Quidditch Takes off in Germany

By Florian Missler

Quidditch is becoming a worldwide sport. With its roots in the United States, the sport went a long way to Europe where the sport is rapidly expanding. Quidditch in Germany started off in 2012 with its first permanent team, the Taunus Thestrals. The sport has since grown, and there are now six active teams in Germany with a few more playing every now and then.

One of these teams is Quidditch Darmstadt, located at Technische Universität Darmstadt. This team was founded by Jonas Zinn, who first played quidditch at the University of California, Berkeley while studying abroad. In order to continue playing back home, he talked to the sports coordinator of his university and got quidditch to become a part of the campus sports program. Cold weather and rain as well as midterm and final seasons may discourage some people, but by presenting the sport as an ordinary one just like football or basketball, the team is constantly growing. Team captain Jonas Zinn states that “Participating at tournaments and, of course, winning them” will be the next steps they are aiming for.

The origins of the Black Forest Bowtruckles in Freiburg are quite similar. After playing quidditch at the University of British Columbia in Canada, Bowtruckles founder Juliane Schillinger refused to stop just because there was no team in Southern Germany. The team is now captained by Adrian Schleeh, a founding player. The quidditch team will soon become part of the sports program at the University of Freiburg. With some secret strategies from the Forest they can’t wait to compete with other teams, both nationally and internationally.

In order to organize these teams, the national league and, with regards to the upcoming European Games, the national team, the German national governing body is currently emerging. Under the name “Deutscher Quidditchbund” (DQB), quidditch players from all over Germany will soon become part of a bigger family that will ensure coherent rules and gameplay as well as national competitions and tournaments. More information will become available next year.

German quidditch is already present on the international quidditch stage. Numerous players representing Quidditch Frankfurt, the Three River Dragons from Passau, and the Black Forest Bowtruckles joined Miami University's European Center in Luxembourg for a weekend of quidditch action in mid-November. And with the European Quidditch Cup lying ahead, Germany will make sure to be represented there as well.

For recent information on German quidditch, visit the DQB Facebook page.