Kegeln – 9-pin Bowling – History

Kegeln belongs to one of the oldest and most popular kinds of leisure sports.  It had its origin in Egypt, where part of the game in today’s form was discovered in a child’s grave.  Stone-throw-games can be seen as the forerunners of the modern Kegeln.

In Europe, the early versions of today’s Kegeln developed only in the 12^thCentury.  It was played as a luck or betting game and large amounts were won and lost.  It did not take long until violence and fraud entered the game and it was outlawed in Germany in 1335 with penalties of heavy fines and even jail.  England followed and King Edward III outlawed it with the death penalty.  The French also outlawed it, but not until 1454.  Only in 1468 was Kegeln again allowed, but under strict control and only at special events, such as yearly markets and special church celebrations.  By the 17^thCentury, it was difficult to find any special event that did not have a Kegel competition.

The first official mention of Kegeln is in the chronicle of the German city of Rothenburg in the year 1157.  In 1265, the citizens of the towns of Xanten and the monks of the monastery St Victor formed a “Kegelorum”, the first Kegelclub.

The Kegelgame lost its bad reputation at the end of the 16^th Century and the “Game of luck” was played purely as a “spare time activity”.  Reason for this was that the high society also discovered and liked to play the game, not only the ordinary folks.  Martin Luther (1483-1546), the reformist who started the protestant movement within the Catholic Church, wrote the first rules and also settled on the amount of pins.  Some of the rules and games have survived to date.  He liked the game so much, that he built two lanes in the cellar of his church to teach his children mathematics.  The start of the 19^thCentury saw the registration of the first official Kegelclubs in Germany.

Some German migrants introduced the game into the USA in 1840, but because of the possibility of the side effects (gambling, drinking and cheating) it was outlawed by the Governor of New York.  To get around this law, the American version of bowling (10-pin) was invented in 1868.

A number of Kegelclubs united in Krefeld, Germany on 9.11.1884 to establish the first Kegel association.  This union was the beginning of the sport of Kegeln and Bowling.

1889– On 12.12.1889 was the “Central Association of German Keglers” formed, the Deutscher Kegelbund (DKB).

1891 – In this year, the first international competition was held with Germany and the USA participating.

1900– A 100-day Kegel competition was held in Berlin with a luxury villa as first prize.

1910 – The first fully automatic pin-setting machine was installed in the USA.

1926 – The first women were allowed to become a member of the DKB.

1952– A new organisation, the “Federation Internationale des Quilleurs” (FIQ) was formed with 94 nations and more than 11 million Kegler and Bowlers joining.

1955 –Essen, Germany, staged the first world championship.

1985– The German Kegler Bund (DKB) celebrated his 100-year jubilee with now having about 180,000 bowlers in it’s organisation.

2002– Currently, about 21 million people kegeln for fun each year in Germany with more than 4 million on a regular basis.  Because of this huge success, Kegeln is now the biggest “people sport “.  Also 276,000 players are registered with sporting clubs.

There are now 18 organisations to regulate about 10,000 clubs.

Kegeln is played on three different track designs with the classic design being by far the most popular.

Classic        54.6 %       ( 9-pin bowling) - as we play it here in Australia

Bohle          24.0 %       ( 9-pin bowling)

Schere        12.4 %       ( 9-pin bowling)

Bowling        9.0 %       (10-pin bowling)

Source: Deutscher Kegelbund (DKB)

A bit about Australia’s Kegel background:

There used to be a few Kegel 9 – pin bowling alleys established in the 19th Century.  As far as we know, only one of these is still in operation.  It is located in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley and is well over 100 years old.  It was originally located in Hahndorf, a small Town in the Adelaide hills that used to have a large German population.  It was later relocated to the German Club in Adelaide and consequently to a small building at Tanunda.  A group of locals still play there every week, but as the equipment is very old with no automatic pinsetters, the bowlers have to take turns in re-spotting the pins manually.

There is also a single lane in the museum in Ballarat that was used by the gold diggers about 150 years ago.  This is only for display and as far as we know, nobody ever plays on it.

Technology has come a long way since then and the first fully automatic pinsetters were installed in Moonee Beach near Coffs Harbour.  This small 2 lane centre is fully operational and currently serves as the home for Kegel Sport Pty Ltd.  It is open to the public and it also serves as the test centre for future development.

There are now a further 2 centres, Matthew Flinders Hotel in Chadstone, Melbourne with 4 lanes and now a 7 lane centre at Hamilton Island.