Carpenters in the "Kingdom of Illusions"
A visit to the carpentery team of the Europa-Park
Twice a year, Europa-Park in the German town of Rust near Freiburg closes its gates. We wanted to find out what happens during this "off season". To do so, we spoke to the carpentry team at Germany's largest amusement park.
Jochen Köhler lifts the last two Systainers into the van. Having worked at Europa-Park since 2015, the master carpenter is now familiar with every nook and cranny in this "Kingdom of Illusions". "Though our inventory is no illusion – for the most part, it's all genuine," he explains. "The park has a very large collection of authentic old doors, furniture items, instruments and artworks spread across its hotels, attractions and eateries. The exhibits are often well over 100 years old and, as such, must be professionally maintained." We jump in beside him on the bench of the white van used by the team of carpenters – which, of course, proudly bears the Europa-Park logo. Köhler turns the key in the ignition, and we set off. Our first destination of the day: The Wild West. A glance at the map reveals that the Wild West-themed area is, rather appropriately, situated to the west of the park. Pure coincidence? Or simply a case of clever planning, as with so many other details in Germany's largest amusement park? "Just because the park is closed, it doesn't mean that nothing's going on here. Right now we have plenty to do, since numerous repair jobs are flowing in. In other words, there's never a dull moment here!"
Armed with a cordless drill and mobile dust extractor
We come to a stop just outside the saloon. Jochen Köhler snaps up the mobile dust extractor and connects the Systainer to the circular saw. He then quickly clamps the CXS cordless drill to his belt, making use of the clip. "This is my basic setup," he explains to us. "It's annoying when I head out and then, once I've arrived at the site, realise that I'm missing a tool. The park is huge and it takes a long time to get back to the workshop. For this reason, I never head out without my four most important tools: The cordless drill, circular saw, jigsaw and mobile dust extractor. With these, I can take care of 90% of tasks outside the workshop."
Working in the Wild West
The meticulously designed Wild West retreat is anything but wild in these early hours of the morning – not least as we are out and about in the off season, when the park is closed to visitors. Naturally, an eerie silence also reigns over the saloon: There's no piano tinkling away in the corner, no cowboys playing cards around the tables. Fixing our minds on the task at hand, we head straight across the room towards the stage. Jochen Köhler pulls out the CXS cordless drill. At the top of the stage, several skirting boards have come loose. After a spate of whizzing and whirring, everything is back in place once again. There's no time to rest, however – no sooner than we've finished at the saloon, Köhler's work phone starts to ring.
Taking the circular saw to the end of the road
A little while later, we're en route to our next assignment. The path to get there is not only idyllic, but also remains true to the Wild West theme: A walkway made from wooden planks alongside a lake that weaves its way through the trees towards a group of tipis. Though they may look plain from the outside, a peek inside their interiors reveals them to be far more comfortable accommodation options than simple tents. "The tipis are cheaper than the hotels and therefore particularly popular with families – it's mainly the kids who love the Wild West area. Though I suspect the Indians of the Wild West could only have dreamed of the large beds and heated wooden floors that we have here," remarks Jochen Köhler with a laugh.
Decorative repair in a lighthouse
The path comes to an abrupt end after turning a corner, yet two other colleagues from the carpentry team are already here to lay the rest of the wooden planks. Köhler snaps up his TS 55 EBQ circular saw and helps them cut additional wooden planks for the path. "We only do this work in autumn or winter, when the park is closed. Otherwise, it would only get in the way of visitors and disrupt the day-to-day running of the park." Just as the last few planks are being cut to length, Köhler's phone rings again: He's been summoned to carry out a decorative repair in a lighthouse suite at the Bell Rock hotel.
„On average, we have around 5500 projects to take care of each year, which can vary greatly in scope.“
Johannes Ruh, carpenter at Europa-Park
A lighthouse for shining stars
"This is one of the reasons I love this job," explains Köhler, as we head off to the next assignment: "You never know what's up next on your schedule for the day. In that sense, it's probably the one way in which the amusement park is just like everyday life." At the lighthouse, we take the lift to the top. There, we step into a two-storey suite with exquisite rustic furnishings and views over the entire park. An actress had checked out of it just a few minutes prior: Jochen Köhler did not know who it was, although he tends to remain guarded when it comes to the names of prominent guests. After all, there's plenty of names to go round: VIP guests have included former US President Bill Clinton and "007" himself, Roger Moore. There's no major job waiting at the top here: All that needs to be seen to are a faulty door on the drinks cabinet and a cover on the pool outside that requires fixing. Small matters – yet these are issues that would immediately catch the eye of the suite's discerning clientele. To prevent them from occurring, the eleven-strong team of carpenters is always on standby, ready to fix any problems alongside their numerous other tasks.
„Exotic woods are admittedly something of an exception at the Europa-Park, purely due to the environmental considerations. When constructing new items of furniture and decorative elements for the park, we often use oak that has been grown in Germany.“
Oliver Weis, carpenter at the team of Europa-Park
A flamenco for the eyes and ears
Heading into the Spanish section, just a few hundred metres away from the four-star Bell Rock hotel, we encounter Oliver Weis. He's in the process of laying parquet flooring on an outdoor stage. Of course, given the Spanish theme, this is no ordinary parquet floor, but rather a floor for flamenco dancing. "The floor has a dual function," Weis explains to us: "On the one hand, it needs to be particularly thick and stable. Yet on the other, it also needs to produce plenty of sound to acoustically amplify the rhythm of the flamenco dancers. To achieve this, we need to use a special wood – namely, ipê." In addition to this wood, channel-shaped cavities beneath the boards are used to create resonance. A clever detail has been employed here that's not obvious at first glance: The channels are directed towards the audience, meaning that, besides the spectacle itself, onlookers can fully appreciate the sounds created by the dance. "Exotic woods are admittedly something of an exception at the Europa-Park, purely due to the environmental considerations. When constructing new items of furniture and decorative elements for the park, we often use oak that has been grown in Germany. For interiors, we also predominantly make use of home-grown woods such as spruces and firs from the Black Forest."
From door handles to shop fittings
„On average, we have around 5500 projects to take care of each year, which can vary greatly in scope. For example, we might only have to fix a door handle for one assignment, and then carry out entire shop fittings for another – as was the case for shops along the Deutsche Allee, which took over 300 hours of work to complete," explains Johannes Ruh as we pass through the workshop. With over 30 years of service, he is the most experienced master carpenter at Europa-Park and heads up the team accordingly. One of the smaller-scale projects is waiting for us in the workshop: A recess on an old chest of drawers needs to be milled out. It's a clear case for the OF 1000 EB router – a well-loved classic, as Johannes Ruh somewhat proudly reveals to us: "It's been used by us every day for the last 18 years, and it's become one of our favourite tools." Tens of thousands of operations have left their mark on the robust housing, yet the sturdy router shows no signs of reduced performance in spite of its age, and the recess is milled with confidence and precision. The last task for the day is an antique wooden horse. Well over 100 years old, it's somewhat symbolic of the park as a whole: Although it has offered countless rides, it's subject to wear and tear on account of its age. The diagnosis: A stand needs to be reattached. Oliver Weis gets to work with his cordless drill and, soon enough, the horse is standing proudly on the worktop once again. Presumably, it's precisely this attention to detail that accounts for Europa-Park's continued success.
