15th International Boule Tournament in Darmstadt
23. August 2025
This event was planned and organised by the Darmstadt section of Eurojumelages Germany. The two main organizers were Britt Haller and Rolf Wojewodka. Very special thanks are also due to Rolfs’ daughter Karola and her family who took care of the marquee, chairs, tables, benches and drinks. On the day prior to the tournament there was a possibility to participate in a tour on the Mathildenhöhe under the guidance of Meinhard Dausin.
The participants of the guided tour could discover the entire ensemble of the Mathildenhöhe. This is of extraordinary architectural and art historical significance and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021.
The Russian Chapel was built from 1897 to 1899 for Tsar Nicholas II. The members of the artists' colony founded in 1899 shaped the art nouveau movement of Darmstadt. The buildings, gardens and artworks were created between 1901 and 1914 and presented in four exhibitions. Worth mentioning are the Studio Building that is the Jugendstil museum today, seven artist residences, the Wedding Tower built on the occasion of the marriage of grand duke Ernst Ludwig and his wife Eleonore, the Exhibition Hall erected above the former water reservoir, the artistically equipped Plane Tree Grove with its sculptures and reliefs, and the Lilly Basin in front of the Russian Chapel.
After the guided tour there was a joint dinner at restaurant Karlson in the former Prince’s Station located in the main station building.
On the tournament day Georg Urbanski, head of the Darmstadt section, warmly welcomed the participants from sections in Germany, England, France and from Swiss Ticino in the languages German, English and French.
In his welcome speech Peter Backes, president of Eurojumelages, stressed the sense of community of the association and also remembered Paul Pantzer, the founder of the Eurojumelages boule tournament. He ended his talk with the slogan: “No matter how large or small, slender or strong you are, irrelevant whether you are a marathon runner or a couch potato, when playing boules all have equal chances.”
The fifteenth boules tournament took place in the plane tree grove at “Mathildenhöhe” under the control of Andreas Müller, an official referee of the Hessen boule league association. 52 participants were registered but only 50 turned up, resulting in 11 doubles and 1 triple in each of the five rounds. The game mode was super mêlée with time limitation of 50 minutes plus one further jack throw.
The first round started around 10:20.
After the second round, lunch consisting of potato salad with sausages and a drink were served at the match venue
Lunch was followed by three further rounds before the tournament ended with the final victory ceremony around 17:25.
The tournament winner was Marita Schoos from boule club Bad Breisig with five wins. Richard Schoos, also from boule club Bad Breisig, and Thomas Pfeiffer from Stuttgart shared the second place, each with four matches won.
After Peter's closing speech, Elisabeth Meyer announced that the section of Strasbourg is going to host the next boules tournament on Sunday, August 23 in 2026.
Afterwards the participants gathered for dinner at the restaurant Khan near Darmstadt main station.
This event will surely remain in special memory for all participants. Apart from the sporting event, there was also a cultural part and ample opportunities to deepen friendships and make new ones.
All who were engaged in planning and undertaking this activity deserve special thanks
Thomas Rosowski / Sektion Darmstadt /Germany
