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 />
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