Background: Kirmes - the biggest fun fair on the Rhine

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

For Düsseldorf, the Kirmes in July is the single biggest event in summer: the celebrations on the Rhine meadows opposite Düsseldorf's Altstadt last nine days, with more than four million regular visitors.

The systematic hard work put in by a handful of men from the marksmen's guild 'St. Sebastianus Schützenverein von 1316' is well rewarded. Düsseldorf's biggest funfair on the Rhine is able to compete with any other traditional public festival in Germany - from Hannover to Stuttgart and Munich.

For the crowds, the entertainment value of the unique festival town on the Rhine meadows is clearly their main concern.

Around 350 attractions of all kinds can be accommodated on the 17 hectares area next to the river bank and between the two Rhine bridges - from the top novelty to the mice circus and from the stall offering potato pancakes or fried fish to gourmet food served in the French village. The selection from more than three times as many applications received, the planning and the layout of this Kirmes town are crucial and take several months. When the first show-people arrive with their mobile business and rides, the plan is ready and the places are allocated along the Kirmes streets, four and a half kilometres long.

This does not mean that the strategic work is finished. Setting up the Kirmes and running it, including in particular supplies and waste disposal, constitutes an enormous logistic effort in order to guarantee the smooth operation of the biggest public festival on the Lower Rhine. This honorary work is done by a few members of the marksmen's guild. And the development of the Düsseldorf Kirmes concept is closely linked to the name of the architect Ludwig Kreutzer who set the course of the Kirmes as its 'mayor' from 1958 to 1996.

Meticulous planning is also necessary concerning the areas surrounding the Rhine meadows. An event of this size, in the centre of the city, poses quite a few traffic problems and requires close cooperation between the marksmen, the police and the local public transport company. The ideal visitor to the Kirmes arrives by public transport. This was quite different until the middle of the 80s, up to which time cars were allowed to park on the surrounding areas of the Rhine meadows. However, the number of visitors increased and the Kirmes grew bigger and bigger. In 1988, it was decided to keep it free from car traffic. This was the year when the Underground line between the main station and Oberkassel was opened. Ever since, the Rheinbahn, Düsseldorf's public transport company, has been doing their best to transport the many visitors by tram.

In the meantime, the percentage of those who travel by public transport has increased to 75 per cent. Those who do arrive by car have to park somewhere else, for instance on the big parking spaces at the trade fair in the district of Stockum, and take the shuttle bus to the fair. In order to reserve the streets surrounding the festival grounds to residents, the districts of Oberkassel and Niederkassel on the left bank of the Rhine are shut off by bollards, allowing access only with a special permit. Those who are unwilling to listen to reason have to bear the consequences - the police make no allowances for parking offences. Towing-away and parking tickets are expensive, and unless the offender pays on the spot he is not allowed to remove his car.

Big public festivals usually have a longstanding tradition. In Düsseldorf, the oldest marksmen's guild, the 'St. Sebastianus-Schützenverein von 1316', who is at home in Düsseldorf's oldest parish in the heart of the Altstadt, founded the festival. Traditionally, the marksmen celebrate their festival in the name of the patron saint, Düsseldorf's patron saint being Saint Apollinaris, whose name day is celebrated on July 23rd. In former times, such a parish festival was always accompanied by a colourful market and fair. This developed into the Kirmes, and from this into the Biggest Funfair on the Rhine.

However - the path to success has been a long one. The shooting of the bird - a wooden target in the form of a sparrow - dates back to the 12th century. Important marksmen's festivals have been celebrated by the 'Sebastianer' since the beginning of the 19th century. From 1824 onwards they were staged at Hofgarten, the municipal gardens, from 1875 on the island of Golzheim next to it, which is nowadays the site of the Ehrenhof complex. As soon as the Rhine had been diked and the first stable road bridge had been built, the marksmen took their fair out of the city: since 1901 they have been celebrating on the Oberkassel Rhine meadows.

(Source: Düsseldorf Marketing & Tourismus GmbH)