Sports facilities in Oberhof – Superlatives from top level sport

The introspective little town in the green heart of Germany is a centre of sporting superlatives. Oberhof has been an important place for sports lovers for many years on the radio and television, as it is the venue for many important sporting events, above all the biathlon World Cup and competitions for the Nordic Combination and luge racers. What should not be overlooked is the fact that virtually no other holiday location in Germany has such a high concentration of top class sports facilities as Oberhof. Below we give a short insight into the top sports facilities in Oberhof.

DKB Skiing Arena on the Rennsteig – The most famous biathlon stadium in the world
Outside Norway, the biathlon and cross-country skiing have a famous home on German soil: Oberhof. Major World Cup events are regularly held here for these top sports. The world elite biathletes regularly train in Oberhof and prepare under optimal conditions for their top sporting performances in order to be able to do justice to the hard requirements of top level sport. The DKB Skiing Arena has been in Oberhof for more than 25 years, and is one of the most famous biathlon and cross-country facilities in the world. In its current modern format it was opened in 2004 as the most modern biathlon stadium for the sporting elite. All the major World Cup competitions and the Nordic Combined races take place here every year in front of numerous spectators. The levels of difficulty in the Oberhof Skiing Arena are so demanding that it counts as one of the most difficult in the world.

DKB Skiing Hall and the extensive cross-country trail system – cross-country fun all year round
The DKB Skiing Hall with its unique skiing tunnel is available for training purposes not just for professional sportsmen, but also for everyone interested in cross-country as a popular sport, offering as it does Europe’s longest covered cross-country stretch. The stretch runs for just under two kilometres with a difference in altitude of more than 13.5 metres. Anaerobic strength and fitness can be trained in the anaerobic strength arena, and endurance in the remaining cross-country courses. Artificial snow is produced by a snow machine so that the best snow conditions always prevail all year round in the DKB Skiing Hall. Biathletes can complete outdoor training even in summer on special rollers, and thanks to the Oberhof ski tunnel they can undergo real training even in the middle of August under winter conditions. The good thing is that the ski tunnel is also available for amateur sports lovers. Cross-country fans can take their turn at the professional cross-country circuits by the hour or with day tickets in the same place where otherwise Ackermann, Wilhelm and others completed their sweat-inducing training units.

Oberhof’s luge facilities – Sporting fun for all in the ice channel
Many European championships and World Cups have already been organized on Oberhof’s luge run. In this field too with its professional facilities Oberhof is world class. You too can use the ice channel, provided you are brave enough to let yourself in for a racy adventure. Four different options are available. With the summer bobsleigh and the winter bobsleigh you can experience the same feeling as the professional bobsleigh teams in their four-person bobsleigh all year round. And you won’t be riding in an imitation mock-up, but in an original four-person bobsleigh as used for prominent competitions. Three interested passengers can ride with an experienced bobsleigh pilot and surrender to the rush of speed in the ice channel, at speeds of up to 90 kilometres an hour. So this adventure is not for people with weak nerves, but for healthy adrenalin junkies. What awaits you on winter days on the ice track takes place in summer on rollers, but the adrenalin rush remains the same. If the 90 kilometres an hour seems a bit much for you, you can have a go instead at a very special new type of adventure: bobsleigh ice rafting. Instead of a professional four-person bobsleigh, the participants take their place in a bobsleigh-like four-person rubber dinghy under the guidance of an experienced pilot, on which the group hurtles down the smooth ice channel in winter. Nor is this ride in any way slow. At 70 kilometres an hour, the factor 2 gravity acceleration is still just one third of that of a real bobsleigh. If these adrenalin-laden rushes of speed are still too much for you, you could go for a fun ride in the ice tube. Here you travel all on your own on a ring-shaped rubber dinghy down the ice track and can look forward to zippy speeds of 40 to 50 kilometres an hour. The luge track in Oberhof offers the perfect leisure fun for anyone who is brave enough, from real hardened enthusiasts to the less brave, both in summer and in winter. If you like rollercoasters, you will love the bobsleigh experience, which is leisure fun of a very special kind which no sports lover should miss. Sheer adrenalin and fun!

Oberhof – The ideal holiday destination for everyone
Sportspeople have valued Oberhof for a long time. Now more and more amateur sportspeople are discovering the attractive little town in Thuringia. Oberhof is very varied and hence an ideal holiday destination for everyone. Despite all the superlatives in the winter sports area, Oberhof is also a holiday destination that offers plenty of variety and enjoyment at all other times of the year too. Here you can either relax or be active. Or best of all opt for a healthy mix of both. At our hotel you can surrender to recuperative dreams in our comfortable and excellently equipped rooms. After an eventful day, unwind in a session in the in-house sauna followed by relaxing your tired limbs by swimming a couple of lengths in the pool. Next day plenty of leisure and sports options will be waiting for you once again. Amaze your friends with a cross-country holiday in high summer and enjoy the incredulous looks you receive. Once you tell them that you have been practising your healthy endurance sport in the famous indoor skiing hall in Oberhof even in the middle of summer, they will envy you. With your summer training you can get well ahead of your friends in the winter. You will be in better condition, will have sharpened up your technique and will have treated yourself to skiing enjoyment all year round. Oberhof offers the right type of sport for every taste. While skiing lovers no longer need to give up their cross-country trails in summer, others prefer to take to the golf course. Women are often attracted to the tennis court or squash halls. And anyway with the Rennsteig, Oberhof is one of the most beautiful hiking regions in Germany. Oberhof is the dream destination for everyone, because everyone can do what they want here, with no restrictions and with many professional facilities.

Oberhof puts you in a great mood – with or without snow
It goes without saying that Oberhof has many sports facilities to offer even without snow at all. As well as the option of indulging in cross-country skiing in the skiing hall even in summer, or riding on the bobsleigh track, there are naturally many other great sports options. Fans of Nordic Walking will find glorious stretches in and around Oberhof for different levels of fitness. Meanwhile Oberhof is also a real magnet for mountain bikers. The Rennsteig offers plenty of challenges for cross-country riding. You can tell how much Oberhof is in demand for racing cyclists by the fact that the region has optimal differences in altitude for effective cycle training. At the Woodjump high ropes course there is climbing fun in store for young and old, and it is a destination for outings by the entire family. Kitted out with your helmet and secured by professional rope equipment, active types can look at Oberhof from an entirely different perspective: from the treetops and from the heights of the rope course. The climbing tour is not suitable for totally unsporting types, but if you are agile you can enjoy unique sporting enjoyment. If you like things a bit quieter, the Herzoglicher Golf-Club in Oberhof offers a course where golf is played both hickory style and the classic way. And if you prefer modern leisure sports, naturally you will find tennis, squash, skittles and bowling on offer in Oberhof. If you love sheer exercise, put your trainers on and run along the Rennsteig. Naturally hiking is also an active sports option, which is kind to your joints and relaxing at the same time.

And for anyone who did not know, Oberhof also had one very special highlight for visitors and television viewers: In March 2010 Stefan Raab came to Oberhof bringing his fun cooking pots from Asia in his luggage, his woks. On these Stefan Raab roared down the ice channel against a series of prominent opponents and waged serious competition against his fellow combatants, thus luring the nation’s television viewers in front of their screens once again with this hit event!