1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Camel Races in Germany No Sure Bet

DW staff (dc)February 26, 2006

Some people will do anything for money. Like the head of Dortmund's racing association. In a desperate bid to draw more mid-winter visitors to the track, he put his money on desert dromedaries.

https://p.dw.com/p/82g5
They have to be in the moodImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Unlike horses, camels really don't like to race. They have to be coaxed, pushed, and motivated to run. But Hans Hugo Miebach, the president of the racing association in the western German city of Dortmund, is hoping all that effort will pay off.

Kamelrennen
Could camel races be the next big craze to sweep Germany?Image: picture-alliance/dpa

After watching a documentary about camel racing on public television, Miebach decided that would be just the thing to pull Dortmund's racetrack out of the midwinter doldrums. The exotic appeal of a camel race could easily draw double the amount of visitors on a cold, drizzly Sunday than your standard horse race, he reasoned.

That is, if he can actually get the diffident dromedaries in the competitive spirit. At test races held on Friday, the camels in question seemed much more interested in the lush green grass growing alongside the track, than crossing the finish line.