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Mai 27th, 2010

Tangible history
“History Tour” opens at the showgrounds of the CHIO Aachen

The “Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V.” (ALRV), organisers of the annual World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen, looks back on a long and eventful history, which in the meantime spans over 110 years. The ALRV was founded in 1898, the first equestrian show took place at the Soers in the year 1924. This was followed by a period of rapid development, during which quite literally the odd obstacle had to be overcome. Today, the ALRV not only stands for international equestrian sport, but also for a long tradition.

This was reason enough for a special memorial. In the form of the “History Tour” the past history of the ALRV has been brought to life again, the “in those days” has been recaptured. ALRV President, Klaus Pavel, revealed the first of 12 information boards on Thursday. These boards, placed in prominent places throughout the grounds, provide data and facts about the individual stadiums, arenas and about the infrastructure on the CHIO grounds. “We want to offer our visitors more service especially during the times when the CHIO is not being staged,” Pavel explained. The club had invited special guests to commemorate the inauguration of the tour: The former Nations Cup riders Willibert Mehlkopf (Germany) and Edgar Henri Cuepper (Belgium/Luxemburg) came to the Soers, revelled in their memories and recalled many stories from the past. “The development of the grounds is gigantic,” commented Cuepper.“ The only thing he missed was the beer stall in the stables area, “in the 1980 it was still located here,” he said with a grin. The historical Aachen horse tram with Toni Griehs’ cart horses “Bronco” and “Othello” created the appropriate ambience for the inauguration ceremony.

“As an enhancement to our CHIO Museum the visitors will now be provided with information about the club’s history all over the CHIO grounds,” remarked Dr. Doris Beaujean, who developed the concept of the History Tour. So, from today onwards the visitors can follow the tracks of the ALRV past themselves. Among others the History Tour leads past the main stadium, the Soers cross-country course, the driving stadium (“ALRV Chairman, Frank Kemperman: “I can still remember when there used to be cows here.”) and the Deutsche Bank Stadium. The visitors can look forward to interesting information, which they can read directly at the place where the occurrences happened.

History Tour: on workdays, 8 am - 6 pm
Opening hours of the CHIO Museum:
Wed. noon – 5 pm/ Fri. 9 am – noon
Group tours on request (Tel.: +49-(0)241–9171-105)

Ticket Hotline: +49-(0)241-917-1111 or order tickets online here