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Bulletin 0

German Sprint Championships and National Ranking Event Middle Distance 2027
4 and 5 September 2027 · Hamburg-Blankenese and Neu-Wulmstorf
with training and prologue from Thursday, 2 September

On 4 and 5 September 2027, OSC Hamburg and SC Klecken are hosting the German Sprint Orienteering Championships and a national ranking event (Bundesranglistenlauf) over the middle distance: the championships on Saturday in the stairways of Blankenese, the ranking event on Sunday in the forest near Neu-Wulmstorf. Arrive early and make it a long weekend, with open training on Thursday and the traditional prologue on Friday evening, a race of the German Park Tour.

After 2022, this is the second time in five years that the sprint championships come to Hamburg. We are looking forward to a long weekend of demanding sprint terrain above the Elbe, a middle distance in the glacially formed forest south of Hamburg, and enough time to enjoy the city away from the courses too.

Programme

Thursday, 2 September – Training

Open training in forest terrain in Seevetal (south of Hamburg), free start times between 10:00 and 17:00. A first taste of the glacially formed terrain south of Hamburg.

Friday, 3 September – Prologue

Sprint orienteering counting towards the German Park Tour, in one of the most interesting private grounds in the region, in Rosengarten (district of Harburg) on the border with Hamburg. First start expected at 17:00.

Saturday, 4 September – German Sprint Championships

Qualification and final in Hamburg-Blankenese. Qualification from 11:00 (expected), final in the afternoon.

Sunday, 5 September – National Ranking Event Middle Distance

Neu-Wulmstorf, first start expected at 10:00.

The German Sprint Championships and the middle distance ranking event are confirmed by the IOF as World Ranking Events (WRE). The championship qualification and final also count towards the German Park Tour.

Terrain and maps

Training, Seevetal: pine and mixed forest in glacially formed terrain, with knolls, depressions and ancient burial mounds.

Open pine forest near Brummelsberg hill
Open pine forest near Brummelsberg hill
Orienteering map of the forest at the Brummelsberg with contours, paths and a road crossing the area
Map extract, Brummelsberg: Thursday's training

Sprint, Blankenese: the stairway quarter on the slope above the Elbe. Narrow alleys, lots of climb over short distances, countless passages and dead ends – terrain that demands speed and route choice in equal measure.

Narrow stone stairway between hedges and a wall in Blankenese, with the Elbe in the background
Blankenese: steps, alleys and a view of the Elbe
Sprint map of the Blankenese hillside with stairs, paths and houses down to the Elbe beach
Map extract, Blankenese: sprinting on the Elbe slope

Middle distance, Neu-Wulmstorf: mostly well runnable forest on the edge of the Schwarze Berge, glacially formed and with pronounced relief: many valleys and depressions, gullies, spurs and knolls, steep slopes in places.

The Karlstein, a large glacial boulder in the beech forest of the Schwarze Berge
The Karlstein, which gives Sunday's terrain its name
Orienteering map around the Karlstein with dense contours, hollows and gullies
Map extract, Karlstein: middle distance in fine relief
Open beech forest with fallen leaves and a mossy boulder in the foreground
Open beech forest around the Karlstein
Burial mount, in pine forest with blueberries
Burial mount, in pine forest with blueberries
Panorama of a large meadow surrounded by autumn forest
The finish meadow for Sunday's middle distance

The sprint and middle distance maps are being newly surveyed.

Embargoed areas

Both competition areas are embargoed. The embargoed areas on the map:
Blankenese (4 September) · Karlstein (5 September)

Entries

Entries are made via O-Manager: German Sprint Championships (Saturday) · Middle distance ranking event (Sunday). Entries open in spring 2027. All information on the World Ranking Events is also available in IOF Eventor.

Starting in the championship classes requires a valid DTB start licence (Startrecht). It is not needed for the ranking event or the open classes.

Classes, entry fees, entry deadline and timing system will follow in Bulletin 1.

Accommodation

SC Klecken offers in Rosengarten-Klecken:

  • floor accommodation in the Klecken sports hall, with up to 190 places
  • a campsite for small tents at the sports ground, with toilets and changing rooms
  • a few spaces for motorhomes in the car park at the sports ground

Prices and booking will follow in Bulletin 1.

Hamburg and the surrounding area offer a wide range of accommodation of every kind; the only one we would like to highlight is the Schwarze Berge campsite, because of its convenient location between the different venues.

Getting there

The addresses of the event centres and information on parking and public transport will follow in Bulletin 1. For Blankenese we already recommend arriving by S-Bahn: parking there is scarce.

Organisers and officials

  • Organising body: AG Orientierungssport im Deutschen Turner-Bund
  • Organising clubs: OSC Hamburg e.V. and SC Klecken e.V.
  • Event director: Torben Timmermann
  • Competition director, sprint championships: Christian Teich
  • Competition director, middle distance: Uwe Dresel
  • Technical delegate: Eike Bruns
  • Course setting, sprint championships: Jan Felix Topp (qualification), Christian Teich (final)
  • Course setting, middle distance: Uwe Dresel
  • Results and IT: Tim Schröder
  • Bulletins and website: Jule Lehmann

The competition rules of the AGO (Wettkampfbestimmungen OL) apply in the version valid for 2027, and for both World Ranking Events also the IOF competition rules.

Further information

Bulletin 1 will be published before entries open. All news is posted here on hamburg-ol.de as it happens.

Contact: info@hamburg-ol.de