Words + photos by Axel “Pudi” Görger
“A few weeks ago I visited my friend Matt from Minus Ramps and Pools. I hadn’t seen him for more then two and a half years. Reason enough to go for that ten hour drive from my place to Matt’s home. Another good reason was that Soup, the mastermind behind General Sherman’s Radius Floats, was visiting Matt. I had planned to stay just for the weekend, but I soon realized that this was not enough time.
Matt is a crazy guy. It is hard to keep up with this dude’s high energy level. He wanted to show Soup and me some of his latest projects. We drove to Hamburg Nettelnburg, where Matt and his hard working crew just had finished a nice flow park right next to a youth center.
We did a little work, some finishing touches to the new concrete. Later, it luckily had stopped raining so we grabbed our boards and skated till it started dripping again. Wow, what a fun little park (900 square meters).
We took off to Hamburg Wilhelmsburg, where Matt and his crew had built a park for an International Garden Show in 2013. Booom!!!! This park is a jewel. Unfortunately it was wet, no chance to skate, but just walking around that beautiful snakerun-bowl- combo, checking the high quality concrete work got me hyped.
The next day we drove to Bremen check the Ueberseestadt Park. Kawooom! Another top notch location for skateboarding in northern Germany. Just walking around and looking at that piece made me speechless. A huge bowl area, with a cradle oververt wave, the “turbine” and a ridiculous big quarter pipe (just the bowl area is around 1000 square meters). Even the street area, I normally don’t care too much, looked like a lot fun. Autumn moisture, rain at night, had left big parts of the park wet and unskatable.
But Matt had a gas burner with him and he immediately started to dry the surface of the pool. This thing is a challenge! I’ve never experienced something as close to a real backyard swimming pool in a public skatepark. The scene up in Bremen, being involved in the planning of the park, had demanded something like this. Tiles, loveseat, light, three deathboxes, diverse pockets and for sure some stairs. Do not expect to do your favorite mini ramp tricks in that pool – like in a real pool, you have to work hard for everything in that piece.
Thanks a lot to Minus Ramps and Pools for creating those beautiful, unique places of pleasure and pain.” – Pudi
For more pictures of the Ueberseestadt Park in Bremen check the Minus site.
All photos by Pudi (except where noted, by Minus Pools and Phillip Fischer).
can you give me the address?? i hope skate in that beauty extrem place!
Bremen skatepark, Überseestadt, street: Am Winterhafen
Adress is correct, if it doesnt work just do:
“Am Winterhafen, 28217 Bremen”.
Still… So stoked of that Park in Bremen.
The Pala Bend Pool and Übersee Bowl were designed by the locals of Bremen in 2010/11, revised and built by Minus Ramps in 2014.
A perfect, gnarly Backyard-Pool Replica and one of the best Bowls of Germany. Even just the Pala Bend is worth the visit!!
Even though the city wouldnt spent the money for the pool tiles, Minus Ramps decided to do them without getting paid for it – cause every skater by heart knowes that a Backyard Pool without tiles doesnt feel like a Backyard Pool. Thanks to Minus!
Every Skater out there, visit the Pala Bend and have a gnarly session with the locals!! Beers, Tunes and Slahers over your favourite Deathbox!!!
(Where the name “Pala Bend” comes from:
The similarity of the loveseat to the loveseat of the Pala Pool (California) and the Sitewall Pocket is inspired by the Gila Bend Pool (Arizona).)