YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
A total of three attractive play areas for younger and older children are provided on the 60-acre horticultural show site in Villingen-Schwenningen. A ‘climbing garden’ has been erected over the 16-foot deep and 50-foot wide Moosbach ravine (which claims to be the smallest of its kind in the state of Baden-Württemberg). A play island connected to the show site can be found in the middle of the Neckar River. But the most popular attraction is the large play arena on the Möglingshöhe that has been sponsored by the local savings bank.
This play arena is the perfect place for children to frolic and gambol to their hearts’ content and is the preferred meeting place for kids of nearly all ages. While mum and dad, grandma and grandpa can take a break on the edge of the arena, their offspring can amuse themselves on the site that covers nearly one fifth of an acre. More than twenty different items of play apparatus provide for active diversion, such as climbing, digging, playing with sand and splashing around in water. The arena has been constructed using oak and robinia wood. The various items include an aerial rope slide, various kinds of climbing frames, a ramp with a rope bridge, swings, slides, a stainless steel overhead wire slide, a stainless steel excavator and various sand pits. The play arena also boasts a water playground with pool, wetland area, dam and paddle wheel as play elements.
The local savings bank invested € 150,000 in the horticultural show. “We think it suits our image to support families and the young”, specified bank chairman Arendt Gruben during the ground-breaking ceremony for the playground on the Möglingshöhe. The bank has sponsored two projects: the play arena and the ‘Society House’ – both these amenities will be retained for the use of the local population when the State Horticultural Show closes.
The climbing scaffold over the Moosbach ravine is designed to be used for different climbing, hanging and balancing activities. The aim is to help children learn to coordinate their various motor functions. Designed to enthral are the striking giant nest-like entanglement, the long crosswalk and an observation tower to climb, while the transparent tunnel network and the top level of the tower are a dizzying 16.5 feet in the air.
The climbing concept constructed by KuKuk GmbH of Stuttgart may provide its users with a stunning view of most of the show grounds, but there is no doubt that steady nerves are needed when you first approach it. Its underlying design concept is derived from a landscape with riverside vegetation. The moulded bulrush and grass forms as well as a colour scheme link it with its natural surroundings. Exaggeration is used to introduce an artistic element: massive stalks of grass and the colossal nest make the visitors seem no bigger than insects by comparison. The colour contrasts that are deliberately discordant in some parts also confer a surreal character on the structure as a whole. And these effects draw visitors to the structure and encourage them to use it.
Acclaimed by the Minister President
Among those who have already had the opportunity to enjoy the attractions at the State Horticultural Show, which remains open to the public until 10 October, is Baden-Württemberg’s Minister President Stefan Mappus. During the opening ceremony, he spoke of the appeal of the range of amenities provided on the 60-acre site, with its three parks – the Neckarpark, the Möglingshöhe and the Bauchenberg nature reserve: “Horticultural shows create permanent park landscapes and are thus an investment that improves the quality of all our lives.” He went on to specify that more than € 230 million had been invested to date through the various state horticultural shows; this had improved the quality of life of those living in the local communities and had given the impetus to a palpable upswing in development everywhere. In the words of the Minister President, the show grounds in Villingen-Schwenningen are “an imposing and impressive horticultural show venue with the source of the Neckar at its core”. After touring the show, he confirmed that, with its wealth of wonderful concepts, the show had to be considered a resounding success.
