By chance, we found out that this past weekend, not too far from our home, Germany’s largest soap box derby (Seifenkistenrennen) was taking place. The Hanauer Seifenkistenrennen has apparently been going on for many, MANY years (at least since Stefan was a kid) and there were said to be over 300 competitors. To be honest, these were some wildly advanced soap box cars and I was really pretty impressed with the amount of effort that clearly went into this event.

The whole shindig is organized by the Familien netzwerk Hanau which is a Verein (local organization) that was started back in 2003 in Steinheim to facilitate relationships between parents and their kids, provide events for kids such as summer camps, and to aid parents in finding tutors, babysitters and so on.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

The races take place on a few hundred meters of road which is (wisely) closed to the public during this event. There is a huge launching ramp which the cars are pushed up onto — and thankfully there are volunteers there who work out which can help the kids get their cars into position.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

In the background of the next photo, you see the ramp, and after about 100 meters, there is this little round-about. Don’t think that this is the world’s easiest race, because some navigation skills are certainly required. One of the observers who turned out to have a team racing in the event was actually saying that his driver had wiped out pretty badly in this corner where we were standing already that day — but thankfully there were no injuries to driver or car. So they were back to the races.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

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hanau seifenkistenrennen

Big white bags full of huge pieces of foam were all over the racetrack edges to keep anyone from getting injured and all drivers where wearing helmets (a good thing since most of the competitors we watched were kids 10-12 years old) and they do get going pretty fast through the track. Safety first!

hanau seifenkistenrennen

As you can see, the event was quite well organized and there were actually booths setup up all up and down the race track from local vendors and organizations. Food, drinks, games, kid’s stores and so on to keep everyone amused. There was even a live band during the day.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

Some of the teams really went all out in developing these cars. I have to wonder if they sometimes use the same car year after year but just modify them over time? Or maybe that’s not even allowed? I didn’t go to the effort of reading all the rules, but I’m sure if/when we go back next year, we’ll learn a bit more.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

Not only are there the junior racers (8-12 years old), senior racers (10-18 years old) and the free class racers which can be from 7-99 years old. There single and team events, regular soap box cars and electric versions, and some cars which are made by local organizations for fun…like these!

hanau seifenkistenrennen

Below are a few of the electric cars we saw sitting around (although we missed the race because it was not until much later in the day), and I have to say I was pretty impressed with their construction also, especially the green one on the left. They both looked to be covered with textured wallpaper and then painted.

hanau seifenkistenrennen

All in all, it was extremely interesting to attend these soap box races and we were definitely impressed with the seriousness of most of the teams. This has actually been a co-ed event for several years now, so girls are allowed to race as well. We’re already thinking about sponsoring a team — but we won’t have a driver for quite a few years still!

Oh, and not only were we supporting the local community by attending the event, but we also bought some Walther Apfelwein which is made within 20 minutes of our house. But a word to the wise — if it’s pre-bottled Süß- or Gespritzter, just stay away from it. Apple wine pre-mixed is just wrong — much like pre-mixed Radler or Rüß. Or maybe we’re just spoiled with our homemade apple wine!

hanau seifenkistenrennen

I was pretty interested to learn that you can actually sell your apples to them for product. So if you bring in 100 kilos of apples, you get 50 liters of apple juice, wine, etc in return. Or for a fee, they will bottle your apples for you as juice, applewine or mixed juices.