OSCAR 2025 at the Silbersee holiday park
This year's OSCAR took place at the Silbersee holiday park near Frielendorf in the North Hesse region, also known as Little Red Riding Hood country, from 16th – 20th June. The event was organised by the Marburg section and strongly supported by Sabine and Ronald from the Konstanz section, who live nearby.
Places had been reserved for 100 people in houses, bungalows and flats at the holiday park. As the registration deadline approached, there were less registrations than anticipated and it was thought that the number of participants would not reach 80. However, as the deadline loomed, there was a flood of registrations.
Fortunately, additional houses could be booked so that even the 18 people on the waiting list also had the opportunity to take part in OSCAR.
On Monday 16th June, jumeleurs from 5 countries met: 67 from the German sections of Berlin, Bonn, Böblingen-Tübingen, Darmstadt, Friedrichshafen, Konstanz, Marburg, Stuttgart, and Ulm. Our 38 French twinning partners traveled from Dijon, Haut-Rhin, Lille, Nantes, Narbonne, Strasbourg, Troyes, and IDF. Among them, as every year, were Elise and André Rousselot, the oldest participant at 93 and the long-time originator of this event. Also present were 4 of our Danish friends from Copenhagen, 4 of our English friends from York, and 5 of our Swiss friends from German-speaking Switzerland.
We were able to welcome many participants before 3:00 pm. They were given yellow buttons with their name and section, blue OSCAR T-shirts and a bag with information and sweets sponsored by Ferrero, as well as the key to their accommodation.
The chairman of Eurojumelages, Peter Backes, also took the opportunity to welcome the OSCAR participants. After the evening buffet, Walter and Diethard from the Marburg section officially welcomed all the jumeleurs and made several announcements about the week's programme. Peter Backes gave a short speech, in which he regretted not being able to attend OSCAR this year due to an overlap with the CDCR dos CTT National Games in Portugal, to which he had been invited and would therefore have to leave the following day.
As always at OSCAR, there were two days of cycling and walking again this year. However, there was also the option of neither cycling nor walking. Those who opted for the latter could take a walk around the Silbersee lake, go to the ‘Wellness Paradies’ swimming pool, play a round of mini golf, explore the holiday park or make themselves comfortable in their accommodation. On the day in between, there was a joint excursion for everyone.
The heatwave of over 30 degrees from the previous weekend was over. This meant we were able to enjoy pleasant summer temperatures and no rain.
Cyclists: Tuesday, June 17th
Cycling group 1 with classic bikes consisted of 7 people led by Ronald. Cycling group 2 with e-bikes consisted of 26 people led by Sabine and Hannelore, with support from Christian and Werner, all from the Konstanz section. Also participating in group 2 was Herbert, the oldest cyclist at 89 years — and still without electric assistance.
Both groups covered the same route of approx. 68 km and a difference in altitude of around 690 m. The route initially took us along the R4 long-distance cycle path alongside the main road before we joined the Little Red Riding Hood cycle path, a former narrow-gauge railway line, which we followed up to its highest point at 420 m with a steady but very moderate ascent. Shortly beforehand, there was a lunch break at the fairground in Weißenborn, where group 2 had almost finished their break by the time group 1 arrived. Holger with the broom wagon was there in good time with water, fruit and muesli bars, as at all break points. This was followed by some steeper climbs over the ‘high Knüll’, partly on small roads, partly on cycle paths, before, after a final rest in Hülsa, we descended again on a freshly tarred road in long serpentines through the forest to reward ourselves for all the metres of altitude we had ‘worked’ for.
Richard, the originally scheduled group leader, unfortunately suffered a serious fall during the pre-tour on Friday and, as we got to know after Oscar, broke three ribs. Fortunately, this was the only accident during the entire event and there were no other injuries.
Walkers: Tuesday, June 17th
Walking group 1 consisted of 22 people, led by Diethard and Anna, with support of Laurent from Mulhouse, and covered a distance of 16.5 km with a difference in altitude of approximately 350 m. Walking group 2 consisted of 41 people, led by Walter, Barbara, Waltraud, and other helpers, who covered a distance of 11.8 km with a difference in altitude of approximately 280 m. The size of group 2 presented a particular challenge on both days. Both routes largely included one of the 20 designated premium walking trails in the Knüll Nature Park, namely "Swan at Silbersee."
The route for the walking groups led south out of the holiday village along a beautiful narrow grassy path, which had apparently been freshly mown especially for us. The path climbed gently until, after about 6 km, the rest area at the edge of the forest was reached for lunch. The broom wagon with Kurt was already waiting to supply the group with fresh water. There was a covered table with two benches. Those who were quick could grab a seat there, while the rest chose tree trunks and stumps to sit on.
Group 2 had just finished eating and was ready to leave when group 1 arrived to take the vacant seats and unpack their snacks. As the walkers made their way back, it became increasingly hot, so after the descent to the Silbersee, the vast majority of group 2 chose the shorter route directly to the holiday village and only four people followed the final loop to the holiday village.
Cyclists: Thursday, June 19th
The two cycling groups started with exactly the same people as on Tuesday, and again under the same leader. The cyclists in group 1 covered a distance of approx. 70 km with an altitude difference of around 360 m, while the cyclists in group 2 also covered a distance of approx. 70 km, but with an altitude difference of around 390 m, as the two routes differed slightly due to the nature of the route.
The route was mostly on designated regional cycle paths via Homberg (Efze), Singlis and Borken, from where it followed the Schwalm cycle path for a long time, sometimes more, sometimes less along the river that gives the route its name. There was a break in the spa gardens of Bad Zwesten, where Holger was already waiting again with the broom wagon. Group 1 and 2 arrived there again at different times, but this time the sporty group 1 had overtaken the group 2 riders on the way. After the break, there were still a few metres of elevation to conquer, after the previous route had been flat. Our broom wagons, this time supported by our musician Gottfried, were used again for this. After that, the final kilometers were a relaxed downhill ride back to the holiday park.
Walkers: Thursday, June 19th
This time, walking group 1 consisted of 20 people, again led by Diethard, and covered a distance of 18.3 km with a difference in altitude of approx. 280 m. Walking group 2 consisted of 35 people led by Walter and his helpers and covered a distance of 11.5 km with a difference in altitude of approx. 190 m. Both groups circumnavigated the Sendberg, with group 1 also walking around Lake Neuenhain in an additional loop.
Their break was a little later in the forest, at an idyllic shelter named ‘Waidmannslust’, which was reserved for us. This time Helmar drove the broom wagon with extra water.
To reach the edge of the forest, the walking groups first had to cross Frielendorf. The small hut for group 2's lunch break was reached shortly before 12 noon.
Trumpet player Helmut from the Marburg section had already surprised the walkers on the way there with some lovely melodies and now played a few more tunes. On the way back, a section of a path with tall grass had to be passed. A tick hiding in it had chosen Michaela's leg, but was quickly discovered and removed. The UV index must have been very high that day, as some had a little sunburn on their necks upon their return.
Excursion day: Wednesday, June 18th
The organizers had chosen Eisenach and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the almost 1,000-year-old Wartburg Castle in Thuringia, as destination, one of the most beautiful and famous castles in Germany and a centre of high medieval poetry and minnesong.
Three coaches were booked for this excursion. After breakfast, the coaches were ready for departure in front of the reception. The distribution of the participants on the coaches had already been decided beforehand: There was a coach for our French friends, a bus with only German participants and a bus for our Danish, English and Swiss friends with additional German participants.A communication problem with the coach company meant that two of the coaches had to be changed a few kilometres after the start.
Unfortunately, we arrived late in Eisenach, so we only had a good half hour to look around the town before lunch. The market square was not far away. Many of us also visited St George's Church, where Martin Luther preached during the Reformation and Johann Sebastian Bach was baptized. At noon, lunch had been ordered at the ‘Augustiner Bräu’. Our French friends were served first, as they then had the first guided tour of the Wartburg, in French. The guided tours for all the other jumeleurs were scheduled later. Once we arrived at the Wartburg car park, we had the option of taking a shuttle bus to the top or walking there for 10 to 15 minutes. Passing the famous white doves, we then reached the starting point of the guided tour through the interior of the Wartburg Castle. After the guided tour, we were able to individually visit the museum and the Luther Room, where Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German. A picture of the Wartburg Castle from the famous photo spot rounded off our visit before we began the return journey.
Trophy award ceremony
The walkers covered a total of 1615 km: Great Britain 23 km, Switzerland 24 km, Denmark 58 km, France 552 km and Germany 958 km. The trophy was awarded to the German section of Darmstadt (325 km), which was handed over to Karola.
The cyclists covered a total of 4501 km: Denmark 138 km, Great Britain 403 km, Switzerland 414 km, France 805 km and Germany 2741 km. The OSCAR trophy went to the German association of Konstanz (1240 km). It was presented to Christian.
Holger received the trophy for being the youngest participant.
The evening after the trophy ceremony was musically provided by Gottfried and Ronald. At first they played international songs to sing along. Later on there was dancing.
The next OSCAR will take place in France from 7th to 11th April 2026 in Merlimont on the Côte d'Opale, organized by the St. Quentin association.
Irmi & Alfred Corbet (association of Darmstadt)) / Ronald Dietrich (association of Konstanz)
Germany
