Everything will be fine in the end...
02/21/2025
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...and if it's not good, that's not the end. So it goes. The first weekend in August is always a fixed date for the Classic Days. Since his birthday also falls at this time, it's easy to remember.
As is well known, the event took place around the baroque moated castle Dyck from 2006 to 2019. People enjoyed coming to this relaxed garden party in the Rhineland and spontaneously remember important and unimportant events. For example, the soaked park meadow after a shower, but also the club vehicles lined up in the so-called miscanthus field in the sweltering heat.
I will also never forget the scene when the author, who was waiting at the circuit, listened to an eerie swelling noise, which could then be attributed to a compressor racing car from the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow era. I also remember a press conference at which one of the slim, classically dressed models simply toppled over. The classic cars at the beauty contests on the Orangerie Peninsula are also unforgettable, especially the Delahaye 135 M owned by the late Peter Mullin.
I had traveled to Stuttgart to photograph this car weeks earlier. It looked particularly good against the backdrop of the castle.
Then came the dark coronavirus times and so there were no Classic Days in 2020 and 2021. A year later, a new start was made, but no longer at Schloss Dyck, but at the linguistically ambiguous parking lot area of Düsseldorf Airport. Its accessibility was good, the event seemed more compact and clearer. The organizer had also made an effort to put on an attractive programme. I spontaneously associate the 2022 edition with the replica of the Mercedes-Benz SSKL streamliner ("the cucumber"), which was allowed to do its rounds there.
The audience seemed to have accepted the change of location. However, even though the venue ultimately boasted considerably more greenery than expected, the atmosphere of a garden party did not really materialize. There was also no magnificent Concours d'Elegance, but the considerable aircraft noise was omnipresent. The following year, the reporter was only able to visit the Classic Days on Sunday, but unfortunately the impression was incomplete.
Heavy rainfall had not spared the grounds and the event had to be canceled at 1 p.m. due to a storm warning.
In the Rhineland, they say that anything that has already taken place for the third time is already a tradition. But this was not to be the case.
In 2024, disagreements with the approval authorities meant that the organizer felt unable to hold the event at the usual level of quality.
But that is a thing of the past. The Classic Days have been announced again for 2025, with a new location. So it made sense to familiarize ourselves with it.
So on a gloomy February day, we set off for the Birkhof manor in Korschenbroich, which was first mentioned as a manor in the 13th century. It is only a stone's throw away from Dyck Castle, so the rural surroundings are familiar.
Although the main building is not a castle, it is a three-winged, listed building complex from the 17th century. Traditionally, agriculture and livestock farming were practiced here and almost 100 years ago, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths were added.
Long avenues lead to the farm and there is a park with historic trees that was unfortunately not accessible at the time of my visit.
Next to the farm and an outbuilding with a café are the extensive grounds of a 36-hole golf course. It is already easy to imagine how the organizer will place its tried-and-tested "Jewels in the Park" or "Charm & Style" themes in this spacious setting. There will also be a 2.6 km circuit. This will lead through an avenue of chestnut trees protected as a natural monument, then around the golf course and finally back to the manor house via an avenue of lime trees.
As far as it was possible, the author took a look at it all. It should be a nice circuit. After an espresso and a slice of Milanese cake in the "Zum Tulpenfeld" café, we then went back to the "old" circuit at Schloss Dyck to say goodbye.
This chapter is now closed for me. What follows should be exciting. It is to be expected that everything will be fine in the end with the Classic Days 2025.
