Tramprennen.

July, 2006: An idea was born

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Malte and Marcel discovered the world of hitchhiking during their short trip through Europe in 2006. It was love at the first sight! All the crazy characters and unforgettable experiences made hitchhiking very soon their favourite choice of transportation. During their trip around the French island of Corsica they bumped into another couple of hitchhikers on the side of the road, waiting for the next lift, just like Malte and Marcel. They thought about how cool it would be to hang out with the other hitchhikers by the end of the day and – quite literally – unpack their backpack full of crazy and funny stories and chat about all the experiences they have made along the way.

Unfortunately, they never managed to meet up with the other hitchhikers. But instead the two “teams” kept overtaking each other again and again on the windy and small roads of Corsica. The idea of the “Tramprennen” was born! The rules? Simple! Several teams compete against each other on the roads of Europe and of course: hitchhiking only! At the end of the day you will meet at a designated spot, enjoy your time in a new city and will hit the road again on the next day, starting a new stage of the race to the next destination. Whoever won the most stages at the end of the race, gained the unique “Tramprennen trophy”: a golden coloured paper crown and a TetraPak of wine.

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October 2006, the first “Tramprennen”

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Only three months after the idea was born, two teams made their way to Bologna, Italy and were waiting beside the motorway for a lift. After a journey with a crazy Mexican, who threw his change at the staff of the toll station as a sign of respect and appreciation and an Italian grandfather, who did not say a word, but complained about Malte, who sat on his designer jacket, which lay on the backseat of the Jaguar, Malte’s and Tim’s first stage ended in a stylish decorated apartment of a Hospitality Club family in Udinese. Even Vedran and Moritz were welcomed at the same place, only after they had a private English teaching lesson by a nine-year old during their trip. The second stage was arranged spontaneously and so they went to Vedran’s cousin in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For the next two years Slovenia is deemed as “Not a good country for hitchhikers”. It was only due to the “Tramprennen 2009” that this impression could be qualified. Nevertheless, the four hitchhikers weren’t exactly traveling fast in Slovenia. So their next stops were Vienna and Dresden and with a little support of the public trains they eventually made their way back to Hamburg. Since all of them had so much fun on the road and in the different cities it was only a matter of time for the next “Tramprennen”.

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August 2008, Viva con Agua was added to the “Tramprennen”

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Two years after a gap year abroad and a personal reorientation “Viva con Agua” entered Maltes world. A charity organization, based in Hamburg, Germany, totally committed to crazy, freaked out, funny and creative ideas for raising money and realizing drinking water projects in developing countries. What a great thing to do! Memories of the crazy race in October 2006 returned, a remake of the Tramprennen, meeting Viva con Agua, having fun and doing good, how awesome would that be? Malte, Hauke, Tim and Tobi, who studied with Hauke and was one of the co-founders of Viva con Agua were very keen on the idea of connecting the Tramprennen and Viva con Agua and started organizing the 2008 race. Since Saragossa was hosting this year’s EXPO with the theme of “Water and Sustainable Development”, it seemed like the perfect city as the race’s final destination. 2500 km through Switzerland, France and Spain – for clean drinking water! On August 23rd 2008 the first Tramprennen for Viva con Agua was officially on its way, including 12 people or five teams, willing to race and compete! After 14 days of racing, “Käptn Karacho und seine Crew” were the worthy winner of the eventful race. Robbed on the beach of Nice, squatting in the “Parque de Ciuatadella” in Barcelona, being invited by french hippies to sleep at their place in Montepellier and by the team of the German pavilion to the EXPO in Zaragosa, rides with the Hardcoreband “Pro Pain” and French drug dealers were only a few of the several adventures which made this summer a very special one for every participant of the race!

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August 2009: Tramprennen from Kiel (Germany) to Dubrovnik (Croatia)

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14 teams or 34 hitchhikers hit the road again on August 18th 2009. Starting at the Firth of Kiel they made their way to Dubrovnik in the south of Croatia. From Kiel, to Berlin, Prague, Linz, Trieste, Split all the way to Dubrovnik the teams were “fighting” on the road over the not existing hitchhiking crown. In the end it was the team of MrMrs SierraT“ who won, leaving defending champion “Käpnt Karacho” in second place. Thousands of people followed this years race on the brand-new website www.tramprennen.org. Thanks to the SMS LIVETICKER and live radio interviews on German radio it was possible for family, friends and supporters to follow the race live on the road or to get more information about the race itself and Viva con Agua. It was not only the flashmob in Linz, or the regular evening gatherings with the other hitchhikers, but the unique experiences like driving with a member of the Croatian secret service (who knew more about your own country the you did), the ride in a fully empty five star coach all for yourself or the dip in one of Austria’s beautiful lakes with one of your drivers which made the Tramprennen 2009 a great journey after all! In 2006 there was only one team to beat, but in 2009 it were already 13! So what will there be in 2010? Who knows!?! All we know is, that the race of 2010 will again be full of beautiful, stressful, exciting and eventful moments!

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August 2010: from Hamburg (Germany) to Vama Veche (Romania)

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WOW! While it was 34 hitchhikers last year, this year 71 people wanted to race on the road. This lead to a slight modification of the racing mode! Instead of only one route, the 2010 race provided three different routes! This year’s finish was even more eastern, instead of Croatia, the teams had to make their way to Vama Veche, Romania at the Black Sea. About 2500 km in two weeks were traveled for Viva con Agua and their newest drinking water project in Ruanda. Already prior to the actual race every “racer” was working hard and full of good spirits and asked his friends, relatives or other fellows for donations to support Viva con Agua. The message was simple: to donate only one cent per kilometer is enough and helps realizing the newest project in Ruanda. Thanks to this effort, the Tramprennen and its racers were able to donate nearly € 10, 000 to Viva con Agua. So now it was up to the teams to pay their dues! In 2008 there were only 11 people gathering around the starting point at St.Pauli’s Millerntor Stadium, but now there were 31 teams, meaning 71 people getting ready to hitchhike from Hamburg to Romania. The teams were on three different routes , all of them including six stages, to reach this year’s final destination Vama Vech on the Black Sea, close to the Bulgarian boarder. After the first three stages, all the different routes met up again in Budapest for kind of a half time meeting, before splitting up again for the last three stages. As you can imagine, it was a very cheerful and boozy final- reunion in Vama Veche, full of happiness and celebrations. In the end, it was the team “Downgrade & Chance” who won the race, just ahead of “Team Wataquata” and “Tofu & Hack”! The list of adventures and experiences seems endlessly and the memories will always remain in the racer’s heads!
Tramprennen 2011 – we will be back!!!

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