In the late summer of 1989 a very special event was the spotlight of world politics: The drawing aside of the Iron Curtain. This revealed a unique part of nature – the European Green Belt – the former border between east and west and its neighbourhood. Here, until 20 years ago, there was an insurmountable border that harboured a fascinating natural environment with a diverse variety of species. The Green Belt, which today unites people from east and west, symbolizes a historical monument for overcoming Europe’s division.
The NATURATHLON, the prestigious outdoor sports event run by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, celebrates this anniversary and in cooperation with the Austrian Agency for Environmental Protection puts the spotlight back on the European Green Belt.
The cross-border event with its theme “Nature without borders” takes place from 19 to 30 August 2009.
24 sports(wo)men of the six abutting states of the Central European Green Belt (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary) will cycle along the course of the European Green Belt.
The opening ceremony will take place near the Hungarian town of Sopron (“Pan European Picnic” place). Here, near the border between Austria and Hungary, on 19 August 1989 in the course of a peace demonstration, the “Pan European Picnic” event, the Iron Curtain was first lifted. It was also here, where the first mass escape to the West by GDR-citizens took place.
After a prologue stage in the area of the border triangle (Austria, Hungary, and Slovenia) a NATURATHLON party is to be celebrated on the eve (18.08.09) of the official opening ceremony in Sopron. Then, on 19 August 2009 during the opening ceremony between 06.00 am and 08.00 am, after a symbolic breakfast and a public “Run for Peace”, the starter’s gun will be fired and the sports(wo)men will commence the route to Strasbourg.
The Naturathletes cycle along the Green Belt to Point Alpha on the former inner-German border where NATO and the Red Army stood face to face in the Cold War. Thereafter, via Frankfurt and Karlsruhe to Strasbourg, the home of the European Parliament, a greeting message, which contains a call for the protection and preservation of the European Green Belt, is being delivered by the Naturathletes. On the eve of the arrival in Strasbourg, a grand NATURATHLON festival with live music will be celebrated in Karlsuhe on 29 August 2009.
At selected stops along the route further events for local citizens will take place. Various sporting activities will be introduced by the Naturathletes and tasks dealing with nature conservation will have to be accomplished. If feasible, the last kilometres of the day may be arranged as Public Stages so that recreational athletes as well as nature enthusiasts can accompany the Naturathletes.