On Thursday, the festival areas of Travemünde Week were still characterised by busy construction work: On the beach and Trave promenade, the stall operators rolled in with their vending carts and food trucks, tent builders erected pagodas, the Ferris wheel in the Brügmanngarten completed the last elements of its circle and on the beach, the König Pilsener stage and the Stadtwerke Lübeck LED screen grew into a single unit.
On Friday morning, the festival mile from Bertlingstraße along the beach and Trave promenade to the ferry pier and on the Priwall will be ready for the guests and visitors of the 135th Travemünde Week (19 to 28 July). Feasting and strolling will be possible all Friday. The stage programme on the Travemünde side starts at 6 pm. Exactly at the moment when Lübeck’s mayor Jan Lindenau officially opens the regatta and festival week on the Überseebrücke bridge on the Trave promenade with the signal “Fly the flag!”.
It is expected that the “Senator Emil Peters” will send a widely visible greeting to the guests with a water fountain after the opening – if she is not tied up on another mission. The Lübeck fire brigade’s fireboat will make its last appearance at a Travemünde Week this year. After 51 years in service, it is due to be replaced this year.
Mayor Jan Lindenau will receive political support for the opening from Monika Heinold. The current Finance Minister of Schleswig-Holstein has taken over the patronage of the Travemünde Week. Wolfram Diener, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, will be a special guest. Thanks to boot, the world’s largest water sports exhibition, Messe Düsseldorf has been a partner of the Travemünde Week for 50 years, making it the most loyal supporter of the sailing week.
Traditionally, the opening ceremony also includes the taking of the sporting oath, which this year will be taken by the two Opti sailors Moritz Thiel and Karolina Schlaefer from Lübeck. The two have qualified for the German Youth Championships and will be taking part in the sailing events from Tuesday.
The first regatta start is traditionally reserved for the sea sailors. On Saturday at 11 a.m., they will be sent out onto the course for their short races, the so-called Up&Downs. One of the highlights of this Travemünde Week starts at 12 noon with the Dragon Grand Prix. The class brings together highly successful sailing legends in its starting field.
In addition to the World, European and German Championships, the Volksbank Rotspon Cup is eagerly awaited by the media over the course of the week until 28 July. This traditionally starts on TW Wednesday, 24 July, at 12 noon. This year, Reinhard Meyer, Economics Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, will be taking part in the match race between the Mayor of Lübeck and a political colleague. In his own words, Meyer is very much looking forward to the duel, which will be held on historic yachts in the so-called 12mR class.
The Volksbank Rotspon Cup will be presented, as will the show races in the Trave. The Trave Races form the link between sailing and the festival on the respective afternoons at 5 pm, a symbiosis that makes the Travemünde Week so unique.
Captions from above:
The opening of the Travemünde Week is always a big attraction with political and sporting celebrities. Photo: segel-bilder.de/Travemünde Week
The fireboat “Senator Emil Peters” is expected for the last time at the Travemünde Week. Photo: segel-bilder.de/Travemünde Week
