Interesting Venues

There are many Kegel centres in Europe, especially in Germany.  We like to show you some of those.

Kegel is played in three different formation, with “Classic” by far the most prominent.  However in the north-east of Germany, “Bohle” is very prominent.  “Bohle” (German name for Timber-beam) lanes are 4 metres longer as “Classic” lanes and for most of the bowling surface length is only 35cm wide.  This narrow track however is 4.5mm carved out and if the bowler rolls the ball accurately, he will stay on the track.  This game is only played into the full set of pins with every shot, as it is impossible to hit the outside pins directly.

The oldest such 2 lane venue is in what is now a holiday camp for school children on a lake called “Werbellin See”.  It is about 100km north east of Berlin and has a rich and varied history.  One of the buildings houses the lanes in the attic and you have to climb a steep staircase to reach it.  The lanes would have to be close to 100 years old, but early in the twentieth century, two semi-automatic pinsetters were installed.  In those days, all large companies had to be seen to do some good for the local population and a large shipbuilding company decided to manufacture a machine that re-spots the pins after being hit.  Every time the pins are hit, the player has to press the start button to start the machine up.  The process of re-spotting the pins was easily achieved by using a drum that wound the ropes up, thereby lifting them from the pindeck.  It is still in some use today, however badly needs some repair.  Look at the pictures below.

More centres soon