Mr. Wilson DIY – Kassel, Germany – 2013
OK, destroy our work – fuck you! Than we build it in another place, but even bigger.
OK, destroy our work – fuck you! Than we build it in another place, but even bigger.
The chances you have heard about a tiny village one hour north of Nürnberg in the North-Bavarian outback called Neudrossenfeld are virtually zero. Designed by Blackriver Ramps and built last year together with the Yamato crew from Hannover and the legendary Baum, this park is a perfect combination of flow, street, and bowl.
The Osthafen Skatepark is really big. The shape of the transitions and other concrete obstacles are nearly perfect. The first time you go there you have to try to explore all the possibilities the park has to offer, because there’s so much to handle. The right side of the park is simliar to a street plaza: curbs, rails, banks, hips, gaps and china banks. The obstacles on the street section are really low and not too good to skate.
On the left side you find a bowl land scape. If you spend some time testing the lines with your hands, you’ll find the flow. There is something for everyone. In the back part, there is a bowl with a loveseat and a corner which has pool coping. In the front part there is another bowl with a full pipe with a similar corner, on the opposite side is a big bank. And don’t forget to hit up the volcano, there you can end the day nicely.
I have to disappoint you. Every year I lose interest in skateboarding. It’s all show everywhere. Show. Tradeshow. Car shows. Even car shows suck. It’s all costume design hot rotted “I like the old style but I also like the new 2014 power steering shit.”
The park will be open for the public April 26th and it will be fuckin rad, and big. No steelcoping! Only pool coping in the bowl area!!!!!!
“Every trip has it’s ups and downs. Whether it be not finding places to stay, long drives, weather, etc… After Sweden and Denmark we were sure that we were on an “up”. We get picked up in Malmö after having to get ahold of Brad through his girlfriend’s instagram. The drive was easy with a spacious van and we even ended up taking a ferry somewhere in there as well. My goal was to only speak German for as long we were in Germany. So I was less than talkative for the first four or so hours driving. I ended up breaking language when we ran into some of our friends from the States at a completely random rest stop off the German highway. A few English words with the homies and we’re off to Munster to skate for a couple of days….” – Steven Reeves
With a holy death and the devil there waiting on the ramp, the hordes of skaters were already preparing to enter the infernal ramp, the coven was served, and everyone would fight to get the keys of hell.
Here is a short clip of my three-exhibition Tour in germany this summer. We edited it in one day at Confusion Magazine headquarters in Köln.
It was filmed by Piper, Sergej Vutuc, Jonathan Hay and myself on fairly simple cameras. A very low budget production but really high in fun, liebe and other vitamin-rich ingredients. – Fernando Elvira
In progress: In the small town of Eitorf, outside of Siegburg, which is about 20 minutes from Köln, Germany is a fairly decent sized skatepark being built by Minus Pools.
A new mini-bowl has just been completed in Rattingen, Germany, about 15 minutes north of Düsseldorf. According to Baum who built this in cooperation with Camp Ramps, the city wanted a “u-miniramp”, but luckily they were talked into something a little more creative that will stand the test of time…
Kevin Wenzke is one of the best all around transition rippers in Germany. At 22 years old, destroying any new bowl or ramp built on European soil, as well as the older concrete relics from the past, Kevin has a bright future in skateboarding. We were close to interviewing Kevin for issue #3 of Confusion Magazine but he had a bad knee injury which took him out for about eight months last May, so we couldn’t complete the feature. Here we have a short interview with some photos taken right before his injury, and a few older photos and sequences. Be on the look out for a full feature with Kevin in 2012 with all new photos as he completes his recovery and returns to slay the concrete bowls across the lands!
Sergej Vutuc, the photographer behind the book, “Something in Between” is putting up work in an empty space and doing abstract drawings out of skateboarding. If you live in Germany, check it out this Sunday, the 4th. If not, we’ll update this space after the show so you can see what went down.