Germany’s quirkiest theme park
Euromaxx reporter Brant Dennis visits Tripsdrill, a theme park where you can explore Swabian legends, stories and food.
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00:00This is one of the weirdest theme parks in the world, where behind all of these amusement
00:11rides are a bit of Swabian culture and history.
00:14Poor bro, it's okay, it's exactly how I feel.
00:20Swabia is a region in southern Germany, and the Swabians are its indigenous people.
00:24It's also the location of the Tripsdrill amusement park.
00:27There are many cliches about Swabians, stingy and straight-laced, but also hard-working
00:32and innovative.
00:34What kind of humor do Swabians have?
00:36How do you call it in English?
00:38Ironic.
00:39A rather dry humor, like English humor.
00:41And very dirty.
00:42Okay, I think I need someone to be my guide on a tour of what they call the Schwabenländer,
00:50the region just outside Stuttgart.
00:52Berger Meierjohann is the right man for that, and he knows Germany's oldest amusement park
00:57like the back of his hand.
00:59What kind of park would you say this is?
01:02Our park is based on stories from Swabia in the 19th century, and we also like to use
01:09some legends and tales of the area.
01:13Nearly every one of the 100 attractions has a Swabian connection, so does the architecture
01:19of the park's Dorfstrasse.
01:21The half-timbered houses are typical of Swabia.
01:25Our first stop is the rollercoaster.
01:31So what kind of ride is this, Berger?
01:34The ride is called Vorder, which means like full steam.
01:39The theme is the Swabian Railway.
01:42It's a folk song from the 19th century, from the area.
01:45Auf der Schwäbische Eisenbahn, dürfen Kühe und Ochse fahren,
01:50Wir bleiben immer weit und nah, gut und alles was zahlt.
01:54Incidentally, the rail line from the song still exists.
01:58Memory of how I was a child on a child's ride.
02:03How wonderful.
02:05The Swabians may not have invented the steam engine, but they can take credit for many
02:09other things, as I'll soon find out.
02:12But first, Berger and I have a challenge to take on.
02:15We have to move the wings just right to make as many turns as we can.
02:23So you did three turns.
02:25Three.
02:26Yeah, that's not bad at all.
02:27Me, I only did one.
02:28Is there some sort of Swabian tradition behind this?
02:30The history is Swabian.
02:33It's a true story of the tailor of Ulm.
02:37And in 1811, he invented a flying device.
02:41Was he successful?
02:42Partly.
02:43He announced that he would give it a try at the Danube River, and then he jumped off with
02:49his flying device.
02:50But there was just bad luck, there were some strong winds, he fell into the Danube River,
02:56he was rescued, so he did survive that.
02:58In spite of this one mishap, the Swabians have a reputation as inventors.
03:03They came up with the first type of match, maybe even the first teddy bear.
03:08They even created Hollywood.
03:10In 1912, Carl Laemmler, a Swabian, bought a poultry farm in Los Angeles and used the
03:15land to start Universal Studios.
03:18The spatula press was invented here, too.
03:20Of course, it's indispensable to Swabian cuisine.
03:25The classic Swabian dishes are simple and hearty.
03:30Small wonder the Swabians were generally poor farmers.
03:34I had hoped we could slow down a bit after that big meal, but Birger likes action.
03:39Or is it just his way of having fun with me?
03:41That wasn't fun.
03:42That wasn't fun at all.
03:44That was not fun.
03:45I don't want to...
03:46I...
03:47I feel okay.
03:48It's fine.
03:49I hope you feel better than him.
03:51But what's wrong with him?
03:52I think he ate more than you did.
03:55That's beautiful.
03:56The sarcastic, folksy, Swabian sense of humour seems to be infectious.
04:01On every corner of Tripstil are these odd, funny little figures.
04:05Like this talking litter basket.
04:10Maybe you want to climb that ladder and see what happens there.
04:13Why?
04:14Well, there's a nice surprise for you.
04:17In Swabian, it's called Fenstern, an old-fashioned method of courting a bride from the Schwabenländler.
04:23The gentleman would come calling on his sweetheart by climbing a ladder up to her window.
04:28Sometimes, instead of his one and only, he would find her parents at the top.
04:32A rude surprise.
04:36And so, our day at Tripstril theme park comes to a close.
04:39Thanks for having me.
04:40Yeah, thanks for this visit and please be our ambassador for Swabia all around the world.