A celebration of camaraderie is coming up this weekend in St. Peter/Wimberg in the Rohrbach district. The provincial fire brigade performance competition along with the associated youth competitions is a fixed star in the cosmos of Upper Austrian fire brigades. Every year at the end of school, thousands of firefighters and more and more women make their way to another beautiful spot in the country to celebrate the high mass of comradeship. For some, it is mandatory to compete in order to obtain the required bronze and silver badges, and thus a certain completion of a long training course. For the others it is the chance to get a place among the winners with record times or to qualify for the national competitions. For very few groups, the “Landler” is a dress rehearsal for the Fire Brigade Olympics in Slovenia (July 17th to 24th). For everyone, however, the state competition is a place of camaraderie. You meet like-minded people from all over the country. The St. Petringer Landler is all the more eagerly awaited, as it represents a certain restart after Corona. The joint performance and team spirit are above everything, regardless of whether you are young or active.
opening on Friday
The 58th state fire brigade performance competitions and the 45th state fire brigade youth performance competitions will be opened on Friday at 1 p.m. by fire brigade president Robert Mayer. After that, everyone gets started and runs, evaluates and cheers until the evening. Then on Saturday, at 7:30 a.m., it will continue again. The final event, with the award ceremony and awarding of badges, will also take place on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Festival of Thousands
As the second largest sporting event in the state after the Linzmarathon, the state competition is of course also a Herculean logistical task. “Of course, a lot depends on the organizer’s fire brigade. But we’re helping out in the whole Neufelden section and we also have support from the whole district,” says section commander Christian Wakolbinger. “We are completely overwhelmed by the willingness to help and can easily keep to the schedule. Between 70 and 120 helpers have been working daily over the past few days to set up the competition site and the necessary infrastructure. Because the firefighter, who has been more or less battered by the competition, naturally also wants to eat and drink. In total, the fire brigades of the Neufelden section have organized more than 1000 helpers for around 2000 services.
The commander of the host fire brigade in St. Peter, Herbert Strasser, particularly invites the spectators to this performance show of the fire brigades: “Thanks to the optimally positioned grandstands, we can offer a very good overview of what is happening in the competition. From one point of view it is possible to watch both the active groups and the young people.” He is also impressed by the team effort of the entire fire brigade section: “Everyone is doing really great things and providing us with perfect support in the preparation and implementation of this state competition. It wouldn’t be possible alone, and you can see how the fire departments are growing together as a result.”
“Grand Finale at home”
The highlight of the competitions will be the parallel starts of the active groups on Saturday from 10 a.m. in silver and from 2 p.m. in bronze. Even the best youth groups compete in the parallel starts.
Of course, the local groups in their own district want to reach for the stars. The men from St. Martin and Hinterschiffl will be in a head-to-head race. In the last few weeks, the Schiffler have always been slightly ahead. St. Martin conceded a few penalties, but set incredibly fast times. Both groups need bundles of nerves in B-hose strength to win the state victory. Of course, the competitors from other parts of the country have not slept either. It will always be exciting. Incidentally, whoever comes out on top on the competition track is not automatically the state winner. After all, the relay race still has to be mastered – a parade discipline of the St. Martiner. The women’s group from Julbach also wants to score points at the “Landler dahoam”. The shape is right and everything is set up for a home game for the Julbach women.
In youth, the state victory is mainly fought out among the World Cup participants from St. Martin, Bad Mühllacken and Waldneukirchen as well as girls from the Mitteregg-Haagen-Sand group.
Mühlviertler “Landler”
- There are impressive numbers that characterize the upcoming Upper Austrian state competition of the fire brigades: around 1200 judges and helpers are in action. More than 1500 competition groups in the active and youth competitions are registered. A total of around 20,000 people will turn St. Peter into a fire station on July 8th and 9th. Spectators are rewarded with a spectacle of superlatives.
- Information at www.landeswettbewerb2022.at
Source: Nachrichten
