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KIRMES & Park REVUE (English) Special Ikarus (Vorschau)

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SPECIAL<br />

Build up impressions during<br />

the Distel era<br />

From the Bremen premises, the ride travelled<br />

directly to its première venue, the Maimarkt in<br />

Landau/Palatinate, where the ride could be enjoyed<br />

in all its glory, indeed, the Distel firm had<br />

always presented its attractions in individual,<br />

unique designs. In this case, it set out already with<br />

the current name: “<strong>Ikarus</strong>” was the idea of Wolf<br />

Clauß, and the Distel firm even succeeded in having<br />

the name “protected” at the Huss firm for five<br />

years. Due to its equipment and design – a kind<br />

of “refined antique look” – the ride soon enjoyed<br />

the reputation and the rank of a “noble ride”.<br />

But let us return to the première in Landau – a<br />

venue of excellent reputation at that time: Eugen<br />

Distel recalls that in the course of the event, his<br />

father, his brother-in-law, and he himself were increasingly<br />

disappointed. What had happened?<br />

Answer: The brand new ride had almost no passengers!<br />

Initially, it was not clear whether or not that<br />

was due to respect or simply because the public<br />

was afraid of the 30 metre height. The owners had<br />

watched this fiasco for a number of days before<br />

one of them said: “What in the world have we<br />

done?!” Should the ride really turn out to be a failure<br />

against all expectations? Apprehensively,<br />

they travelled on to the second venue, the<br />

Bergkirchweih in Erlangen, where a heavy burden<br />

fell from the owner’s shoulders from the very opening,<br />

as the “<strong>Ikarus</strong>” was veritably besieged by the<br />

public. This indeed turned out to be the omen of<br />

its ultimate success. Eugen Distel notes; “We had<br />

to organise security due to the rush!” As business<br />

48

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