Latest news with #Bratwurst
New European
10-05-2025
- Business
- New European
The football club letting fans in for free
'Die einzig wahren Farben für uns sind rot und weiss!' sing the two excited young brothers, banging on the sides of the U-Bahn in Düsseldorf – 'the only true colours for us are red and white!' The tram is busier than usual, even for a Fortuna home game on a sunny Saturday lunchtime. Not because the team are doing particularly well (they only have an outside chance of promotion to the Bundesliga) and not because of high-profile opposition (Preußen Münster are battling to stay up), but because, today, all 52,000 tickets are completely free. Now into its second season, Fortuna Düsseldorf's 'Fortuna für alle' (Fortuna for all) initiative sees the club voluntarily foregoing ticketing revenue and compensating it with sponsorship from an alliance of high-profile, local businesses who want to be associated with a new, socially inclusive business model. 'We got lucky in the lottery and thought we'd make a weekend of it,' say one couple, exiled Fortuna fans from Unna, near Dortmund, while another fan shouts to his mate to pass the Jägermeister down the carriage – at 11:20am, it should be said. Fortuna für alle began with a three-game pilot last season and was expanded to four free games this season, with the ultimate aim of one day offering all 17 home games to fans free of charge. 'Simply continuing with business-as-usual was no option for us,' said Alexander Jobst, the chief executive. 'This is our answer to some of the challenges facing professional football.' Despite playing in a 52,000-capacity stadium in one of Germany's richest cities, Fortuna have traditionally struggled to match the passion of close neighbours like Schalke, Cologne or Borussia Mönchengladbach, or the sporting success of Borussia Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen. 'In a city of this size with a stadium of this size, there is so much potential,' says Jobst. 'Düsseldorf has top ambitions. Both businesses and fans want Fortuna to be in the Bundesliga. But from an economic point of view, I say: the engine needs petrol first.' Outside the MERKUR-Spiel-Arena, older fans are filling their tanks with sizzling Bratwurst washed down with dark, local Altbier. A notably large number of young children play on the grassy slopes near the turnstiles. Katrin is a season ticket holder and is happy that the stadium is full for 'less attractive' games, when normally it would normally be 'half empty'. But she worries that the scheme could attract too many people who are just there for a free day out rather than to actually support Fortuna. Her mother, Ursula, however, points out that the vast majority of the sell-out crowd is wearing red and white merchandise. 'They must have already been fans, they must have had the gear in the wardrobe somewhere, so maybe they just couldn't afford to come.' Indeed, despite German football's reputation for cheap tickets (and standing tickets on the terraces are generally less than €15), a single match for a family of five, with all it entails, could easily cost €150. Fortuna came agonisingly close last season, losing a dramatic promotion play-off on penalties. They're too far off the pace this season, despite a 1-0 win over Münster. After that game, the players mentioned the difference a full stadium makes, especially when holding on with ten men. 'It's an amazing feeling when the whole stadium celebrates a tackle like a goal,' says centre-back Jamil Siebert. 'We need this energy more than ever,' said David Kownacki, the goalscorer. 'Football is a cultural asset which should be accessible to all,' says Jobst. 'That's a key element of 'Fortuna für alle.' But we also want success. We want to play in the Bundesliga.' Matt Ford is a British football journalist living in Germany
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dilworth restaurant closing after 13 years
JJ's Red Hots' last Charlotte restaurant will close March 16 after a nearly 13-year run. The hand-crafted hot dog brand is at 1514 East Blvd. in Dilworth. Owner Jonathan Luther spoke with the Charlotte Business Journal today, saying the decision was still raw, but he remains optimistic for JJ's future. He'll miss seeing the guests and being part of their daily lives from birthday parties to a gathering spot after baseball games. READ: The Good Wurst Co. closes final restaurant 'We did everything we possibly could,' he says. 'We probably should have done this two years ago — to be honest. But we just kept trying as hard as we could to keep it alive.' JJ's specializes in hot dogs, including Bratwurst and Andouille sausage, with all kinds of toppings and sides. The company will continue to operate food trucks and be available for private events. Continue reading here. WATCH: Carolina Strong: Dilworth residents work to keep their neighborhood parks clean
New European
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
The Leipzig sausage-fest
What is it about Germans and sausage? They like nothing better than grilling bangers on a barbecue and drinking beer. It has to be Bratwurst of course – those are the plump pork-and-beef sausages from Thuringia. Add a bread roll, a dollop of potato salad and industrial quantities of mild yellow mustard (which must be from Bautzen). And that's it. Usually it's the men who light the charcoal and turn the sausages on the grill, with the tongs in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. The women are in the kitchen, peeling potatoes. And usually it's a warm summer evening on the allotment ( Kleingarten ) or in the backyard ( Hinterhof ). It's quintessentially German, in the same way that cricket teas and village fetes are so very English. So the recent city centre grillfest in Leipzig's market square was an extraordinary, baffling event. Why would hundreds of people choose to spend eight hours outdoors on their feet in freezing fog, grilling against the clock? The clue is in the costumes. There are grill teams dressed up as kings, vikings, witches, fairies, bees, butterflies, American NFL footballers. even giant prawns. This is because many of the team members also belong to Carnival (Karneval) clubs. Karneval is known as Fasching here in formerly atheist-communist eastern Germany. It's celebrated on Shrove Monday, two days before Ash Wednesday. But Fasching has little to do with religion. It's a great big street party with processions of floats, costumed dancers and musicians. So the winter grilling contest is a sort of prequel to Fasching . It brings the teams together after the Christmas and New Year holidays, raises funds, and everyone loves it. They cram into the Grill Your Own Sausage enclosure, knocking back bottled beer from the festival sponsor, Ur-Krostitzer brewery. Some daredevils try their skills on the beer rodeo – a bouncy castle for grown-ups with a giant inflatable beer bottle in the middle. The player straddles the bottle. The operator presses the button. And immediately the bouncy bottle bucks and twists like a bronco, throwing the player on to the inflatable bed. For most, once is enough. There's another giant inflatable beer bottle and this one has a name – Uri. He waddles on to the stage to present each winning team with merch advertising the brewery, from bathrobes to baseball caps. To win a prize, a finished grilled sausage must pass four vigorous tests. How does it look? Is it cooked through, but not burned? How does it feel in the mouth? And how does it taste? To make it a fair contest, there is a standard-issue sausage for all grill-teams, supplied by the co-sponsor, Wolf. And they each get a standard-issue small portable barbecue and cooking utensils. What's more important, in these days of 'Veganuary', it's not all sausage. The tournament now allows teams to bring their own ingredients and concoct a 'non-sausage alternative grilled item'. The winners in this category were a team of witches. They scored top points with their grillable pie containing a mix of gorgonzola cheese, roasted walnuts and a drizzle of honey. A runner-up dished out grilled pineapple with lime and chilli. Less exotic was the musical accompaniment – an Elvis impersonator and a young woman belting out Helene Fischer songs. But the crowds loved them, deftly holding on to their beer bottles as they danced and sang along. For 15 years the annual winter grilling festival has followed this formula. But then Germans appreciate predictability. One of their favourite films for New Year's Eve is the English cult classic Dinner for One , with its immortal catchphrase, often quoted whenever a group of Germans are planning an annual event… 'The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?' asks the butler. 'Of course, James,' replies Miss Sophie, 'The same procedure as every year.' Jane Whyatt is a journalist, newsreader and independent TV producer
