The 2025 Visit to the Ringrider Festival
Editors note: This article is best read on a PC or tablet. It seems to get disorganised on a mobile phone!!
Ros Hine reports on the Visit
Husum, June 2025; A beginner's view
Stefan, Doug and Richard
Scones and sandwiches
Having been born and raised in Kidderminster, the name Husum has been familiar to me from quite a young age. It is a place that my elder sister visited in her youth, and eventually, my son visited whilst a high school student. My late godparents had strong links with the town going back several decades to the earlier days of “Twinning”. So, how would it feel during my 60th year to make the journey to Husum myself? Would the welcome be as warm as my family had described? Could I be trusted to sample only one Pharisaer!
In June 2025 the journey from Kidderminster to Schleswig-Holstein began, travelling with part of the Kidderminster Husum Twinning Association group to attend the town’s Ringrider Guild Festival. Others had opted to make the journey by rail or had alternative flight arrangements. It was a treat to be in the company of such knowledgeable, friendly folk, most of whom had made numerous trips to Husum and had great affection for the area as well as many dear friends. Our transfer from Hamburg to Husum was extremely smooth, thanks to our drivers Stefan Klocker, co-ordinator of Husum’s “Partnerstadt” group and Fireman Frank (I apologise for not giving Frank his formal title). We were warmly welcomed by Anke, head of the Volkhochschule (community college) and Burgervorsteher Robert Koch for an evening of drinks and delicious food as we got to know one another and many of our party met up with old friends or their new host families.
The following day, we gathered at the new Town Hall by the harbour for the official reception and were warmly welcomed by Burgermeister Martin Kindl. He reminded us of the importance of building friendships between our towns, which would naturally lead to understanding and cooperation, something as important now as it was in the post-war period. Delicious refreshments followed, designed and prepared by renowned chef Erik Brack
Breakfast Platter
Our afternoon was spent taking a tour of Husum town with our guide, Petra, who gave helpful information about the story of “Tine”, the bronze sculpture of a wooden-shoed young woman standing atop the fountain outside the Marienkirche, followed by notable places and events as we made our way to the castle.
After a short stop for refreshments, we continued to the inner harbour and then the Nissen Haus where some of our group opted for a tour of the library whilst the remainder toured the museum. Time allowed only a brief tour, so a return visit was a must. Ludwig Nissen (born 1855) emigrated from Schleswig-Holstein as a very young, poor man but with great drive and ambition. One could say that he did rather well for himself, amassing a fortune! During his lifetime he visited Husum and expressed his wish to establish there a house for the people which would hold a library, museum and art gallery. This stunning building was designed by architect Georg Rieve who lived not far from the town. The ashes of Ludwig and Katharine Nissen rest behind a circular, bronze plaque within the building.
The Cloister
Our Group
The group outside Nissen Haus
The weekend got off to an early start as a delegation of six of the Kidderminster gang reported at the castle at 7.45 am. In due course, the competitors in the Ringrider festival on their steeds, the fire brigade band seated in a large carriage, and two smaller horse-drawn carriages all amassed in the castle approach. We rather cosily shared our carriage with the seven visitors from one of Husum’s other twin towns, Trzcianka.
Eventually, we set off on our tour of the town, accompanied by said band, glad when the cobbles soon gave way to smoother tarmac! Some of us on board liked to think that we did a fabulous job of waving enthusiastically to the Husum residents who stood outside their front doors or on balconies to see the procession as it passed by. Once we had got over our initial awkwardness at being in this unusual situation, we had great fun! And what an honour for the Guild to extend this opportunity to Kidderminster and Trzcianka visitors on the Guild’s special weekend.
The first stop on our Husum journey was to the home of the current King of the Ringriders where, after a formal exchange of words and some refreshment, he joined the procession and we continued on our way. Two further stops at the cloister and town hall ensued, where more refreshments were enjoyed, and then the final leg took us to the castle grounds – the location for the Ringrider competition.
At this point our journey continued on foot to the Handwerkerhaus, where all of the participants of the procession – the fire brigade band included – and various honoured guests gathered to enjoy a mouthwatering breakfast accompanied by speeches and awards, and any interludes were filled with occasional music from the band, especially that song which always seemed to go down a storm! Now, how did it go….?
With my Pharisaer
The Group at Breakfast
The Carriage outside the Rathaus
The three guests from Trzcianka
Doug, Jean and Hilary
Ringrider Frame
I know that by now you’ll be thinking, ‘this is all very interesting but has she tried a Pharisaer yet?’ I’m pleased to report that after leaving the Handwerkerhaus we headed, with Jean Talbot, to the Nordsee-Hotel Hinrichsen on the pretext of assisting Jean to locate her missing luggage. Whilst there, she and I thought a Pharisaer might help the process along. Obviously, we were wrong! Needless to say, I now know what all the fuss is about. How delicious, and decaff too! However, a second cup was not required. The saga of the luggage continued.
Anyway, I’ve digressed. During the rest of Saturday and into Sunday, the heats were held to whittle down the competition to find the new ‘King’ of the Ringriders. On Sunday afternoon, we attended the castle where there was a pause in the proceedings to allow the ground to dry out. This gave everyone time to fill up on drinks and strawberry kuchen. When the programme recommenced, we watched as the riders cantered towards the tiny, suspended, yellow ring and attempted to secure it with their lance/baton/pole – a seemingly impossible task. To ensure fairness the ring could be suspended at varying heights according to the height of the seated rider. After only a few minutes, watching some riders achieving this end and some not, it was announced that the festival had found its new king. Thankfully, the fire brigade band were in attendance to add to the festivities.
Yellow Ring
Horses amnd riders
The skipper
Briefly, other events that I thoroughly enjoyed during our long weekend were the barbecue at the fire station, where we sat on long benches at trestle tables and demolished a feast. Burgervorsteher Robert Koch stepped into chef’s whites along with two colleagues to run the barbie. Well done to you all. It was much appreciated and a super evening.
Food features once more in our final evening of the organised programme of events when we were the guests of Stefan Klocker’s church. We all sang happy (80th) birthday to Val Mayfield in English and Polish and then Lukasz, a librarian from Trzcianka entertained us very competently on the piano with songs from the shows. He was later joined by his friends on vocals to offer some traditional Polish songs. Thanks for seizing the moment. You guys were great!
Sadly, I’m running out of time to say much about the super boat trip of the inner and outer harbour that Jane Williams kindly organised. Our skipper doubled up as tour guide in seamless German to English, explaining some of the history of how Husum came to have a harbour with direct access to the North Sea.
Group on boat
Building on Stilts
At the BBQ
Later we visited St Peter-Ording to view the sea, vast beach and buildings on high stilts. Our thanks to Stefan and Nicole for providing transport for this impromptu, off-programme outing.
For any of you who have stuck with it and are still reading, I thank you. During all of the events that I have described and in between times too, it was lovely getting to know my fellow travellers from Kidderminster and district and our host town too. How quickly bonds and friendships are formed. Thank you all for being such a good fun and supportive group. I wonder how many of the Hinrichsen crowd have popped a bottle of Tullamore Dew into their shopping trolleys!
And so, to answer the question about Husum hospitality. Well of course the welcome was every bit as warm as I had been told! In fact, I was moved by the high regard our hosts held for their partnerstadt visitors, especially those who had dedicated so many years to forging the links between the towns. Stefan Klocker, supported by his wife Nicole worked so hard to put together a fabulous programme of events and couldn’t have done more to ensure that we had everything we needed during our stay.
Final thanks go to Hilary Boyle and those who have supported her in preparing for this visit. She ensured that we were where we needed to be at the appropriate time and offered her home for our ‘getting to know you’ meetings prior to departure, and many other tasks that I’m unaware of, I’m sure. A heartfelt thank you, Hilary.
Ros Hine