Western theme parks in CZ and PL -- catching up

Me at the Western Park in Boskovice

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I updated this blog... time seems to fly faster and faster and, well, I'm lazy...and then again it's easier just to post links on the Facebook page... But I'll try to do some catching up in the next few days....

First, Wild West theme parks.

I managed to get to two of them this summer -- "Twin Pigs" in Poland, and the Western Park (once called Wild West City) outside Boskovice in the Czech Republic.

I've visited a number of wild west theme parks in Europe over the years -- they are key elements in the Imaginary Wild West. Real Imaginary spaces that have grown out of dreams, passions, stereotypes, and yearnings -- but also help create them.

This was my first visit to Twin Pigs -- but the latest of several to Boskovice.

The Boskovice park was founded in 1994 as a private initiative by a local man, Luboš "Jerry" Procházka, who developed the park in a natural setting in and around a disused sandstone quarry. The first time I visited -- in, I believe, 1997 -- it was out of season and the park was closed; I could only look at it over a fence. But I was struck by the view of the saloon and other movie-set buildings.

My first view of Wild West City, in 1997 - out of season

At that time, I was researching my book "Virtually Jewish" -- about the relationship of non-Jewish people to Jewish culture in Europe. I wrote this in an essay published at the time in The New Leader magazine (and also in my 2008 book "Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere)"):

Some people compare Europe's current interest in Jewish culture with the United States' interest in Native Americans. To be sure, I have seen Indian dolls wearing beaded costumes for sale in the Denver train station that reminded me of the "Jewish" puppets and figures I have photographed in Prague, Krakow, and Venice.

I was not surprised, therefore, by two posters I found on display in the Boskovice tourist office. One is for a jazz festival whose proceeds are to go toward renovation of the Jewish quarter. The other advertises a rodeo at a place called "Wild West City: Boskovice's Western Town." It features photographs of people dressed up like American Indians riding horses, with corrals, rickety wooden structures and even tepees in the background. A handbill shows a seductive Indian maiden looking over her shoulder.

I found Wild West City on my map, the edge of Boskovice, and stopped there on my way out of town. It is a theme park set up in an old quarry that resembles a stage set from a John Ford movie, replete with a flimsy wooden saloon and general store. A sign at the entrance reads, "Indian Territory." Another notes the kilometers to various spots in the American West -- most of them spelled incorrectly. It's off-season The place is deserted. The only sound is that of hoofbeats, as a costumed employee rides a horse round and round the repro corral.

Boskovice's Wild West main street

On subsequent visits over the years, I spoke with Jerry -- who is still the owner and managing director -- and observed the town "in action." It includes the usual wild west tropes -- a "main street," saloon, "boot hill",  bank, "Indian Village" etc.

In the Boskovice "Indian Village"

But I've always found it much more low key and laid back than some of the others I have visited -- there's a dusty slightly rundown feel -- though I did notice on my visit this July that some of the buildings had been repainted since my last visit. There also seemed to be more activity elements aimed at kids.

The imagery is based on US western movies and Karl May books, but it also is influenced by Czech tramping tropes. The Czech movie Lemonade Joe, a 1964 spoof of the singing cowboy genre, also plays a role -- in particular with the big "advertising" mural for "Kola Loka" -- the sarsparilla type drink enjoyed by the movie's hero.

Performance at Boskovice Wild West city in 2004

The park includes an outdoor theatre where live performances take place -- I didn't see one this summer (it apparently was based on the shootout at the OK Corral) but some years back I took in a performance based on Karl May's Winnetou characters.

Twin Pigs, located in southern Poland near Zory, off a main highway, is a somewhat different story, It employs the same general skeleton, but has quite a different feel: a purpose-built construct born out of a commercial business plan rather than from personal passion.

Opened in 2012, it is described as an amusement park, and it is much more "top down," planned out, and hard-edged than Boskovice, with its grassroots origin and -- despite recent improvements -- still rather amateur feel.

There is a regular lay-out along the Main Street, and also a ferris wheel, roller coaster, and other rides, restaurants, a 5D theater, and children's activity trails. Lots of red-white-and-blue bunting and American flags (and a few Confederate ones, too).
 

Twin Pigs main street, toward saloon

Twin Pigs Indian Village

Twin Pigs ferris wheel

Twin Pigs Main Street

Western Park Boskovice web site

Twin Pigs web site

Watch the movie Lemonade Joe

Italian country (sort of). Max Pezzali "i cowboy non mollano"

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Released Jan. 10, the latest single -- and video -- of the Italian popstar Max Pezzali is a country-style song, with the video filmed at an Italian wild west theme park, the Cowboys' Guest Ranch in Voghera.

The song is a single off his album Max 20, one of the top 10 selling albums in Italy in 2013.





Pezzali is not a country singer, and as far as I know none of his other songs approach the country music genre or use wild west props in the videos.

According to a quote carried on his web site,  the new song reflects the fact that "in these difficult times, the world seems like a gigantic Far West without certainties or points of reference: charlatans, hucksters, and thugs of all types rage in the boundless prairies of the third millennium. Luckily there still exists a silent majority of people who tend to the facts, concreteness and hard work, getting up every morning without ever giving up. Because cowboys don't let go."









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Filming at Pullman City Passau

The Star-Spangled Banner, during the American History Show. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

As  posted earlier, I was back in  Pullman City, a wild west theme park in Bavaria, near Passau, a few weeks ago for some filming on a documentary on “Cowboys, Indians and Europeans” that is being made by the New York filmmaker Riva Freifeld, whose past work includes a documentary on Annie Oakley.

I’ve been exploring and researching the American wild west/American frontier in the European imagination for some years now. Good lord, 10 years in fact — I researched my first article on the topic (a travel piece on Pullman City and other European wild west theme parks for the New York Times) back in the summer of 2003, and already in 2004 I had a visiting scholar fellowship at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles to look into the marketing of the Frontier Myth abroad.

With Riva at Pullman’s Mexican restaurant, after the shoot. Photo: Stefan Grandinetti

What can I say about this latest visit to Pullman? In short -- it was fun — and a bit of old home week, as I caught up with some folks I had met years ago. Best of all, Riva thinks we got some good footage. She and her cameraman, Stefan Grandinetti, filmed me interviewing a variety of people who work (or hang out) at Pullman — from an “18th century minuteman” who has built a cabin in the “authentic section” of the park, where hobbyists and reenactors can construct their own dwellings, to Hunting Wolf, the “half blood Cheyenne” who conducts programs based (in part) on Native American lore; to Detleff Jeschke, a former prize-winner rodeo rider who has long been the park’s program director.

The scene was much as I found it in 2003 and on my subsequent visits (the last time I had been there was at Xmas in 2009, when my country singer friend Willie Jones played Santa -- I posted about that on this blog.

Here are some pictures from the shoot last month:

Hunting Wolf and his buffalos. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

Riva and Stefan filming the American History Show. That’s Detty Jeschke on the horse. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

The minuteman hobbyist “Richard Baker” reads the Declaration of Independence during the American History Show. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

In the saloon…. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

I always enjoy going to Pullman City Passau…and also to Pullman City Harz, a sister wild west theme park in north-central Germany. These places become a world of their own.

At Pullman City Passau, the organizers are keen to emphasize that it is a “living” western town, because of the “Authentic Area” where hobbyists actually live — on weekends and vacation time. Some come even in the winter, modeling their “real imaginary” lifestyles on the 19th century past, even in the bitter cold.

A number of songs have been written about both Pullmans.  They tend to play on the country music trope of “home” that make “Country Roads” and “Sweet Home Alabama” so popular….

Here’s the official Pullman City song, declaring that Pullman City is “my home town.”

And this one seems to have been written by a fan

 

Filming in Pullman City!

This is a picture from several years ago, but some of these guys may have been in the Pullman City saloon last night! Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

Just a quick note -- I arrived in Pullman City, the wild west theme park in Bavaria, to do some filming on Revia Freifeld's documentary on the imaginary wild west in Europe, The Old World and the Old West!

I has been just over ten years since my first visit here, when I wrote about it for the New York Times. I've been here several times since then... looking forward to see what's changed and what has not....

This is what I wrote after my first visit, and it still stands!

IT'S nowhere near high noon, but a tough-looking hombre in a black leather vest, black stovepipe pants and a black cowboy hat is sauntering down the dusty length of a frontier Main Street, a gun belt slung low on his hips.
He strolls past the sheriff's office, the Palace Hotel and a saddled horse hitched loosely to a wooden railing, then pauses for a moment at the broad covered porch of the Black Bison Saloon.
Entering, he strides up to the bar and places his order.
''Ein bier, bitte.''
This is Pullman City, a theme park in southern Germany where more than a million visitors a year step out of 21st-century Europe into an American Wild West fantasyland of stagecoaches, gunfighters, mountain men and Indians.
Set on 50 rolling acres a two-hour drive northeast of Munich, near the Bavarian town of Eging am See, Pullman City is a compendium of mythic iconography engrained in the global psyche by well over a century of hugely popular adventure stories, movies, television shows and traveling Wild West extravaganzas.

France -- OK Corral Wild West Theme Park season opens Sunday

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The French Wild West Theme Park OK Corral opens its season on Sunday. Lots of activities, family-friendly entertainment, etc. Opening day will feature two "Zorro" shows and other events -- here's the schedule:

11h30 : Spectacle au Théâtre du Tombstone saloon.
12h30 : 1ère aventure de Zorro à Silver Dollar City
14h00 : Billy le Kid à Silver Dollar City
15h15: 2ème aventure de Zorro au Théâtre du Tombstone Saloon
16h45 : Attaque du Train par les Indiens à Silver Dollar City.
Tous les spectacle de la journée sont différents

The OK Corral is in the south of France, at Cuges-les-Pins between Marseilles and Toulon.

Spain -- Almeria Western Film Festival Coming Up

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Heads up for the Almeria Western Film Festival, the first European festival dedicated exclusively to the Western genre, coming up at Almeria on the south coast of Spain Sept. 8-11. It will be showing recent Westerns from a vareity of countries as well as a retropsective dedicated to the Spaghetti Western, which will be accompanied by panel discussions.

You can see trailers for the films to be shown on the web site.




Some of the festival events will be taking place in Fort Bravo -- a wild west theme parkin the desert, 25 kms from Almeria, that encompasses various stage sets used in the filming of European-made westerns.

FORT BRAVO is a place of dreams, the movie set of hundreds and hundreds of films produced by people from all over the five continents. The movie studios of Texas Hollywood in Tabernas are like a Mecca for film fans; located in the only desert in Europe, reality and fantasy intermingle, creating a unique, unforgettable and inimitable atmosphere.

Oh No! Pullman City files for bankruptcy!

Pullman City, during Christmas market, December 2009. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Oh no! According to news reports, Pullman City in Eging a. See, Germany, one of Europe's premier Wild West theme parks, has filed for bankruptcy.

Am Montagnachmittag hat die Pullman City Betreiber GmbH beim Amtsgericht Passau Insolvenz angemeldet. Der Betrieb soll auf alle Fälle aufrecht erhalten werden. Rechtsanwalt Oliver Mühlberger, der zum vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalter bestellt wurde, kündigte auf PaWo-Nachfrage an, dass alle kommenden Veranstaltungen wie geplant stattfinden sollen und bittet um „zahlreiche Besucher”[...]

 

Wie kann es sein, dass dieser Besuchermagnet in finanzielle Schieflage geraten konnte? Darüber wird momentan gerätselt. Liegt es daran, dass es wegen des verregneten Sommers nicht so lief, wie es eigentlich hätte laufen sollen? „Keiner hat mit einem Insolvenzantrag gerechnet, ich bin selber überrascht”, erklärt Insolvenzverwalter Mühlberger, der momentan dabei ist, sich in die Materie hineinzuarbeiten. Für ihn steht schon jetzt fest, dass die Westernstadt als „führender Freizeitpark” in der Region auf alle Fälle Zukunftspotential hat. „Der Betrieb soll wie eh und je weiterlaufen”, betont Mühlberger.

 

Die ganze Region drückt jetzt Pullman City die Daumen und hofft auf das Motto: „The Show must go on!”

Read full story on web site

Pullman City, located near Passau in Bavaria, was founded in 1997 by a group of Wild West enthusiasts who had already staged wild west shows and competitions -- I first wrote about Pullman City in a 2004 article in the New York Times. A second Pullman City now operates in central Germany near the small town of Hasselfelde. (A third one, near Vienna, Austria,  closed several years ago.)

So far its web site does not reflect any changes -- the program for the German-American Christmas market (which I attended last year) and other events is up.

Slovakia -- Silver Lake Ranch -- a Dude Ranch and Rodeo Arena near Bratislava

 Photo: Ranc na Striebornom jazere web site

Take a look at "Silver Lake Ranch" -- or Ranč na Striebornom jazere -- a dude ranch and rodeo area near Galanta, in southeast Slovakia.

The web site is in Slovak, but you can get an idea of what's what by looking at the pictures. The ranch offers guest accommodations, rodeos and other horse-riding competitions, "horse therapy" and other activities.

The name, "Silver Lake," harks back to one of the bestknown Winnetou tales by Karl May, the Treasure of Silver Lake (Der Schatz im Silversee). This was the title of the first Winnetou film starring Pierre Brice, Lex Barker and Herbert Lom, release in 1962.

Here's the original German trailer:

 And here's the English trailer:

"Silver Lake City" was the name of a short-lived wild west town near Templin, north of Berlin, Germany (which currently operates as Eldorado).

Lebanon (!) - The Imaginary Wild West near Beirut!

I just came across this web site for "El Rancho Western Park"  -- a sort of Wild West theme park  or resort ranch near Beirut, Lebanon! It will host what it calls the first-ever rodeo in the Middle East next month -- August 17-21!

For an authentic TexMex experience, set off on a dude ranch escape at El Rancho! Located in the magnificent Ghodras Hill in Keserwan, just forty minutes away from the heart of Beirut and few kilometers up the Casino du Liban, El Rancho is the ideal place for family vacations, ranch holidays, friends reunions, weddings and birthdays, or just to get away for a Texan day or under the stars for a wild west evening meal. Meandering to reach beautiful Lebanese scenery in a western breathtaking setting, El Rancho has a great cowboy ambiance, old time saloons and plenty of cowboys and cowgirls ready to serve you at best.

Situated in the middle of the 250,000 square meters of El Rancho’s estate, bungalows, tipis, and tents are on hand to have a natural, casual stress free break or to enjoy a great weekend with your family and friends. Exquisite steaks, mega burgers, healthy barbecues and “toss your own salad” are on the menu.

El Rancho offers a myriad of activities starting with horseback riding, paintball, tennis, archery, children playground, animal feeding, vegetable picking, campfires, mountain hiking and much more. Fill your day with many activities or just relax out in the arms of nature.

 I found out about El Rancho while perusing the web site for the National Day of the Cowboy -- which this year is this coming Saturday, July 24 -- which ran the following account by "Hotshot Johnny,"  one of the cowboy performers at El Rancho:

The Wild West in the Middle East!
(By Hotshot Johnny)

Bethany here at the NDOC asked me to put some words down about my recent adventures, cowboyin' in the Middle East. So... let me give you a little news from the Perpetual Motion Ranch.

My travels have taken me all over this beautiful globe. The rock we're on is an amazing place and everywhere ya go, people love cowboys. For the last 9 months I have been performing at a ranch outside Beirut in Lebanon. Yeah, I know! Wild, huh? Lebanon is a beautiful place with great people, friendly and welcoming in every way. It is kind of party-central for the Middle East during the summer, almost doubling in size as tourists come from all over Arabia, Europe and Asia.

The ranch I work on is up in the green mountains about 40 Minutes from Beirut. As you go north from Beirut on the coast, it looks like California - beach towns and green covered mountains. El Rancho Western Park is a working ranch with horses and cattle, a resort with luxury camping and bungalows and a theme park with steak house, games and entertainment. All this rolled into over one hundred acres of mountain terrain. And it is more of a ranch than many of the ranches I've worked at in the states. Producing raw-milk cheese, quail and quail eggs, chicken eggs, doing trail rides, arena shows, rock climbing, archery, paintball, dinner shows, etc. I was hired to do a show and quickly became Entertainment Director, helping them develop the venue as a tourist attraction. Last summer we produced a popular 3 day Wild West Festival and this summer we are adding a 5 day rodeo to the festival. The Cedar Stampede will be the 1st rodeo in the Middle East, ever. For a region that has such a long and rich tradition and history with horses, this proves to be an amazing prospect.

Contrary to what you might see on the news, Lebanon is a fun place, safe and friendly. If there are any riders out there that would like to compete in a once in a lifetime rodeo experience, please get a hold of me and I'd be happy to give you more info. In fact, depending on yer skill level, we might even take care of your expenses here in Lebanon if you can get yourself here.

The Cedar Stampede Rodeo & Wild West Festival is August 18 - 22, 2010. We are inviting riders from the USA, Europe and anywhere else to come. If you can swing the travel cost we will take care of you. Come early and prep on our horses and compete in the 1st western rodeo in the Middle East!

You can learn more at www.elrancholebanon.com and email me at hotshot@elrancholebanon.com. I will also be performing at End of Trail if you can stop by. See ya down the trail on the Perpetual Motion Ranch folks.

Great Britain -- resources and western theme towns

A good resource for information on country and western music and westerner scene events in the UK is the web site http://candwinfouk.ning.com/   It also has a Facebook page

Recent posts include material on two Wild West theme towns in Britain:

Laredo Western Town

Laredo is situated in Kent, 25 miles from the center of London.

Contact us by E-mail Click enquiries@laredo.org.uk

Tel: Cole on 07947 652771 or Tel: J.T. on 07947 645506


From the web site:

The town portrays the American Wild West, as it would have been in 1860 to 1890. The town has 24 buildings including Hotel, Saloon, Marshals Office, Courthouse/Church, Blacksmith, Livery, General Store, Gunsmith, Wells Fargo, Photographer, Assay Office, Bank, Doctor, Undertaker, Texas Rangers, Mining Company, Dentist, Printer, Eating House and more, Complete with Boardwalks Hitching rails and Western Street.

Inside the buildings the decor is all Western, Lighting is by oil lamps and candles, wood burning stoves for cooking and heating, using all the equipment which would have been used in this period.



At Laredo Town a group of 30 / 40 Western enthusiasts meet regularly at weekends and dress in authentic western dress of the period. Laredo Western Town is claimed to be the most authentic in ENGLAND & EUROPE . In Town there is a Stagecoach, Wagon, Chuck Wagon, Canons, and all types of Western Props and items that would have been used in this period.

Deadwood Western Town

'Wattlehurst Farm' Kingsfold Horsham West Sussex RH12 3SD

Tel : 01306627490 email: Info@deadwood.org.uk

From the web site:

Deadwood town members are proud that ' Brian Betchley ' the farm owner has kindly given his permission to have the town on his farm , and look forward to many many happy years at wattlehurst. You can visit Deadwood on open weekends between 10 am and 5 pm, and look around inside the buildings and meet the towns folk, who love to chat about the history and creation of the town . There are also some Authentic weekends at Deadwood, when westerners camp in authentic tents on a field just outside the town. Wattlehurst Farm Also Has Dance week-end's , where visiting band's provide entertainment for all in the barn All visitors are made welcome and invited to camp over night with their authentic tents on the authentic field

France -- Wild West Theme Park

 


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I just found out about this Wild West Theme Park in southern France, the OK Corral -- located between Marseille and Toulouse. It seems to have everything typical for a European Wild West town -- including a new "urban area" called Silver Dollar City.... the map of the park (above) shows  a range of attractions, from a rodeo ring to various rides, a general story and the "Mountains of the Grand Canyon." It all seems geared to "family fun" -- but let's not forget that there is a big country music and linedance scene in France, and that fans look fashionable when dressed up in western duds. Also -- France (at the annual Equiblues Rodeo and Country Music Festival in St. Agreve)  is where I saw my favorite "imaginary wild west" icon -- the "Heritage Authentic" T-shirt that incorporates images of an Indian warrior, a shaman, Monument Valley and a speeding truck....

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Gotta go there! (Hey, why else to go to the south of France....?)

Germany -- Xmas at Pullman City: Video of Willie Jones as Santa

Here's a video of Willie Jones doing his Santa Claus thing this past December at the German-American Xmas market at Pullman City Wild West theme park near Eging am See in Bavaria. (I already posted still photos -- HERE). Enjoy!