D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 1

Event Staged: Saturday 16th April 1977
Venue: Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg (Gutenberg Road Ice Stadium),
Landshut an der Isar, Bayern, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 16th April 1977, 3.15-4.30pm (Live)

Teams: Landshut an der Isar v. Schliersee

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 S • Schliersee ● ●
 L • Landshut an der Isar

12
8

Schliersee qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Marina di Carrara, Italy:
staged on Wednesday 1st June 1977

Additional Information

After last year’s return to the normal process, this year’s allocation of the West German teams to the International series was somewhat of a convoluted affair and, like most other years, was again split into two distinct halves. The winning teams from the first three heats were allocated their Internationals based upon their winning margins from their opponents. The team with the least difference was allocated to International Heat 1, and the team with the greatest difference allocated to International Heat 3. International Heat 4 had been reserved for the host team (being the winner of the fourth Domestic heat) and the final International Heat for the losing team with the highest score. The remaining two International Heats, 5 and 6, were also allocated to the teams based on their winning margins, but in the reverse order to the above. This resulted in the team with the greatest winning margin being allocated to International Heat 5 and the one with the least allocated to International Heat 6! Still with us?

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 2

Event Staged: Saturday 23rd April 1977
Venue: Marktplatz (Market Square), Schwäbisch Gmünd,
Baden-Württemberg, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 23rd April 1977, 3.15-4.30pm (Live)

Teams: Schwäbisch Gmünd v. Tettnang

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 S • Schwäbisch Gmünd ● ●
 T • Tettnang

15
7

Schwäbisch Gmünd qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Carouge, Switzerland:
staged on Wednesday 29th June 1977

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 3

Event Staged: Saturday 30th April 1977
Venue: Dahner Felsenland (Dahn Rockland), Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest),
Dahn, Rheinland-Pfalz, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 30th April 1977, 2.55-4.10pm (Live)

Weather Conditions: Sunny and Warm

Theme: The Wild West

Teams: Dahn v. Ladenburg

Team Members included:
Dahn - Gerhard Kissel.

Games: The Five Wigwams, The Initiation Tests, The Mustang’s Watering Hole, The Bison Hunt, Bags of Gold, Cowboys v. Indians, The Totem Poles, Log Floats, The Eagle’s Eggs, Constructing the Totem Poles;
Zwischen-Spiel: The Monkey’s Bananas.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 D • Dahn ● ●
 L • Ladenburg

14
8

Dahn qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Évry, France:
staged on Wednesday 15th June 1977

The Host Town

Dahn, West Germany

Dahn is a city and municipality in the Südwestpfalz district of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is situated approximately 15km (9¼mi) south-east of Pirmasens, 25km (15½mi) west of Landau and the border with Alsace (France) is located just 10km (6¼mi) to the south.

The town was first mentioned as "Thanne" in 1148 and official documents show that it originally belonged to the rule of the Knights of Dahn. After the extinction of the Knight family in 1603, the area came under the jurisdiction and ownership of the Bishopric of Speyer and later the Schenk von Waldenburg. By the beginning of the 19th century, Dahn had already developed into a small rural town with Verwaltungsfunktion (management functions).

The fir tree, known as Tanne in German, is assumed to be linked to the name of the town and was originally the only symbol on its coat of arms. However, the modern-day coat also shows a silver cross in the top-left corner denoting the bishopric of Speyer and a white eagle with red background in the top right hand corner denoting the knights of Than, whose coat of arms showed three white eagles.

Dahn is the cultural and economic centre of the Dahn valley, and in 1963 received city status and state recognition and in 1973 the city was officially recognised as a health resort.

The Venue

Dahner Felsenland (Dahn Rockland), Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest)

The games for this heat were played on a small clearing in the Dahner Felsenland which is part of the Pfälzerwald, the largest forest in Germany. The landscape covers almost the same area as the collective municipality of the same name, which incorporates the town of Dahn and 14 villages. It is part of the Palatine Forest Nature Park and lies between 200m (valleys) and 400m (hilltops) high and is drained by the River Lauter, which here in its upper reaches is called the Wieslauter, into the River Rhine. Within its boundaries there are 16 medieval castles or castle ruins as well as numerous rock formations made of buntsandstein (coloured sandstone), that are used by sport climbers.

Old legends surround rocks like the Jungfernsprung (Virgin’s Jump) and the Teufelstisch (the Devil's Table). The first recalls how once a young maiden ventured into the Forest of Dahn to pick berries. When she was far away from home, a man suddenly burst out of the thicket, probably the robber baron, Hans Trapp from Berwartstein Castle. The man clearly intended to rob the virgin of her innocence. So the young maiden gathered up her skirts and took to flight, but the villain came ever closer to her. In her panic, the young lass failed to watch where she was going. All of a sudden she found herself, panting for breath, at the edge of the precipice with the houses of the town far below. Without stopping to think, the young maiden fell over the abyss. And then the miracle happened: because her skirts ballooned out and let her float down gently, she survived the leap entirely unhurt. And ever since, at the spot where her foot landed, a spring has flowed.

The latter story tells how once upon a time, the devil travelled through the forest. In the evening, he became tired and hungry but, unfortunately, could not find a place to sit down for dinner. Grabbing two big slices of rock, he created his own table and chair. After finishing his meal, the devil shouldered the chair to take it along for future rest stops, but he decided to leave the table behind. The locals were shocked when they discovered it the next day - and even to this day people come from miles away to see it. Despite the legend, the rock formation was actually created by erosion through millions of years with the ‘table’ being a big sandstone plate resting on two narrow columns of rock. Weighing 300 tons and standing 14m (45ft 11¼in) high, it is the most famous rock formation in the forest and was conquered for the first time by a climber in 1922.

Felsenland may be reached via the B427 road which runs right through the Dahn Valley (Dahner Tal), and running parallel to this in places is a branch of the Queich Valley Railway (Pirmasens-Landau) called the Wieslauter Railway and links the villages of Hinterweidenthal in the north and Bundenthal in the south. The route was re-opened in 1997 for excursions on Sundays and holidays, after regular passenger services had been terminated in 1966.

Additional Information

At the time of recording, the venue for the International Heat in France was scheduled to be Lyon in the south of the country. However, due to staging difficulties, this venue was subsequently changed to Évry, located in the north of the country, immediately south of Paris.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 4

Event Staged: Saturday 7th May 1977
Venue: Park Hafen, Bernkastel-Kues, Rheinland-Pfalz, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 7th May 1977, 3.15-4.30pm (Live)

Teams: Bernkastel-Kues v. Ludwigsburg

Games included: Riding the Snail, The Grape Pickers and The Giant Tubs.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 L • Ludwigsburg ● ●
 B • Bernkastel-Kues

17
3

Ludwigsburg qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Ludwigsburg, West Germany:
staged on Wednesday 13th July 1977

The Venue

Bernkastel-Kues, West Germany

This heat was held on the small grassed area adjacent to the town’s harbour on the banks of the river Mosel on which the town stands. Although originally two separate communities, the new town came into being on 1st April 1905 when the spa town of Bernkastel was merged with the winemaking village of Kues across the river, but was still known as Bernkastel. In 1926, unrest amongst winemakers along the Mosel resulted in the financial office in Bernkastel and the customs office in Kues both being stormed and raided. It was not until 16th July 1936 that the southern side of the town was given official recognition, when the town was renamed Bernkastel-Kues. On a hill overlooking the town is the former Burg Landshut (Landshut Castle) which was built in the 13th century as a home for the bishops of Trier. In January 1692, a fire broke out and left the castle in ruins. No reconstruction or restoration work was ever instigated and it has remained in that condition ever since.

Additional Information

Both the teams in this Domestic Heat played their Jokers on games that they ended up not winning.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 5

Event Staged: Saturday 14th May 1977
Venue: Bebra, Hessen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 14th May 1977, 3.15-4.30pm (Live)

Teams: Bebra v. Limburg an der Lahn

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 B • Bebra ● ●
 L • Limburg an der Lahn

13
11

Bebra qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Windsor, Great Britain:
staged on Tuesday 26th July 1977

Limburg an der Lahn qualified as the highest scoring losing team for
Jeux Sans Frontières at Doetinchem, Netherlands:
staged on Wednesday 24th August 1977

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives

D

Spiel Ohne Grenzen 1977

Heat 6

Event Staged: Saturday 21st May 1977
Venue: Seelze, Niedersachsen, West Germany

Transmission:
WDR 1 (D): Saturday 21st May 1977, 3.15-4.30pm (Live)

Teams: Ratingen v. Seelze

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 S • Seelze ● ●
 R • Ratingen

11
10

Seelze qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Antwerpen, Belgium:
staged on Wednesday 10th August 1977

Additional Information

This was the last Spiel Ohne Grenzen Domestic Heat to be held under this format. From 1978 only two qualifying heats would be held with the top three placed teams from each heat going through to the International series.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in German archives