D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 1

Event Staged: Saturday 10th April 1976
Venue: Grefrather Eisstadion (Grefath Ice Rink), Grefrath,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 10th April 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Grefrath v. Trostberg

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 T • Trostberg ● ●
 G • Grefrath

14
10

Trostberg qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Nîmes, France:
staged on Wednesday 2nd June 1976

Additional Information

After three years of uncertainty concerning where the winning teams would play their International Heats until all the outcomes of Domestic heats were known, WDR returned to pre-1973 criteria and allocated the teams to International Heats in virtually the same order as the Domestic series. The winners of the first three heats were allocated to International Heats 1, 2 and 3 respectively, whilst the winners of the fifth and sixth heats were allocated to International Heats 4 and 5 respectively. The winner of Domestic Heat 4 was to be the representative at the West German International Heat which was scheduled to be sixth and the final place for International Heat 7 was reserved for the highest-scoring losing team from the Domestic series.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

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Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 2

Event Staged: Saturday 17th April 1976
Venue: Rathausplatz (Town Hall Square), Lippstadt,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 17th April 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Heidenheim an der Brenz v. Lippstadt

Team Members included:
Lippstadt - Siegfried Behr, Peter Huyer, Peter Müllerin, Monica Schönbach, Dieter Sobühl, Torpeters Varmhuver, Gunther Werner, Peter Zogel.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 L • Lippstadt ● ●
 H • Heidenheim an der Brenz

14
10

Lippstadt qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Milano, Italy:
staged on Wednesday 16th June 1976

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 3

Event Staged: Saturday 24th April 1976
Venue: Weener, Niedersachsen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 24th April 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Birkenfeld v. Weener

Team Members included:
Birkenfeld - Wolfgang Beiren, Else Boitler, Werner Deser, Heike Füchs, Arnaud Glückner, Annalena Hartmann, Arnaud Leonardt, Marianna Schneider, Werner Schneider, Karl-Heinz Schrammer, Karen Schultz, Reinholt Selle.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 B • Birkenfeld ● ●
 W • Weener

15
8

Birkenfeld qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Caslano Malcantone, Switzerland:
staged on Wednesday 23rd June 1976

Additional Information

The volunteer fire brigade from the tiny island of Borkum, one of the East Frisian islands in the North Sea, were invited to bring their marching band to play for the teams and crowd at the arena.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 4

Event Staged: Saturday 1st May 1976
Venue: Marktplatz (Market Square), Alsfeld, Hessen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 1st May 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Alsfeld v. Bad Mergentheim

Team Members included:
Alsfeld - Elke Schüßler (Co-Team Coach), Hans Georg Schüßler (Co-Team Coach), Bernd Muhl (Team Captain), Irma Eichenauer, Ulrich Faulhaber (Reserve), Bettina Karl, Klaus Krug, Stephan Mathies, Conny Mengel, Rüdiger Mildner, Dagmar Rüdiger (Reserve), Herbert Rühl, Doris Scheithauer, Albert Scheuer, Hans-Erich Vogel, Manfred Zink.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 A • Alsfeld ● ●
 M • Bad Mergentheim

12
10

Alsfeld qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Bad Mergentheim, West Germany:
staged on Wednesday 25th August 1976

Reunions

Alsfeld

On Saturday 5th May 2018, forty-two years after they had participated in Spiel Ohne Grenzen, the team of Alsfeld met up for a reunion organised by captain Bernd Muhl. The reunion took place in the Marktplatz, where the team had been victorious over Bad Mergentheim all those years earlier. Sadly, not every team member could attend as Hans Georg Schüßler and Cornelia Mengel had already passed away and both Hansi Vogel and Elke Schüßler were living abroad. But making a special appearance on the day was Hans Ulrich Lipphardt, Mayor of Alsfeld (1973 to 1987). Bernd Muhl had a special surprise for everyone, when he turned up with the Joker that he had stored in his home since 1976.

Muhl (65), then the oldest member of the team at the age of 23, remembered: “The town of Alsfeld received over 60 applications for the team line-up. It had to be sorted out. There was a spirit of optimism in Alsfeld when it became known that the town could actually take part in the Spiel Ohne Grenzen competition - and at the same time be the venue for the elimination competition against Bad Mergentheim. A double task for the town.” It was decided in the Town Hall to hand over the actual sports competition to sports instructors Elke and Hans-Georg Schüßler. The organisation was carried out in the sports hall of the Gerhart-Hauptmann school with their main task being to put the team together. "I'll never forget that. It was almost exactly 42 years ago. There was DM 350 for everyone," said Muhl. “So everyone had to be fit and skilful at the same time,” he recalled.

Additional Information

In losing this Domestic Heat, the visiting team of Bad Mergentheim missed their opportunity to play in front of their home crowd later in the year when the West German International Heat was held in the town.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

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Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 5

Event Staged: Saturday 8th May 1976
Venue: Traunstein, Bayern, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 8th May 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Traunstein v. Wunsiedel

Team Members included:
Traunstein - Paula Beckenbauer, Gunther Brückstelle, Peter Klein, Eve Langweier, Suzy Meyer, Kips Olden, Helmut Ortillinger, Peter Purkop, Heribert Stern, Dagmar Sternhard, Stefan Walleslager, Maximillian Wittebisler.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 T • Traunstein ● ●
 W • Wunsiedel

15
9

Traunstein qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Leeds, Great Britain:
staged on Wednesday 14th July 1976

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1976

Heat 6

Event Staged: Saturday 15th May 1976
Venue: Kurpark (Health Park), Bad Füssing, Bayern, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 15th May 1976, 2.45-4.00pm (Live)

Teams: Bad Füssing v. Ettlingen

Team Members included:
Bad Füssing - Suzy Graham, Albert Vimmer;
Ettlingen - Arnold Hubig (Team Captain), Dieter Behr, Elisabeth Bohnenstengel, Karl Bohnenstengel, Barbara Krieg, Siegfried Ockse, Manfred Reuter, Peter Schneider and Rune Vögel.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 F • Bad Füssing ● ●
 E • Ettlingen

12
12

Bad Füssing qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Liège, Belgium:
staged on Wednesday 11th August 1976

Ettlingen qualified as the highest scoring losing team for
Jeux Sans Frontières at Groningen, Netherlands:
staged on Wednesday 8th September 1976

Additional Information

For the third and final time in Spiel Ohne Grenzen, a West German Domestic Heat ended in a draw. A reserve game - a tug of war - was played over three heats at the poolside with Bad Füssing emerging the victors 2-0. The game was played purely to decide a winner and the official result remained at 12-12. In many ways it was a formality for both teams as they had both qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières prior to the tie-break game as no other losing team had scored 12 points; the tug of war merely decided which team went to Liège (Belgium) and which to Groningen (Netherlands). The additional point appears not to have been added as the last score seen on screen was 12-12.

Ettlingen's International Heat was the last of the year, and it had been a strong one for West German teams. In the six competitions prior to Ettlingen's participation, four of them had ended with West German teams in 2nd place, so Ettlingen had a tough job ahead of them. However, they qualified for the final in great style, winning the Netherlands International Heat by five clear points. In the International Final at Blackpool, Great Britain, the team proved no match for the other entrants and won it in imperious style, dropping just 4pts throughout the night and winning by a margin of eleven points to the next best team from Switzerland.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives