place Monseu, was nowhere near deep enough to fully protect a falling competitor and it is clear that the team members suffered when falling into it from the rope. The defining decision in this game was made by the Belgian competitor (revealed at the end of the game to be just 15 years old!) who wore gloves to protect his hands when leaping for the rope; his Italian rival attempted this game barehanded and despite initial excellent progress, had to retire from the game before limit time due to friction burns to his hands. With a third win on home soil for the Belgians, they now led their Italian opponents for the third time.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 6pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (0pts / 4pts) ▼

Game 6 - Escape from the Castle

The final competitive game (the third game in Italy) - ‘Escape from the Castle’ - was staged across the bay on the nearby island of Ischia Ponte, which is joined to the main island via a stone causeway. The game involved one competitor from each team abseiling 110m down the sheer cliff face of Ischia Ponte from the Castello Aragonese (Aragon Castle) at its summit to the bay below. On reaching the base, the abseilers each boarded a rowing boat piloted by two team-mates and were transported by them across the bay to the harbour, some 550m away on the other side. Having been delivered near to the shore, the two competitors who had descended from the castle had to jump out of the boat into the water and walk the last few metres, crossing the finish line on the shore. The daring team member performing this feat for Ciney was Victor Alexandre, a paratrooper experienced in free falling and mountaineering - which was fortunate! Despite having the experience, it was a close run thing and had he not reached the base of the cliff some time ahead of his opponent, his team-mates would have let him down because they were much slower rowers than their Italian counterparts. This game appeared to be Ischia’s downfall (pardon the pun) because all the previous five games had been won by the ‘home’ team. With the Belgians winning this game (their fourth on the night) they held a 4pts advantage with just the Game of Questions remaining, but as was seen with earlier heats, this did not mean that Ischia were beaten yet.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 8pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (0pts / 4pts)

Game of Questions

The Belgians were drawn to go first in the Game of Questions and the town’s Mayor opted for the 1pt question, but the Ciney ‘intellectuals’ answered incorrectly and the team received a 1pt penalty. However, they still held a 3pts lead over the Ischia team, and as such the competition remained in their own hands.

►GQ1 Belgium - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (-1pt penalty / 7pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (4pts total)

The Ischia Mayor sensibly opted for the 3pts question, meaning that if the question was answered correctly, the scores would be tied at 7-7. However, the town’s ‘intellectuals’ had what was considered a tough question, in which they had to match Trans-Europe Express trains to the routes that they traversed. Within the time allowed, they were unsuccessful and, with a 3pts penalty, the score now stood at 7-1 to Ciney.

►GQ1 Italy - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (7pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (-3pts penalty / 1pt total)

The second round began in Ischia and this time the ‘intellectuals’ correctly answered the question and with it also being a 3pts option, they had recovered the points they had lost in the first Game of Questions round.

►GQ2 Italy - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (7pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (3pts awarded / 4pts total)

But by now it was over for Ischia, as the Belgian Mayor was not taking any chances and opted for the 1pt question, which in the end was the best decision he could have made that day, as the ‘intellectuals’ answered it incorrectly and brought the score back down by another point.

►GQ2 Belgium - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (-1pt penalty / 6pts total) 2nd Ischia (I) (4pts total) Points Differences: Ciney (B) +2pts Ischia (I) -2pts

Comments: Had the Mayor opted for the 3pts question, the scores would have ended 4-4 and the outcome would have been passed over to the jury in Zürich. This would have meant that the result could have gone in either team’s favour, as was the outcome in International Heat 3. After Ciney's victory, Mayor Joseph Lambert commented that, "This bringing together of people from different countries is perhaps the most beautiful success of Jeux Sans Frontières... We thank the Italian athletes for their fair play and their courtesy..."

Additional Information

Ciney Mayor, Joseph Lambert, issued a rallying call to his townsfolk ahead of this heat: "On August 4, Ciney participate in Jeux Sans Frontières, which will be broadcast across Europe. We must all strive to gain the victory. We ask you to all be present at the Place Monseu to express your support in all ways possible: trumpets, whistles, placards. The young must create a lively atmosphere in front of 80 million television viewers. Ciney must be seen as the dynamic city that one speaks of..."

At the end of this heat, and after ten weeks of waiting, the final two qualifiers for the semi-finals had been decided. The team of Ciney from Belgium, with a difference of just 2pts, would compete against Warendorf from West Germany in the first semi-final, and Orvieto from Italy, with a difference of 6pts, would face French team Saint-Amand-les-Eaux in the second semi-final.

Highlights of this edition were broadcast in 1985 by the RTBF in Belgium as part of the television programme, Il Était Une Fois La Télé: Jeux Sans Frontières.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

B & D

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

1st Semi-Final

Event Staged: Wednesday 18th August 1965
Venues: Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney, Belgium
and Freibad (Open-Air Swimming Baths), Warendorf, West Germany

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 18th August 1965, 8.20-9.35pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Wednesday 18th August 1965, 8.20-9.50pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 18th August 1965, 8.25-9.40pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 18th August 1965, 8.25-9.45pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 18th August 1965, 8.25-9.45pm (Live)

Neutral Jury in Köln, West Germany:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich] and Maria Maddalena Yon [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Warendorf, West Germany
Gennaro Olivieri in Ciney, Belgium

Weather Conditions:
Belgium - Warm and Dry
West Germany - Warm and Dry

Themes: Games on the Square (B) and Games on the Pool (D)

Teams: Ciney (B) v. Warendorf (D)

Team Members included:
Ciney (B) - Jean Alexandre, Robert Alexandre, Victor Alexandre, Jules Bleret, Olivier Demeuse, André Even, Christian Evrard, Raymond Gerard, Marc Jottard, Michel Lahaut, Leonce Poncelet and Jacques Roberfroid.
Warendorf (D) - Camillo Kemper (Intellectual) and Gustav Adolf Krieg (Intellectual)

Games: Tug-o-War (in West Germany) / The Capstan (in Belgium), The Jousting Gondoliers (in West Germany), Don't Upset the Apples (in Belgium), The Aquatic Relay Race (in West Germany), The Water Rollers (in Belgium), The Aquatic Bobbins (in West Germany), The Slippery Carousel (in Belgium) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A stilt walker must negotiate an obstacle course of 9 straw bales and ring a bell in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Belgium: Matching European Prime Ministers with the monarchs under whom they served; West Germany: Matching European cities with their respective map diagrams;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must knock down a total of 28 tins (coconut-shy style) in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - West Germany: Matching characters with their respective theatre play; Belgium: Matching artists primarily known by surname with their respective forenames.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 B • Ciney ● ●
 D • Warendorf ●

13
13

The Host Towns

Ciney, Belgium

Previously visited in Heat 6.

Warendorf, West Germany

Previously visited in Heat 1.

The Venues

Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney

As was the case for the qualifying heat, the games at the Belgian venue were played in the city’s main square, Place Monseu.

Warendorf, West Germany

Unlike the qualifying heat, Warendorf staged this semi-final at the town’s open-air swimming pool situated on the bend of the River Ems with the Emssee to the north.

The pool is closed during the winter months, but at the start of May until the end of September, the indoor pool closes its doors and the Freibad comes alive with families enjoying the complex’s facilities.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

This heat opened at the open-air swimming pool in Warendorf with a Dixieland band called The Scuttles playing traditional Dixie-type music while a formation swimming team performed a routine in the water.

Unlike in the qualifying heats, there was no hand-over to the opposing venue before the games started and the first game was different from all of the series so far, in that it was split into two distinct halves. Each of the venues staged one half of the game and each half would only be worth 1pt to the victors. (N.B. Although points were awarded at each venue, it was not until the second half had been completed that scores were confirmed by the jury.) This game increased the number of games played in the Semi-Finals to eight in total as opposed to seven in the qualifying heats.

Game 1 - Tug-o-War / The Capstan

The West German half of the first game - 'Tug-o-War' - was a straight struggle of strength between the two teams on the perimeter of the swimming pool and was contested by very well-built men. The Warendorf team made mincemeat of the Ciney team (in the main due to their greater physique) and completed the game in less than 47 seconds.

The programme was then handed over to Belgian host Jean-Claude Menessier in Ciney’s Place Monseu. After his introductions, the crowd was treated to a display by a local team of paratroopers, including the hero from the previous heat Victor Alexandre, as they descended from the bell tower of Saint-Nicolas by wire to the arena floor.

He then handed over to Gennaro Olivieri to start the Belgian half of the first game - 'The Capstan' - which was also a tug-o-war type game and was simply a replay of a game held earlier in the series at Dax, France. This ended almost as soon as it had started with Warendorf being victorious and the team were awarded the 2pts (1pt each from the two halves) and took an early lead.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (2pts awarded / 2pts total) 2nd Ciney (B) (0pts / 0pts)

Game 2 - The Jousting Gondoliers

The second game (the first complete game in West Germany) - 'The Jousting Gondoliers' - ended in some controversy. The idea of the game was simple in that two opposing team members facing each other sat astride ‘gondolas’ hanging above the pool, each holding a lance. On a given signal, the gondolas were moved by pulleys from one side of the pool to the other and, on the whistle, the ‘gondoliers’ had to joust in order to hit a target at the front of their opposing gondola. If the target was hit correctly it released a catch and tipped the gondola over, dropping the unfortunate gondolier into the pool below.

The first four rounds ended with two dropped gondoliers each and it all hinged on the final round. However, both gondoliers hit each other’s targets at the same time and they both dropped into the pool below. Referee Jean Lutz deemed that the West German had fallen into the pool first and therefore awarded the 2pts to Ciney. The programme was, as normal, handed over to the jury and Ciney’s points were confirmed by them and the scores were levelled at 2-2.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 2pts total) ▲ =1st Warendorf (D) (0pts / 2pts)

Game 3 - Don't Upset the Apples

The third game (the first complete game in Belgium) - 'Don't Upset the Apples' - was an unusual game as it was played out on top of the roof of a moving vehicle. At the start of the game, a player standing on top of the car’s roof had to be handed a tray of apples by a team-mate from a slippery, greased ramp. Once he had been handed the tray, the competitor atop the car signalled to the driver below, who set off and had to negotiate a series of three obstacles without hitting them. At the end of the course, the driver then had to reverse the car into an allotted space, and the apples had to be passed to another team-mate waiting at the top of another greased ramp. He then had to cautiously slide down the ramp and place all the collected apples into a large crate located on a set of weighing scales. Whilst this was occurring, the car driver made his way back to the start of the course to repeat the game within the 2 minutes and 30 seconds time limit.

The Belgians went first and successfully made three runs and collected a total of 10.9kgs of apples. The second run was by the Warendorf team, and the car driver made a complete hash of the game by driving off immediately after the whistle was blown before waiting for his team-mate to be handed any apples. It took 30 seconds for him to re-position the car and this mistake contributed to the team losing the game, although the team member providing the apples also contributed greatly to their downfall as he encountered significant difficulties when trying to ascend the ramp. With the West German score declared as 9.1kgs, the Belgian contingent erupted and with the win awarded to Belgium, the Ciney team had moved into the lead.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 4pts total) 2nd Warendorf (D) (0pts / 2pts) ▼

Objection!

The programme was then handed back to Warendorf for the fourth game, but before it could be played, a dispute over the result of Game 2 - 'The Jousting Gondoliers' - flared up into controversy. Camillo Felgen, standing with both referees, stated that there were some protests from the Warendorf team following the result of the second game and that the distribution of points for the game needed to be verified. This was met with a cheer at the swimming pool. Referee Kurt Hauser asked Camillo to read aloud the rules for the game. This in some way stated that there was no ruling if the gondoliers fell in the water together and that it was the team that had ‘knocked off’ the greater number of gondoliers that would win. As both teams had ultimately scored the same number, Camillo Felgen stated therefore that the points should be amended so that each team scored 1pt each. This was handed over to the jury who stated that they accepted the proposition from Warendorf, but at this point did not adjust the scores.

Game 4 - The Aquatic Relay Race

Camillo Felgen then described the fourth game (the second complete game in West Germany) - 'The Aquatic Relay Race' - which was simply an aquatic race from one end of the pool to the other, played over five separate runs. The first two runs required swimmers to negotiate rubber rings by the ‘up and under’ method. This was then followed by the next two players utilising inflatable aids (the first being in the shape of a large log of wood and the second being an inflatable swan!) to cross the pool. The final player found himself in a large wooden barrel, which had to be paddled from one end of the pool to the other.

The first three runs were very close, but it was not until the fourth round, when the inflatable swans came into play, that the Warendorf team started to make headway over the Belgians. From this point, the game was Warendorf’s all the way and they never looked back, winning the game by a healthy 30 metres. Warendorf were awarded the win and the programme was handed to the jury, who confirmed the ‘new’ adjusted score which revealed that Warendorf were now leading by 2pts.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (+1pt adjustment (Game 2) + 2pts awarded (Game 4) / 5pts total) 2nd Ciney (B) (-1pt adjustment (Game 2) + 0pts (Game 4) / 3pts) ▼

Game 5 - The Water Rollers

The fifth game (the second complete game in Belgium) - 'The Water Rollers' - involved a large podium of rollers which was set at a slight incline. A player wearing genuine wooden clogs attached to small wooden planks was standing at the top of the incline, and on the whistle was handed a large bowl of water. Pushing himself forward, he set himself in motion down the rollers and on his way he had to avoid a trapeze bar (made of toughened elastic to avoid any injury). Halfway down the rollers he handed the bowl to another player, who then moved towards the end of the incline avoiding another trapeze bar. Any water remaining in the bowl was emptied into a large container located on weighing scales. Each player, after completing their sections, had to make their way back up the incline to their original starting points in order to repeat the game until the time limit of 2 minutes.

The Belgians went first and collected an impressive 128kgs of water, whilst the West Germans only managed to collect 111.2kgs. Ciney had closed the gap and levelled the scores.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 5pts total) ▲ =1st Warendorf (D) (0pts / 5pts)

Comments: At the beginning of this game in Belgium, viewers were treated to a rare and unusual insight into how Jeux Sans Frontières was recorded. A long shot of the game from a high podium afforded a clear view of the manner in which the television pictures were captured as the games unfolded: three bulky video cameras were in view around the game! This behind-the-scenes view was somewhat repeated in the revived ‘modern age’ series in 1993, when numerous hand-held cameras (and cameramen and sound assistants) were seen in view at the Swiss heat staged in Loèche-les-Bains.

Game 6 - The Aquatic Bobbins

The sixth and penultimate competitive game (the third complete game in West Germany) - 'The Aquatic Bobbins' - featured three team members standing inside large sewing-machine bobbins on floating platforms in the swimming pool. The bobbins were attached to ropes which were anchored at the other end of the pool. On the whistle, the players simply had to lift the bobbin and rotate it, in order to reel in the rope and move up the pool. As the platforms were quite small, the players had to be careful not to rotate too fast and chance falling off the platforms.

Despite this danger, the West Germans set off at a cracking pace and won the game a clear 20 metres ahead of their rivals. Warendorf had secured another victory and regained the lead of the competition.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (2pts awarded / 7pts total) 2nd Ciney (B) (0pts / 5pts) ▼

Game 7 - The Slippery Carousel

At the beginning of the final competitive game, (the third complete game in Belgium) - 'The Slippery Carousel' - referee Gennaro Olivieri asked the jury to explain the reason for the amendment of scores on the second game. Having had it explained to him by chairman André Rosat, he then stated to Jean-Claude Menessier that he wanted to make sure that everything was correct and that everyone understood what was going on. With everything explained, the game got underway and it involved a raised carousel on casters pivoted in the middle and the outer rim attached to a motorcycle. Two opposing competitors were standing on the carousel whose base had been greased with soap. On the whistle, the motorcyclist had to rotate the carousel by riding in a circular motion whilst the two opposing players had to collect water in buckets from a pipe situated above the rim of the carousel. Any water collected had to be emptied into a funnel on the opposite side of the carousel.

The West German team went first and they were all over the place continually falling over and often off the platform and ended up collecting very little water. This was mainly due to the fact that the Belgian motorcyclist kept up a good steady speed on the motorcycle throughout the game. When the roles were reversed, the West German rider seemed very slow compared to his counterpart and this allowed the Belgians to continually fill their buckets with very few falls on the carousel. The outcome was obvious from the outset and after the result was announced the scores were all level. It now all depended on the ‘intellectuals’ and the Game of Questions.

Game of Questions

The Swiss jury made the draw and deemed Ciney to answer first. Mayor Joseph Lambert opted for a 3pt question and although the question was seemingly tough (as were two of the other three questions) the ‘intellectuals’ answered it correctly and Ciney moved into the outright lead of the competition for the first time all evening.

►GQ1 Belgium - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (3pts awarded / 10pts total) 2nd Warendorf (D) (7pts total) ▼

The West German mayor had no choice but to follow the Belgians and also opted for the 3pt question. The question appeared to be the easiest of all of the four questions, simply matching map diagrams with the names of the five cities they represented. With the team getting the question correct, the scores were level once more.

►GQ1 West Germany - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (10pts total) =1st Warendorf (D) (3pts awarded / 10pts total) ▲

Warendorf had to answer the next question and opted once again for the 3pt question. Incredibly, despite its subject matter, the ‘intellectuals’ got all five correct and now led Ciney by 3pts.

►GQ2 West Germany - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Warendorf (D) (3pts awarded / 13pts total) ▲ 2nd Ciney (B) (10pts total)

The Ciney mayor now had no option either and despite Jean-Claude Menessier asking him, tongue-in-cheek, whether he wanted a 1pt question or 3pt question, everyone knew it had to be a 3pt question. Although the opposing team stopped the game well within the time limit, it did not affect the Ciney teams ‘intellectuals’, as they had completed the question within 20 seconds of the whistle. The team came up trumps with the fourth correctly answered question of the heat and the teams were once again level on points.

►GQ2 Belgium - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (3pts awarded / 13pts total) ▲ =1st Warendorf (D) (13pts total)

Comments: This was the only heat this year in which all of the four questions were answered correctly by the ‘intellectuals’, and interestingly they were all 3pt questions. This is one of the reasons that the programme ended with such a high-scoring result.

After the Game of Questions, the Chairman of the jury confirmed that the score was 13-13 and stated that this was quite remarkable. To try to break the deadlock, a question was set by the neutral jury and was the same for both teams. The teams were allotted 60 seconds to come up with the correct answer. André Rosat, the Chairman, asked the ‘intellectuals’ the following question:

"The four largest cities in Switzerland are Zurich, Basle, Geneva and which other?"

At the end of the time given, Belgian presenter Jean-Claude Menessier revealed the Belgian team’s answer to be Bern. However there did not appear to have been anything written on the board but Jean-Claude pointed to the apparent letters B.E.R.N.E. (spelt with the extra ‘E’ in French) written on the board by a finger! The jury accepted their answer and asked for the West German answer. Camillo Felgen turned their board around and "Lausanne" was clearly displayed. The jury milked the tension and waited before announcing 'Bern' as the correct answer. The Ciney team had qualified for the Jeux Sans Frontières International Final!

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (3pts awarded / 13pts total) 2nd Warendorf (D) (13pts total) ▼

Comments: The tie-break was won by Ciney (B) and they were declared the winners of the competition, although no points were awarded and the scores remained unchanged at 13-13. Ciney had won through to the final and the watching crowd in the town square exploded with relief and excitement. At one point, the crowd raised Mayor Joseph Lambert above their shoulders and carried him around the square. This was indeed no mean feat as he was a very, very well-built man!

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

Presenter Camillo Felgen introduced the competitors for the first game and also the visiting supporters of Ciney and well-wishers from the year’s other West German competing towns of Lemgo and Siegburg. He then introduced the referees and they were fittingly attired for the setting in lifeguard outfits of casual T-shirts and white shorts!

Additional Information

Ischia, the Italian team that Ciney had defeated two weeks previous to this event, proved themselves good losers by sending the Ciney team a telegram congratulating them on their success.

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

F & I

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

2nd Semi-Final

Event Staged: Wednesday 1st September 1965
Venues: Grand' Place, (Great Market), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France
and Piazza del Duomo (Dome Square), Orvieto, Italy

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
RTB (B): Wednesday 1st September 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
SSR (CH): Wednesday 1st September 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
ORTF (F): Wednesday 1st September 1965, 9.00-10.20pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 1st September 1965, 9.00-10.15pm (Live)
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 4th September 1965, 3.45-5.15pm

Neutral Jury in Paris, France:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Max Ernst [Zürich] and Mascia Cantoni [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France
Gennaro Olivieri in Orvieto, Italy

Weather Conditions:
France - Warm and Dry
Italy - Warm and Dry

Themes: Cleaning Up! (F) and Sports and Pastimes (I)

Teams: Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) v. Orvieto (I)

Team Members included:
Orvieto (I) - Marcello Fornicca

Games: The Capstan (in France) / Tug-o-War (in Italy), The Aquatic Bull (in France), Hosepipe Football (in Italy), The Mysterious Corridor (in France), The Blindfolded Boxer (in Italy), The Cleaners’ Football Match (in France), The Go-Kart Bombers (in Italy) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - On 6 occasions, a competitor must place a plate under a falling weight to smash it in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - France: Sorting European cities into position from North to South; Italy: Sorting European rivers into order of length;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must transport a football above his head down a course using only the spray from a hosepipe in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;
Question Subjects - Italy: Matching artists to their respective year of birth; France: Matching composers with their respective operas.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 F • Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ● ●
 I • Orvieto ●

7
5

The Host Towns

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

Previously visited in Heat 4.

Orvieto, Italy

Previously visited in Heat 5.

The Venues

Grand' Place (Great Square), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

As was the case for the qualifying heat, the games at the French venue in this semi-final were played in Grand’ Place, located in the centre of the town.

Piazza del Duomo (Dome Square), Orvieto

As was the case for the qualifying heat, the games at the Italian venue were played in front of the city’s main tourist sight - the 13th century cathedral known as the Il Duomo di Santa Maria Assunto.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

The second semi-final opened in Italy, and as with the qualifying heat, was held in front of the city's magnificent 13th century cathedral. The programme was then handed over to Guy Lux in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, who opened the French section of this semi-final standing next to a 4 metre high rocket which, after a countdown, had its engines fired up for display. The purpose of the rocket and its significance remains unclear!

Game 1 - The Capstan / Tug-o-War

The first game was held in France, and as with the previous Semi-Final was played in two halves with tug-o-war as its theme. However, the two parts of the game here were played in the reverse to those in the first Semi-Final. The French half of the game - 'The Capstan' - involved a large capstan pivoted in the centre of the square. After being introduced, the hefty, well-built team members from Saint-Amand-les-Eaux were joined around the capstan by some not-so ‘beefy’ players from Orvieto. However when it came to play the game, the Orvieto team put up a gallant fight and at one point almost appeared to have the edge on their rivals. The game became a stalemate and after a very long 3 minutes 15 seconds, the game was stopped and referee Jean Lutz made the announcement that France were the winners having moved forward the greater distance at the final whistle.

The corresponding half of the game in Orvieto - 'Tug-o-War' - was the basic test of teams' strength against each other, and whilst the French team started off by making some headway, it seemed as if this part of the game would also end in stalemate. However, after about a minute of very little movement, the Italian team seemed to gain a ‘second wind’ and began to pull the French team forward. Once the Italians had got into their rhythm, there was no stopping them and within 15 seconds, the game was over and Orvieto had won. Guy Lux handed over to the Paris jury and the score for the first game was confirmed, overall, as a draw.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (1pt awarded / 1pt total) =1st Orvieto (I) (1pt / 1pt)

Game 2 - The Aquatic Bull

The second game (the first complete game in France) - 'The Aquatic Bull' - produced the obligatory bull and involved players crossing the arena, collecting water from a pool in the middle and carrying it to a team member on the opposite side to pour into a cylinder. In order to attract the bull, players had balloons attached to their bodies.

One of the Italian team members could clearly be seen being gored quite heftily by the bull, and at the end of the game, he displayed his scars to presenter Simone Garnier and the viewing public. She asked the audience to show their appreciation to the Italian, as in her words “the bull had attacked him in quite an extraordinary manner”. He also revealed to Simone that despite his injuries he was shaken but alright. The announcement of the score saw Italy with 22 litres of water whilst the French had scored an incredible 100 litres. The 2pts were awarded to the home team of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux and they were leading the competition.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 3pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (0pts / 1pt) ▼

Game 3 - Hosepipe Football

The third game (the first complete game in Italy) - 'Hosepipe Football' - produced a visual feast when referee Gennaro Olivieri donned full waterproof attire including Wellington boots, oilskin jacket and trousers and a sou’wester hat! The reason for this was that he had to referee a football game which ultimately saw everyone getting wet. Played over two separate legs, four players had to try to score goals against an opposing goalkeeper, whilst the ball was being directed by another opposing player with a hosepipe.

The Italians played first and were unable to score at all during their 3 minutes of play. However, in theory the game was all over within 10 seconds of the start of the second leg, as France scored their first goal and won the game. After the final whistle, the score of the game was France 6, Italy 0. Another win for France saw them increase their lead.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 5pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (0pts / 1pt)

Game 4 - The Mysterious Corridor

The fourth game (the second complete game in France) - 'The Mysterious Corridor' - was an unusual game and, some might say, a cruel one. It involved a corridor of six small rooms (wooden cages in reality) filled with different items. These rooms had inward opening doors only, and therefore had to be forced open to enter and exit. On the whistle, the player entered the first room, which was crammed full with large balloons and make his way to the exit with as many balloons as he could carry. These balloons had to be transported with him through all the other five rooms which contained a team-mate holding two cacti, chairs, a greased slope, four live pigs and a fully grown Friesian cow! After exiting the final room, he had to deposit any balloons that had not been burst or lost on the way into a container at the end of the course. He could then return through the rooms to pick up more balloons for a second run.

On the first run by the Italians, presenter Simone Garnier had to remind referee Jean Lutz to blow the whistle after 3 minutes 10 seconds, as he had permitted the game to continue past the three minute time limit. Many would see this game as cruel to the live animals, especially the pigs, as they were kicked and trodden on by the players on their way through. However, Simone Garnier is heard asking the French player, who was particularly rough on the pigs, not to use brutality on the animals. The final score saw the French winning their third consecutive game.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 7pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (0pts / 1pt)

Game 5 - The Blindfolded Boxer

The fifth game (the second complete game in Italy) - 'The Blindfolded Boxer' - bore witness to some fouling by the French team on the Italian player, and fortunately, this was spotted by Gennaro Olivieri. The idea was that a blindfolded boxer was inside the ring with four blindfolded waiters from the opposing team carrying trays of glasses.

On the whistle, the boxer staggered around the ring trying to locate the waiters and empty the contents of the trays. On the second run, the Italian boxer appeared minute in comparison to the hefty built players the French team had fielded. Whilst he was trying to remove the glasses from their trays, they continually held him back and pushing him aside. This was clearly against the rules of the game and Gennaro, who was in the ring with all five competitors, had to keep reminding them of this. However, the Italian did very well on this game, despite his size and the dirty tricks from the French, and won the game. This game was fraught with delays as the blindfolds of the boxers continually came loose and the game had to be stopped so that they could be replaced. On a lighter note however, due to the fact that the boxer was blindfolded, Gennaro Olivieri came in for some unexpected ‘punishment’ when the boxers mistook him for the waiters. Hilarious stuff! With the unexpected Italian win, they had closed the gap, albeit only slightly.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts awarded / 7pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (2pts / 3pts)

Game 6 - The Cleaners' Football Match

The sixth game (the third complete game in France) - 'The Cleaners' Football Match' - again featured a bull and this time it was in the arena whilst the two teams were there playing a game of football, using only besom brooms to move the ball.

The first half featured the French team in light-coloured shirts whilst the Italians wore dark-coloured shirts. In order that the bull was not influenced in any way by colour (bulls are really colour-blind anyway and are only influenced by movement), the teams swapped shirt colours at the halfway mark. Despite the change in shirts, the French won their fourth game of the night and in doing so restored their 6pts advantage.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts awarded / 9pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (0pts / 3pts)

Game 7 - The Go-Kart Bombers

The final competitive game (the third complete game in Italy) - 'The Go-Kart Bombers' - was an exciting and entertaining game to watch, if only for its tension value, as it involved fuel driven go-karts and bombs that exploded. On the whistle, Gennaro Olivieri placed a ‘bomb’ in a net above the driver of the go-kart and lit a fuse, which either had a time of 40 or 45 seconds before exploding. The driver then had to complete three circuits of a course as quickly as possible and deposit the ‘bomb’ in a small container before it exploded. The bombs in this case were quite safe and only contained polystyrene balls and flour. Each team had to participate on three occasions and although the Italian team had secured the points before the last run by the French, the game was played out for its entertainment value.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts awarded / 9pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (2pts / 5pts)

Game of Questions

After all the games had been played, the score stood at 9-5 in the French team’s favour and it was left to the Italian ‘intellectuals’ to close the gap and try to turn the result around. The French were drawn to go first and with all the excitement in the town square, presenter Guy Lux forgot to ask the mayor which value question he wanted. The question was set and the timing task began. After the task was completed and the answers given were revealed, West German commentator Camillo Felgen noticed his error and stated that he had forgotten to ask the value of the question. But halfway through the ‘checking’ procedure, Guy Lux suddenly announced that the team had asked for a 1pt question. Fortunately for the team, they answered the question correctly anyway and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux’s lead was now increased to 5pts.

►GQ1 France - 1pt Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (1pt awarded / 10pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (5pts total)

The Italians now had no option other than to attempt a 3pt question, and with the opposing team unable to complete their task, the ‘intellectuals’ benefited from a full 1 minute, but were unable to answer correctly. With a 3pt penalty, the competition was now out of reach for the Italians as they were now a full 8pts behind.

►GQ1 Italy - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (10pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (-3pts penalty / 2pts total)

Despite this score, the Italian opted for another 3pt question, and this time around the question was answered correctly, bringing the score back to 10-5.

►GQ2 Italy - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (10pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (3pts awarded / 5pts total)

It now did not matter which way the French mayor decided to go, victory was theirs. Incredibly Guy Lux had forgotten to ask him for the value of question he wanted again (probably due to the excitement that the team had already qualified for the International Final), and the game began. Camillo again noticed his error and stated that whatever happened there were only four outcomes possible to the overall result - 7-5, 9-5, 11-5 or 13-5. Before the checking procedure begun and having noticed his error, Guy Lux announced that the mayor would sportingly accept a 3pt question whatever the outcome (this was probably because they couldn’t lose!). This would seem very generous of him, but the official rules stated that the outcome for such an error was that should the question be answered correctly then the team would receive just 1pt, but if it was answered incorrectly the team would suffer a 3pt penalty. However it made no difference, because the ‘intellectuals’ were not so fortunate this time and answered incorrectly, and with a 3pt penalty the final result ended 7-5.

►GQ2 France - 3pts Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (-3pts penalty / 7pts total) 2nd Orvieto (I) (5pts total)

Additional Information

A report in an Italian newspaper stated that the transmission of this second Semi-Final was ended early due to heavy rain in both venue cities. The report went on the reveal that the Italian broadcaster RAI Due, after abandoning the Jeux Sans Frontières transmission, replaced it with an episode of a popular television series. The news item made no mention of the final score, or whether the heat was to be replayed. Reading the newspaper story, one might assume that the score at the time of abandonment had been declared the final result. However this report has since been confirmed as being wholly incorrect, as the weather conditions at both venues were dry and warm throughout and the contest ran its complete course as can be seen from information shown above. It sometimes goes to show that you cannot believe everything you read in newspapers!

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

B & F

Jeux Sans Frontières 1965

International Final

Event Staged: Wednesday 15th September 1965
Venues: Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney, Belgium
and Grand' Place (Great Square), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
SSR (CH): Wednesday 15th September 1965, 8.30-9.45pm (Live)
RAI Due (I): Wednesday 15th September 1965, 8.35-10.40pm (Live)
RTB (B): Wednesday 15th September 1965, 9.00-10.20pm
WDR 1 (D): Wednesday 15th September 1965, 9.00-10.30pm
ORTF (F): Wednesday 15th September 1965, 9.00-10.30pm

Neutral Jury in Paris, France:
André Rosat (Chairman) [Genève], Lilo Hausener [Zürich] and Mascia Cantoni [Lugano]
(No interpreter on this jury)

Referee Locations:
Kurt Hauser and Jean Lutz in Ciney, Belgium
Gennaro Olivieri in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

Weather Conditions:
Belgium - Cold and Dry followed by Rain
France - Warm and Dry followed by Rain

Themes: Round and Round (B) and Avoidance (F)

Teams: Ciney (B) v. Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F)

Team Members included:
Ciney (B) - Jean Alexandre, Robert Alexandre, Victor Alexandre, Jules Bleret, Olivier Demeuse, André Even, Christian Evrard, Raymond Gerard, Marc Jottard, Michel Lahaut, Leonce Poncelet, Jacques Roberfroid.

Games: The Capstan (in France) / Tug-o-War (in Belgium), The Rolling Drum (in Belgium), The Reluctant Escapee (in France), Roller-Skating Motorcycle Relay (in Belgium), The Waiters’ Race (in France), The Apple Carousel (in Belgium), The Dice Carriers (in France) and Game of Questions (at both venues).

Game of Questions - Round 1:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor must catch 6 plates hurled from a springboard in order to stop the game before the time limit of 60 seconds;

Question Subjects - Belgium: Arranging European monarchs by the lengths of their respective reigns; France: Arranging European airline routes in order of their respective journey lengths;

Game of Questions - Round 2:
Timing Task (at both venues) - A competitor from the competing team must play a hunting horn for as long as possible with just one breath;
Question Subjects - France: Matching female characters with their respective theatre plays; Belgium: Matching famous people with their respective places of birth.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
1st

 B • Ciney ●
 F • Saint-Amand-les-Eaux ●

11
11

The Host Towns

Ciney, Belgium

Previously visited in Heat 6 and 1st Semi-Final.

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France

Previously visited in Heat 4 and 2nd Semi-Final.

The Venues

Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney

As was the case for both the qualifying heat and semi-final, the games at the Belgian venue were played in the city’s main square, Place Monseu.

Grand' Place (Great Square), Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

As was the case for both the qualifying heat and semi-final, the games at the French venue in this semi-final were played in Grand’ Place, located in the centre of the town.

The Games in Detail

Introduction

This International Final like all the other programmes in the 1965 series was held in two locations and was to become known as the most controversial in the history of the programme (and this was the first!).

The programme opened up with the West German burgermeisters of Lemgo, Siegburg and Warendorf and the Italian borgomastros of Camogli, Ischia and Orvieto (all of whom had seen their teams eliminated before the International Final) wishing everybody well and giving their thanks for the enjoyable times that they had experienced. After this, the programme was handed over to Belgium, where presenter Jean-Claude Menessier welcomed the two dignitaries from Ciney and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. During his introductions, he in turn handed over the microphone to a pilot of a local airline, who spoke to the crowd wishing everyone good luck. The cameras then panned to the west and landing lights could be seen in the sky moving towards the square. With the pilot still talking, the plane flew quite low over Saint-Nicolas’ church in the square.

Game 1 - The Capstan / Tug-o-War

The opening game followed the format of the Semi-Finals and like the first games in those competitions was split into two halves worth 1pt each, with one leg being held in each location. Once again, they were based on the tug-o-war idea.

On this occasion, ‘The Capstan’ was held in France (won by the French) and was followed by the normal 'Tug-o-War' in Belgium (won by the Belgians). With the teams winning one leg each, the score opened nicely the spoils shared.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (1pt awarded / 1pt total) =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (1pt / 1pt)

Game 2 - The Rolling Drum

Unusually, the programme stayed in Ciney (as normally the countries would take it in turn to host a game) and the second game (the first complete game in Belgium) - 'The Rolling Drum' - was basically a straight race down a raised track. Three players inside a drum had to carry as many large water-filled balloons as they could while standing inside a railed drum which they had to roll to the other end of the track, where they were to deposit the balloons with two other members of their team.

The French contingent went first and the team chanced their luck by transporting six at a time, but unfortunately they came a cropper, as many of the balloons burst or dropped out of the players’ hands. The Ciney team, having watched the French team's run, obviously learned a few things, because when it came to their turn, they were taking no chances and took only four balloons at a time. Despite the team having to make more runs, they were not delayed by loading the drum at the start as the French had been. The final score was France 16 balloons, Belgium 21 balloons. Ciney had forged into the lead.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 3pts total) 2nd Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (1pt / 1pt) ▼

Game 3 - The Reluctant Escapee

The third game (the first complete game in France) - 'The Reluctant Escapee' - was basically the norm at French venues in this series. The game involved an escaped prisoner attempting to ‘cut’ his way back into his prison cell, whilst trying to avoid the obligatory bull which had been let loose in the arena.

The game did not quite work as well as expected, as the bulls seemed very docile and did not want to do much, despite the fact that there was an opposing team member dressed as a gendarme trying to lure it towards the prisoner. It was no surprise when the French won this game and the scores were level once more.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (0pts awarded / 3pts total) =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts / 3pts) ▲

Game 4 - Roller-Skating Motorcycle Relay

The fourth game (the second complete game in Belgium) - 'Roller-Skating Motorcycle Relay' - caused such a controversy that the programme had to be halted for almost 10 minutes whilst it was sorted out. The game involved one member of the team on roller-skates being towed through an obstacle course by a team-mate riding a motorcycle. During the rally, the roller-skater had to perform certain tasks, e.g. light fuses, hook tassels with large needles, pick up stacks of plates and transfer buckets of water from one row of straw bales to another whilst being guided between them. In performing some of the tasks, the roller skater had to release himself from the towrope and whilst he was doing this, the rider had to keep the bike stationary (or moving very little) in order that the skater could then pick up the rope when he had finished his tasks. However, if the rider placed his feet on the ground or hit any of the obstacles, he was given a penalty of 5 seconds. Scoring of the game was in three parts, and it was this that led to the protests and controversy. The time to complete the course was taken and any penalties accrued by the biker were then added to this time. All elements of the roller-skater’s tasks that were completed accrued bonuses, and for each one achieved there was a bonus of 2 seconds which was deducted from the total of the other two.

The French went first and completed the course in three minutes exactly, but the rider had used his foot on three occasions and with the penalties, the total time was 3 minutes 15 seconds. However, the roller-skater had done well in the tasks and after some deliberation by the touch-judges, one of whom was future Belgian games’ designer and opening sequence animator André Lange, it was announced that he had accrued 54 seconds in bonuses and their new total time was 2 minutes 21 seconds. The Belgian team participated second and they completed the course in 3 minutes 33 seconds but also suffered a huge 35 second penalty from the biker and their total time was 4 minutes 8 seconds. Then the touch judges announced that the roller-skater had accrued 1 minute 58 seconds in bonuses. With this bonus, the Belgian team’s time was reduced to 2 minutes 10 seconds, beating the French by just 11 seconds!

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 5pts total) 2nd Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts / 3pts) ▼

Over to the Jury!

The jury chairman, André Rosat then asked for confirmation of what had been given as he was not happy with the scoring, as it did not agree with what was written on the papers in front of him in Paris. After Jean-Claude Menessier’s explanation, it transpired that the Belgian team had abided by the rules better and had therefore accrued more bonus points. Camillo Felgen stated that this was not correct and it was not the way the game should have been scored. Jean-Claude then asked for the referees to be brought in to explain how the game was scored. At this point, André Lange was clearly seen to be somewhat perturbed by this as he walked away in disgust. Referee Jean Lutz was then asked to come in and explain the situation and stated that the calculation of the bonuses had been done by the two touch-judges (who apparently were both Belgian!) and that everything had been recorded correctly. Jean-Claude then stated to the jury that everything was confirmed and that Ciney were awarded the 2pts. Chairman André Rosat stated that if they had judged the game in this manner, it was not correct, but accepted the score on the condition that both teams had been judged in the same manner.

Protest!

The camera then went to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux to witness the mayor holding the microphone and aiming questions and protests at the Swiss jury, asking how were they to know if the scoring is correct if it had been judged in that fashion. This continued for about a minute amidst boos of agreement from the French spectators. French presenter Guy Lux then stepped in to try and calm the situation down and asked a French touch-judge to come in and explain the scoring to the mayor. It was then that another French dignitary in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux grabbed the microphone from Guy Lux and addressed Jean-Claude in Ciney stating that he wanted to lodge a protest about the Belgian gendarme in the third game. He stated that he felt that the player had flaunted the rules in the way he had enticed the bull and this had hindered the French player. Guy Lux shook his head and waved his finger, the crowd booed and things started to get out of hand. Again Guy Lux stepped in and recovered the microphone and told the dignitary, that that had happened in the third game and the programme had moved on. At this stage, referee Gennaro Olivieri could be seen standing in bewilderment at the situation.

Resolution?

Returning to the jury in Paris, André Rosat was unhappy with this situation and asked for the referees in Ciney come forward and explain in full detail how the game was scored; he wanted to know how the penalties and bonuses were awarded. The camera went back to Ciney and Jean-Claude Menessier asked for the judges and touch-judges to line up with him and go through the facts and figures slowly and in more depth. Finally, the scores were confirmed and stood at 5-3 to Ciney.

This whole debacle had delayed the live programme for almost 10 minutes and although the jury accepted the scoring, the French mayor was still not satisfied and made his feeling felt once more. It was at this point that Guy Lux made the decision that the protests had to end, took the microphone from the French mayor and restarted the games. However, more controversy was to follow which would see the programme delayed even further.

Game 5 - The Waiters' Race

Fortunately for all concerned, the next game, the fifth to be played (the second complete game in France) - 'The Waiters' Race' - was the funniest and the best game of the night. It involved three waiters carrying trays and cups trying to cross a pool of muddy water by way of a reverse conveyor belt. In opposition were four hefty guys who tried to knock the waiters off the belt with large corn sacks which were swung at them from either side of the pool.

After the controversy of the previous 10 minutes, this game provided some welcome relief, especially when the waiters wearing pure-white attire fell in to the mud and came out wearing outfits that would tax even the strongest washing liquids! France came out on top in this game and the scores were again level.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (0pts awarded / 5pts total) =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (2pts / 5pts) ▲

Game 6 - The Apple Carousel

With the rain beginning to fall at both venues, the programme returned to Belgium for the sixth game (the third complete game in Ciney) - 'The Apple Carousel' - which was also to cause some controversy. Using the same equipment as was used in the first semi-final, the idea of the game was that three competitors standing on a raised greased carousel had to collect apples from one side and place them on a scale on the other. As was seen previously, the carousel was rotated by an opponent on a motorcycle which was attached to its rim.

The Belgian team went first and seemed to be a dab hand at walking on greased surfaces. Then the French rider accidentally crashed the motorcycle into the game equipment and fell off. This in some way caused the equipment’s positioning to be knocked out of place. The Belgian team stopped collecting the apples for a few seconds until the judges deemed that they could continue whilst the carousel was not turning and the Belgians took full advantage of this and piled the apples onto the scales. The scene-hands and judges soon got everything back to normal and the French rider finished the game. The Belgians’ apples weighed in at 17.3kgs, but referee Kurt Hauser stated that 2kgs would be added for the period when the game stopped and the team were told that they could carry on.

However, before the start of the French team’s run they complained that the shoes the Belgians had been wearing did not appear to be correct and they had gained an advantage. The referees came in and showed one of the shoes to the camera, removing the soap with their bare hands and bending the shoe’s sole in half to try and discourage the protest. The French were not happy and their team captain continued protesting vehemently. Despite this second delay, the game got under way but the French were no match for the Belgians and only collected 8.1kgs. Even worse was that Kurt Hauser stated that he was penalising the team with a 100 grams penalty for having put apples in after the whistle. However, he was incredibly overruled by a touch-judge who declared the French had 8.5kgs. Although Ciney were declared the winners of the game on-site, the Swiss jury were unhappy with the timing as the Belgians were given 2 minutes 35 seconds whilst the French were given 2 minutes 30 seconds. Again after some deliberation, the jury were satisfied and at the Belgians were awarded the win.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 7pts total) 2nd Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts / 5pts) ▼

Game 7 - The Dice Carriers

The final competitive game (the third complete game in France) - 'The Dice Carriers' - passed without incident. Two team members from each country, wearing wicker barrels about them, had to transport a series of polystyrene dice above their heads on a wide plank of wood from one end of the arena to the other where a team member would collect it. To make the game less straightforward and distinctly less predictable, a bull was let loose into the arena (which itself was a somewhat predictable move from the French games designers!). A third team member from each team was free to run around the arena, coaxing the bull away from his team members and towards those of his rivals. The Belgians made good progress and seemed initially of little interest to the bull who seemed to know who its enemies were and set about attacking the French players. This was a painful spectacle to watch as on two occasions the French players were badly gored with the first incident highlighting a foolish oversight in the costuming of the game, as the bull's horns ripped through the wickerwork protecting one of the players and became caught. Angered, the bull writhed around and the player was thrown every which way. Cattle wranglers and even touch judges were forced to intervene and extricate the bull's horns from the wicker costume. While this was occurring, the Belgian team continued playing unencumbered by the attentions of the bull. In a shock result, they won the game and were now leading 9-5. The International Final all depended on the ‘intellectuals’ and the Game of Questions.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (2pts awarded / 9pts total) 2nd Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (0pts / 5pts)

Game of Questions

The Belgians were elected to go first and, already leading by 4pts, Mayor Joseph Lambert opted for the 1pt question. However, the ‘intellectuals’ could not answer the question correctly and suffered a 1pt penalty. 

►GQ1 Belgium - 1pt Question Answered Incorrectly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Ciney (B) (-1pt penalty / 8pts total) 2nd Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (5pts total)

The French mayor had no choice other than to opt for the 3pts question, but his ‘intellectuals’ did not disappoint him and they answered correctly. For the fourth time in eight games, the scores were level.

►GQ1 France - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (8pts total) =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (3pts awarded / 8pts total) ▲

The final timing task was different to all others in the series, in such that rather than having an opposing team member completing the task as quickly as possible to stop the game, here a member of the competing town had to last as long as possible by blowing a continuous note on a hunting horn with one breath. The French mayor wanted to put the pressure on the Belgian side and took a risk with another 3pt question, and again his ‘intellectuals’ came up trumps, and for the first time in this International Final, the French team were in the outright lead!

►GQ2 France - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (3pts awarded / 11pts total) 2nd Ciney (B) (8pts total) ▼

There was only one option remaining for Mayor Lambert of Ciney and that was to choose a 3pt question, but he need not have worried as the ‘intellectuals’ answered the question correctly in record time, and the event ended with the two teams tied yet again.

►GQ2 Belgium - 3pts Question Answered Correctly◄

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (3pts awarded / 11pts total) ▲ =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (11pts total)

As in the first Semi-Final, to break the deadlock the Swiss jury set questions about Switzerland to the two teams and each had 60 seconds to come up with an answer. The first question was the following:

On which of the following dates does the Swiss National Festival take place?

12th January
3rd March
6th June
1st August
22nd September

Both teams answered 1st August, which was revealed as being correct.

A second question was set by the jury:

What is the highest mountain pass in Switzerland?

The Belgians answered Vannoise (which is actually a French mountain pass), whilst the French answered Col St. Bernard Pass (which is 2469m high). The correct answer was revealed as the Umbrail Pass at a height of 2501m.

A picture clue was the subject of the next question:

To which township does the following car registration plate belong?

Both teams answered Zug. This answer was correct and for the third time in the tiebreaker, the teams could not be separated.

Question 4 was another picture and the teams were asked to identify a castle.

Both teams stated Chillon, which again was the correct answer.

Before the next question could be asked, the Mayor of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, Georges Deunesse (fondly known as Jojo), proposed to the jury an end to the duel and for the title to be shared between the two towns. Chairman André Rosat stated that the jury accepted the proposal and asked the Ciney mayor if he would accept. Out of a sense of fair play, Ciney Mayor, Joseph Lambert, agreed to the gesture. He went on record as saying: "The proposal comes from the Mayor of Saint-Amand. I wanted to show the millions of television viewers that we are good sports. The electrifying atmosphere of the final influenced the incident in the final game. In any way, Ciney is and remains the only moral winner of this first edition of Jeux Sans Frontières.”

Final Scores and Positions: =1st Ciney (B) (11pts total) =1st Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) (11pts total) International Final result declared a draw by mutual agreement.

Additional Information

As both teams celebrated their joint victory, French presenter Guy Lux stated that Jeux Sans Frontières would return in 1966. Camillo Felgen stated that the prize money for winning this International Final was 40,000 DM (approx. £3500) and that this would be shared between the two towns.

As with Ischia previously, Ciney's vanquished semi-final opponents, Warendorf, sent messages of goodwill to the Belgian team prior to the International Final.

The live broadcast of this International Final lasted for over two hours, and some broadcasters would have had to have delayed the start of following programmes to accommodate this. This is believed to be the longest live broadcast in the programme’s history.

Not including the additional questions used in the Semi-Final and International Final to break end-of-event deadlocks, a total of 36 separate questions were asked over the nine programmes. Out of these 36 questions only 14 (less than 1 in 3) were actually answered correctly by the so-called ‘intellectuals’!

Made in B/W • This programme exists in European archives

JSFnetGB Series Guide pages researched by
Neil Storer and Alan Hayes
with Ischa Bijl, Julien Dessy, Sébastien Dias, David Hamilton, Denis Kirsanov, Paul Leaver, Philippe Minet,
Christos Moustakas, David Laich Ruiz, Marko Voštan and JSFnet Websites