The Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring are the two oldest and most famous racetracks in Germany. The 90th anniversary will be celebrated in the Eifel in June. In May 2017, it was 85 years ago that the first race was held in Hockenheim. The old Hockenheimring was a poor man's racetrack in 1932. Two forest straights connected by two bends.
The Nürburgring, which opened in 1927, was considered the most beautiful and most difficult permanent race track in the world right from the start.
But as different as the layout of the two tracks was back then. What both Hockenheim and the Eifel had in common was that both circuits were built as job creation schemes. One was built for 15 million Reichsmarks, the other for 60,000 Reichsmarks. As different as the beginnings of the two circuits were, they have fought a tough duel over the course of their long history.
A real "wrestling match" for big races, lots of spectators, even more money and, in the end, for Formula 1. A rivalry that would ultimately lead both into the red.
Eberhard Reuß, author of the film documentaries "Jochen Rindt's Last Summer", "Hitler's Racing Battles", "Survival at the Limit", "Jochen Mass - Racing Driver and Survivalist", tells the story of this "wrestling match" and also provides a different perspective on the history of motorsport in Germany with this double racetrack portrait.
The 90-minute film was broadcast by the SWR channel on Saturday, June 17, 2017 from 20:15. If you missed the broadcast, you can still watch the video online on SWR for a year.
