Yesterday was Fronleichnam, “the feast of Corpus Christi”, a Catholic holiday which is also a state holiday in parts of Germany, including here in our region of Baden-Württemburg. I don’t think there’s anything to do with religion, though, at the heart of the local tradition of the Stocherkahnrennen which occurs annually on the same day here in Tübingen. I’m guessing it’s probably more the case  that the students had that day off from classes and were therefore free to participate in a boat race on the Neckar river.

The Stocherkahnrennen is a fairly new event, started by students in 1956.  It is now open to anyone who can put together a boat and 8 people insane enough willing to take part. The boats used are the standard Stockerkahn punting boats, which normally have just a pilot who uses a “punting” pole to propel the boat forward. However, during the race, 7 seated team members paddle with their hands while the “pilot” punts the boat at the rear.

Chris and I went to check out the race yesterday. Unfortunately, we missed the costume parade which happens ahead of the race, not realizing that most groups this year would have removed their fancy costumes before the race started (they didn’t do that last year). The would probably explain why so many of the teams seemed to be wearing normal street clothes during the race. I kept thinking that a lot of people looked as though they’d been conned into getting into a boat while they were just walking down the street (“Psst, hey buddy, wanna go for a boat ride and have some beer? Just step right this way, we only have to ride in a boat for 2.5 kilometers to get to the beer… “)   That wasn’t really the case — well, at least, I don’t think it was — for most of the participants, but some of the people toward the end of the race certainly had the “how did I get into this mess?” look on their faces, their jeans and t-shirts sodden and dripping with the cold waters of the river.

The team that won — for the 3rd year in a row — was a mixed male and female group from the Sports Science Institute at the University of Tübingen.  Their prize: a keg of beer.

The group that came in last was from the fraternity Arminia. Unfortunately, the team members from that group apparently required medical attention due to too much exposure to the cold water, and for this reason they wound up coming in last.  As a result of their getting sick, though, I gather they might not have had to pay the official “penalty” for coming in last, which is to have each member drink a glass of cod liver oil during the awards ceremony.

However, a big scandal at the end was caused by another fraternity, Cheruskia,  who literally were the last team across the finish line. They apparently weren’t really trying hard to compete in the race, as evidenced by the huge gap between their boat and rest of the racers – they were so many minutes behind that regular pleasure boats actually were between them and the racing group. Such disinterest in running a reasonable race was considered unsportsmanlike by race officials, and Cheruskia was officially disqualified.

Now, according the German Wikipedia article about the race, teams that are disqualified are also supposed to pay the penalty and drink glasses of cod liver oil at the end. But instead, the members of Cheruskia ceremoniously dumped out the contents of their glasses of cod liver oil into the river instead of drinking them as they were supposed to.

Well, I guess if you’ve already been disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, it comes as no surprise that you don’t handle the penalty with dignity and class.

Anyway, below is a gallery with a few photos I snapped of this year’s race. Plus, here’s a link to a video from the local newspaper’s website.  It’s in German, but it contains scenes from the costume parade, plus that cold liver oil debacle. Enjoy. 😉