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The last adventure - Europe's longest rally called the "Tour d'Europe"

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Created on April 9, 2019

Reading time 13min

Written by:

Holger Bohne, Thomas Mager

Photos:

Archiv Thomas Mager

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Werner Mothes

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Reinhard Schuster

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Holger Bohne, Archiv Thomas Mager

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Archiv Thomas MagerJürgen Riethmüller, Jörg Schneider auf Ford

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Hermann Walker

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Hermann Kohrs

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Jürgen Riethmüller

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Hallo Fahrerlager / Archiv Rainer Braun

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Norbert Schröder

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Archiv Thomas Mager

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Werner Mothes

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Reinhard Schuster

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Holger Bohne, Archiv Thomas Mager

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Archiv Thomas MagerJürgen Riethmüller, Jörg Schneider auf Ford

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Hermann Walker

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Hermann Kohrs

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Jürgen Riethmüller

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Hallo Fahrerlager / Archiv Rainer Braun

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Archiv Thomas Mager, Norbert Schröder

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Holger Bohne mit Co-Pilot Reinhold Fricker im Mercedes 500 SL - Gesamtsieger Tour d'Europe 1983

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Untergrund-Kämpfer - die Versuchsingenieure Hans Beck (links) und Herbert Heuser gewinnen 1966 im selbst präparierten Opel Kadett die Marathon-Rallye „Tour d’Europe“

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Die Route der ersten Tour d'Europe im Jahr 1956

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Wie dieser DKW 3-6 waren auch die anderen Autos mit etlichen Zusatzaccesoires ausgestattet - Tour d'Europe 1956

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Die Strecken der Tour d'Europe führten an abenteuerliche Orte, auch fernab von Europa durch Wüsten und Schneestürme

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Am 1. Juni startete in Hannover die Tour d'Europe Continental 1956, an der auch verschiedene Fahrzeuge vom Typ Isabella teilnehmen

Bild von Partner Porsche AMAG November Foto-Galerie 2025

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Man hatte sich schon damals gut vorbereitet auf 13'000 km Strapazen

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Auch die «crème de la crème» des Automobilbaus war 1956 an dem Start – Startnummer 101 Fernando Stock, Henry Charles Rugerony

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Tour d'Europe 1983 - Dreifacher Sieger der Tour d'Europe Holger Bohne gönnt sich eine Rauchpause

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Tour d'Europe 1984 - Holger Bohnes Ford Sierra XR8

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Renault 5 Turbo von Hans Ky und Heinz Kieslich - in der Mitte sieht man Thomas Mager

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Tour d'Europe 1984 - Startnummer 6 Helmut Hartwig, Karl-Heinz Engel

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Tour d'Europe 1991 - Motorrevision in Istanbul

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Zeitnehmer Herbert Prochnow auf dem Weg zum Einsatz

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Thomas Mager (rechts) bereit für den Einsatz, dann v.r.n.l. Hans Ky, Marina Richter, Thomas Lasch, Heinz Kieslich

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Tour d'Europe 1991

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Peugeot 505 GRi von Holger Bohne und Peter Diekmann

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - das Fahrzeug von Holger Bohne

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Holger Bohne als VW-Werksfahrer im Rallye-Golf 1 an der Hessen Rallye 1979

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Zeitnehmer Marianne, Herbert Prochnow und Christa Mothes auf dem Weg zum Einsatz

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Tour d'Europe 1984 - Gruppenfoto von Teilnehmern

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Streckenführung der Tour d'Europe 1956

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Tour d'Europe 1956 - So wurde die Fahrt geplant

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Roadbook fast wie heute

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Tour d'Europe 1981 - Holger Bohne gewinnt die Rallye auf Peugeot

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Tour d'Europe 1956 - Notizen eines Copiloten

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Tour d'Europe 1956 - Notizen eines Copiloten

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Summary

The longest rally "Tour d'Europe" was held for the first time in 1956. This is unique in and of itself, but when a former rally winner personally describes his impressions, exciting entertainment is guaranteed! Our report by Holger Bohne, three-time Tour d'Europe winner and former service man Thomas Mager, presents this unique event and recalls the first edition in 1956 in detail.

This article contains the following chapters

Top-class hosts and forces of nature
Good press despite fatalities
Participants from all over the world right from the start
Tour d'Europe as a benchmark for suitability
The first Tour d'Europe in 1956
About Holger Bohne
About Thomas Mager

Estimated reading time: 13min

Preview (beginning of the article)

When Joachim Tietsch, the regional sports director of the ADAC Lower Saxony, and Hans-Georg Dobler, the future publisher of "Rallye Racing", set off across half of Europe in 1954 to determine a route for a long-distance event, nobody knew that this would be the birth of an adventurous rally that would thrill both participants and spectators with its transnational concept and its enormous length. Today, the "Tour d'Europe" is rightly one of the legends of motorsport, created at a time when there were still road races such as the Mille Miglia. There had never been a reliability rally of this length before. The Rallye Maroc and the Rallye Monte Carlo were previously regarded as the longest and toughest events. Even the spectacular Liège-Rome-Liège (later Liège-Sofia-Liège) was a "short" event, covering 5,000 km over 5 days. This new Tour d'Europe was extremely demanding on both equipment and riders. As a result, the list of starters and winners mainly included drivers who also had a name in international rallying.

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