The members of the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club (SVR) are celebrating their club’s 100th anniversary this year. The German Sailing Association (DSV) is marking the anniversary with a profile on its website. You can also read it below here on YACHT online, courtesy of the DSV:
A very special place
Enthusiastic. Dedicated. Passionate. That is how the history of the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club began a century ago. And these qualities are still very much alive today amongst the club’s members at Großer Müggelsee in Berlin. The German Sailing Association offers its congratulations on this milestone anniversary and wishes the club all the best for the future.
How it all began
A private plot of land by the water called ‘An den Bänken’ and a great deal of personal effort
They had little money, but all the more enthusiasm, courage and a strong will. “We want to get out on the water and sail together!” – with this aim in mind, 21 Berliners founded the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club on 13 July 1926. The location: perfect. To the front lay the Müggelsee with its challenging sailing grounds; to the rear, the Rahnsdorfer Bänke, and a shallow area on the eastern side of the lake for peaceful mooring. And the members also sorted out the issue of funding for the waterfront plot at ‘An den Bänken 44’ – loans and private funds, combined with a great deal of voluntary work and personal commitment, quickly led to the construction of jetties, a boathouse, changing rooms and a canteen.
Club life flourished rapidly: a lively social atmosphere, intensive sailing and regattas were hallmarks of the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club from the very beginning. By the early 1930s, the SVR was one of the most active and successful clubs on the Berlin sailing scene.
The Second World War brought activities to a halt, although the clubhouse and the boats remained undamaged. A fire that broke out following an Allied air raid was extinguished in time by the women of the club, who kept watch day and night.
What happened next
Company sports club, GDR training centre, championship titles and, following reunification, the return to the historic name
After the war ended, the club was nationalised by the GDR government; for the people of Rahnsdorf, life went on within the works sports clubs (BSG). BSG Motor Ost, BSG Fernseheletronik; the name changed, but the section remained the same: the sailing section.
“Yes, our name changed,” says Ralf Elsner, who co-led the club as vice-chairman for 29 years, “but the close-knit community remained.” Together they enjoyed their weekends, celebrated, did craft projects, went sailing and competed successfully in regattas. Amongst others, Horst Hermann, for example, won numerous national regattas (Finn, O-Jolle, 20er Jollenkreuzer, Zehner), whilst Ilja Wolf and Bernd Klenke’s 1974 World Championship title in the FD class was also a standout achievement. The crew learnt to sail at the SVR, but at that time were competing for the Berlin-Grünau Yacht Club.
During the GDR era, the Rahnsdorf youth section served as the official training centre for children and young people up to the age of 14 and attracted many young sailors. Training sessions four times a week helped to develop and shape many GDR champions and Spartakiad winners.
Following German reunification, the sailing club regained its historic name in the summer of 1990: Seglerverein Rahnsdorf 1926 e.V.
But it wasn’t just the name that was returned. The plot of land on the lakeside was also transferred back to the club in 1999; later, “through a great deal of dedication and a lengthy process, we were also able to purchase around 2,000 square metres of the neighbouring plot, ‘An den Bänken 43’,” says Ralf Elsner. A second jetty – the so-called ‘Oststeg’ – and plenty of space for boats and regatta participants were secured.
Ralf Elsner remembers the period following reunification well: “For a while, many club members set off into the world, keen to discover new things.” Things quietened down a little in Rahnsdorf for a time. The club’s intensive youth work also stagnated for a while. Long-serving member Peter Fechner retired from coaching, and new approaches had to be developed and tried out.
A major challenge for the club and its executive committee was the process of having the Großer Müggelsee designated as a protected area. “Significant parts were to be declared a nature reserve, including parts of the jetties and our land, as well as the training area for our youth section,” explains Ralf Elsner. Following lengthy negotiations with the Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club managed to secure the necessary improvements on its own initiative. This included general permission to deepen the harbour area and improve access to the Müggelsee.
A strong focus on youth development and plenty of sailing trips together – the SVR today
Today, the focus is on supporting children and young people, alongside regatta sailing (“We still organise regattas, but we no longer have nearly as many competitive sailors in the adult section as we used to”) and cruising on the waters of Berlin and Brandenburg, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the club’s core focus.
For a while, the SVR and a number of neighbouring clubs on Lake Müggelsee jointly employed a full-time local coach. It was a good idea, and it worked very well in practice, but in the end, the financial and tax arrangements proved to be difficult.
The Rahnsdorf Sailing Club and its management changed tack and began employing trainers—who they had trained themselves—on a part-time, hourly basis. Volunteers, parents and sponsors—mostly local businesses from the Rahnsdorf area—provide additional support wherever necessary and possible.
In recent years, the club’s own fleet of boats has also been refurbished through a joint effort. For both beginners and more advanced sailors, there are water training sessions twice a week in Optimists and ILCA dinghies. In winter, fitness training takes place in the hall at Rahnsdorf Primary School, whilst theory lessons are held in the clubhouse on the club’s premises.
The partnership with schools and, above all, the regular training camp held during the Berlin summer holidays continue to attract children and young people to the club, “so we certainly cannot complain about a lack of young talent at the moment”, say Ralf Elsner and the club’s current chairman, Michael Förster, in unison.
The overall results are also impressive at a competitive level: many children from Rahnsdorf have already been selected for the state squad and compete in national and international championships. Among others, the current German runner-up in the Optimist class, Henry-Alexander Hübener, learnt the basics of sailing in Rahnsdorf.
The fact that some of the sailing talents we’ve discovered may eventually look for another club as their careers progress “is fine by us”, says Ralf Elsner. “As a small club with just under 120 members, we simply can’t cope with the financial – and organisational – demands of competitive sport,” adds Michael Förster. Even though 20 per cent of the membership fee goes automatically towards youth development. “But it’s us who lay the foundations.”
A declaration of love: community, family, support – just because!
“Anyone who comes to us doesn’t just find a berth for their boat,” says Michael Förster. “Here, there’s a sense of community, a family-like atmosphere that spans the generations, where mutual support, voluntary work and a shared passion for sailing are simply a given.”
Club life has changed, yes, says Ralf Elsner too. Some sailors now only visit the grounds and the jetties occasionally. “Nevertheless, our club on the beautiful Lake Müggelsee and amidst the indescribable natural surroundings of the Rahnsdorfer Bänke is still a special and magical place.”
Anyone who’d like to experience this and get involved is always welcome at the SVR. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player.
A look into the future
A number of investments are on the cards for the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club in the coming years. Following on from 2017, the harbour basin will need to be dredged again due to a renewed build-up of silt. “Boats with a draught of 1.25 metres or more are already running through mud in our harbour again,” says Michael Förster. And the clubhouse, a half-timbered building, is in urgent need of renovation.
“That’s going to be a real challenge,” Michael Förster and Ralf Elsner agree. But so far, they’ve always managed to find a solution to everything. It’ll be the same this time round.
This is the Rahnsdorf Sailing Club
The SVR is situated at the eastern end of the ‘Großer Müggelsee’ on the shallow waters known as ‘Die Bänke’. Thanks to their sheltered location, these waters are an ideal training area for the youngest members; the Müggelsee is an exciting area in the east of Berlin and also the city’s largest lake. The club’s own facilities comprise around 50 moorings on the water, some ten moorings on land, and five guest moorings across a total of two jetties. For launching, there is a rail slipway with a trolley and a gantry crane for hoisting boats weighing up to 1.0 tonnes. The club’s approximately 120 members, as well as around 30 children and young people in the youth section, have access to a meeting and club room, and three boathouses, including a dedicated youth sailing area. The boats sailed include Optimists, ILCA class dinghies, various other dinghies, cruiser dinghies and keelboats.
Address: An den Bänken 44, 12589 Berlin, Telephone: 030 6489457, Email: post@seglerverein-rahnsdorf.de, Website: www.svr1926ev.de
Lasse Johannsen
Deputy Editor in Chief YACHT