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Second International Elbe Swimming Day
On Sunday, July 17, 2005, the Second International Elbe Swimming Day brought thousands of visitors to
Hamburg's Hafencity district. Around 50 swimmers were daring enough to take the Big Jump into the port basin, which had
been closed off to shipping especially for this occasion. All over Europe, more than 250,000 people celebrated the first
European River Swimming Day at 30 rivers in 12 countries.
On the Second International Elbe Swimming Day, many thousands of people living along the Elbe turned their river into the world's biggest outdoor swimming pool. Almost 60 towns and cities took part in the activities, all the way from the Czech Riesengebirge mountains to the city of Cuxhaven. The event was organized by Gruner + Jahr and the Deutsche Umwelthilfe (German Environmental Aid Association) as part of the "Living Elbe Project".
Environment secretary Jürgen Trittin launched the event at the Strandkai in Hamburg's Hafencity district. The minister was not brave enough to jump into the cold water himself though, saying,"I think too many politicians have taken a plunge lately!". At 2pm sharp, special guest and soccer legend Uwe Seeler fired the starting shot for the "Big Jump" into the Grasbrook harbor, using a water pistol filled with water from the Elbe spring.
Around 50 Hamburg citizens summoned their courage and jumped into the port basin, including GEO editor-in-chief, Peter-Matthias Gaede and federal chairman of the Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Prof. Harald Kächele. Decked out with colorful hats and armed with blue airbeds, swimmers jumped into the water from boats and quay walls. They formed a human chain in the shape of 2015: the date by which all rivers in Europe will be in a sound ecological state once again. This is the ultimate goal of the European Water Framework Directive (WRRL) which supports the Elbe Swimming Day.
A temporary lido was set up at the Elbe in the center of Dresden on the Sunday of the Swimming Day event. Accompanied by spectators on the Brühlsche Terrasse in the historic old town, children, teenagers, and adults jumped enthusiastically into the Elbe. Dresden residents were not alone in this; people also swam in the Czech Republic, right at the source of the Elbe. New-found enthusiasm for the Elbe has been infectious: the first European River Swimming Day also took place on the same day as the Elbe Swimming Day. Thanks to the "Big Jump" activity, people swam in the Loire and the Ebro, as well as in the Danube, the Rhine and the Isar, to name but a few. Pictures and further information are available at www.elbebadetag.de and www.bigjump.orgA digital press folder has been prepared on the "Elbe Swimming Day/Big Jump 2005"; this also includes documents in English. |
Press release from July 13, 2005
