Krefeld with Radio Leicester
Wednesday, 27th February to Friday 1st March 2002It was in January that Ben Jackson got in touch with me to discuss the idea of a Radio Leicester Outside Broadcast from Krefeld, to following the successful broadcast from Strasbourg in 2001. His original idea was to centre the programme around Karneval on 11th February, which I thought difficult, as - apart from any other consideration - accommodation could be hard to find. We looked instead at the end of February, which, I pointed out, was when the Deutschmark would disappear finally and the Euro would completely take over.
I e-mailed Sandra Kanders with the idea and a request that she should reserve three single rooms in the Zentral Hotel Poststuben, to be confirmed once Ben Jackson had permission to go ahead. That permission was given at the beginning of February, and I telephoned the Hotel to ask if an ISDN (International Standard Data Numeration) line could be installed. I received a phone call from the owner (at 7 o’clock one morning) to say that such an early broadcast would be impossible in his hotel because of the other guests. It was suggested that I try a bigger hotel, like the Dorint Krefelder Hof. They were much more receptive to the idea; the manager, Markus Lück (who spoke excellent English) readily agreed and was able to arrange a reduction in price from 150 € to 125 € per night.
On Wednesday, 27th February Ben Jackson picked me up at 07.00, having decided - based on his experience travelling to Strasbourg in 2001 - not to do his Breakfast Show first. We had then to pick up Anna Holford who was to be his producer. The journey on the M-1 and the M-25 was good, but there was a lengthy and slow diversion on the M-20 which took us into Ashford. We consequently missed the shuttle at 10.51 but were put on the 11.21. We had one short stop in Belgium to refuel, which gave me a chance to spend a few remaining Belgian Francs (topped up with my first Euros), we reached Krefeld by 5.15 p.m.
Our first engagement was with Sandra Kanders in Gleumes, where we ate an excellent Haustopf (the house casserole). Sandra had to leave for another appointment, but we lingered over desserts. We decided to walk back to the hotel, which gave the Radio Leicester team a chance to see a little of the town. We spent a little time looking at the books, maps and other information that Sandra had given us and separated for a much needed early night.
I was awake before our Weckanruf (wake-up call) at 7.15 and joined the others for the excellent breakfast which the Krefelder Hof offers. They asked me to make various telephone calls for them (Jürgen Hütter, Dagmar Groß, Herr Dr. Daurtermann, Viktor Furth). While Anna Holford went off the trainee manager, Christian Cosman, to make a recording on the tram, Ben and I greeted the woman radio engineer from West Deutsche Rundfunk and her assistant. They were able to install everything and run a test, which meant that I had to call Herr Dr. Daurtermann again to say that we would arrive late at Burg Linn. We drove there for 11.30 and were able to have a quick tour of the castle (first built in the 12th century, ruined in the Wars of the Spanish Succession in 1702, and finally restored in the 1950’s).
We drove to the Nordbahnhof; the owner, Viktor Furth, was at a funeral but we were greeted by his wife, Steffi, and Richard Haas, an Englishman and a good friend of the family. We placed our order (recorded for the broadcast) of Erbsensuppe und Speckpfannkuchen (pea broth and bacon pancakes). Viktor returned and we sat over coffee with him. I mentioned that the small group visiting Krefeld for Flachsmarkt would like to eat there, and he suggested Friday evening, since the restaurant is closed on Saturday evening. Viktor proposed that he and a few hotel-keepers could come to Leicester and promote and sell their goods. I answered that it was a splendid idea which I was sure the Committee would welcome. Back at the Krefelder Hof, I was able to extend our Flachsmarkt booking to include four late-comers. There was also time for a swim and to relay the recordings back to Radio Leicester.
Early in the evening we took a tram into the town centre to see more and to do a little shopping - in Euros, of course. We found Neumarkt, where there was to be a show later to say goodbye to the DMark. We waited in the nearby Et Bröckske. When we emerged, it was raining and there was thunder. Ben and Anna decided that it would not be possible to do an outside broadcast in the rain and so we went back inside Et Bröckske and asked permission of the lady-owner to do vox pops. She readily agreed, and even went around to some of the tables to ask for us. The pattern emerged that I would approach people in German; if they spoke English, Ben would conduct a brief interview, if not I would put the questions and translate their replies. They were more than satisfied with the result and so we sat down to eat there. Our waitress had been the first interviewed, and I was able to give her a little twinning badge as a small token of thanks. We returned to the Hotel by taxi and I sat in the bar to read German newspapers in preparation for my slot in the broadcast, show but slightly put off by the dozen or so English speakers around me.
On 1st March I had an early morning call for 5.45, the same time as Ben and Anna, though they were down with their equipment well before me, with the two Krefeld engineers already on hand. The broadcast (see Appendix A for running order) went very well, with all the guests turning up well on time and responding very well to the questions. I tried to make myself useful by greeting guests and offering them coffee, and speaking German to them whenever it seemed helpful. I was pleased to see Sandra Kanders, Jürgen Hütter and also Frau Christiane Gabbert (née Bayer). My first contribution to the programme was with Sandra to talk about aspects of twinning and then (following after an interview with Dagmar Groß from the West Deutsche Zeitung) to explain briefly what was in the newspapers.
At the end of a very successful broadcast, we three went off to eat breakfast before the restaurant closed at 10.30. Elated with the success of the Livesendung we allowed ourselves a glass of the Sekt that was offered. By 11.00 a.m. we had packed, settled our bills and were ready to leave. I acted as map-reader and within 20 minutes we had left Krefeld and 10 minutes later were on the Autobahn.
The journey was uneventful and quite fast. We stopped near to Kortrijk to refuel and reached Calais by 3.00 p.m., which gave us time to visit the vast Carrefour hypermarket in the Channel Tunnel complex. We were allowed on to the 17.21 shuttle, ½-hour earlier than booked, arriving in Dover at 17.00. Luck was with us and the M-20 and M-25 offered no hold-ups, but traffic was slow on the M-1. Nonetheless, having dropped Anna off, Ben was able to have me home by 8.00 p.m.
I consider the short visit to have been extremely worthwhile. It was a very successful broadcast, which displayed the professionalism of the Radio Leicester team. There had been a lot of cooperation and help from Sandra Kanders, which Ben and Anna appreciated greatly. From a twinning point of view, I was able to renew acquaintance with a number of people already mentioned. It also proved an opportunity to extend my network; I spoke for a long time with the reporter from the Rheinische Post and met the boss of Radio Welle Niederrhein. There was an opportunity to look to the future, for example the idea of Viktor Furth of a visit from Krefeld chefs and hoteliers. The visit cemented our good relationship with Radio Leicester and we have already begun discussions about a possible future venture.
Monday, 4 March 2002 Colin Cook
Link to
Article in Rheinische Post
