Seifenkisten – it all started in Oberursel
June 22, 2010 By 2 Comments
Many people have heard of soapbox cars, but I’m sure not many associate the term with the type of vehicles that took place in the annual Seifenkistenrennen the other day in Oberursel.
I suspect even less know where the sport originates from.
Whilst the original design may go back to wooden crates used for transporting soap, the modern designs are either more ambitious or extravagant.
Some resemble racing cars, others old-timers. But what makes the races particularly interesting is not just the speeds at which they travel, but the unusual ones. One good example of this would be the “sofa on wheels” that took part in the races here this year.
The length of the course is strictly governed, as are the weight and ages of those taking part. But even the start ramp has a specification to make the races across Germany as equal as possible. And yes, there is even a national championship.
Seifenkistenrennen in Oberursel
What makes the race in Oberursel special is that the town lays claim to the origins of the sport. The story goes that the first race was held in the Ackergasse, by children who built their cars having been inspired by the racing cars and their drivers taking part in the Gordon Bennett Cup that was held in the area in 1904.
There is even an exhibition about it in the town’s muesum.
Who was Lina Himmelhuber?
May 20, 2010 By 2 Comments
Listeners to The Monday Podcast may remember that in an early episode we took a walk around the building sites in the area. One of those has now received its name and is called “Lina-Himmelhuber-Strasse”.
I was unaware of this until I came across the name a few days ago and decided to look up where the street is. My immediate questions was, “who was Lina Himmelhuber”?
The obvious place to start looking was in either Google or Wikipedia. But whilst the latter does not currently have any entries about Frau Himmelhuber, Google at least provides a partial answer.
The town of Oberursel has decided that when naming any new streets priority will be given to “bekannte Frauenpersönlichkeiten” – famous women – who are connected with the town. There appears to be a lack of such street names at present, and streets that have been named after famous women in the past have not necessarily had a local connection.
So now I know that she is someone connected to Oberursel, but that is all I know.
That is why I decided to contact the town hall (Rathaus) and ask. The receptionist told me that this was not the first request for this information, and that she had read it somewhere. But she could not find the answer in her documents.
She passed me on to the department for town development (Stadtentwicklung) who were also not able to answer the question. They did, however, know someone who would be able to tell me and I now have their telephone number.
But they were not available this afternoon. I will try and contact them another day, but maybe someone reading this can tell me instead?
Who was Lina Himmelhuber?
