Geretsried - This story has been told many times. Around 1960, when the winters were still cold and snowy, some young men got together in Geretsried to play ice hockey. In the garden of the Sternkopf family on Brauneckweg, the first ice surface was sprayed on and the puck chased lively. On March 1, 1961, an ice sports department was launched at TuS Geretsried.
The founding members were Herbert Miethig, Roman Sternkopf, Ossi Hoffmann, Ernst Jellen and Manfred Zuber, who was also elected the first department head. The club soon built a 30 by 30 meter playing field on Waldstrasse, today's bus parking lot at the ice rink. The first public run was also held there. 159 D-Mark (about 81 euros) was the proud income that was immediately invested in boards for a gang of the planned natural ice rink. However, this was then built on Richard-Wagner-Strasse in the area of today's Karl-Lederer-Schule. The first friendly game of a Geretsried ice hockey team also took place there. On December 5, 1962 they lost to ASV Dachau 2: 5 (1: 2, 1: 2, 0: 1); the consolation goal was scored by Ossi Hoffmann and Fritz Balling.Only a short time later, the Geretsrieder celebrated their first victory in a 1-0 win against ESV Penzberg.
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The ice rink has always been used diligently for the public run, as it was here in 1967 - back then it was still on natural ice.
The former waste incineration plant can be seen in the background.
© Geretsried city archive
Natural ice rink on Richard-Wagner-Strasse
While a school and youth team has already been established, the TuS played point games in the district class for the first time from the 1963/64 season.
A setback followed in the mild winter of 1965/66, when rowdies outlined half of the gang, smashed through the floorboards of the judges' tower and broke open the storage shed.
Because the city wanted to build a gym on Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Straße, the ice athletes looked around for a new place to stay.
It went back to Jahnstrasse, where a play area including changing and shower rooms was built next to the fairground with the help of the municipality.
On December 17, 1966, the new ice rink was inaugurated with a friendly against TSV Königsdorf.
Conversion into an artificial ice stadium in the spring of 1973
In 1970 TuS finally achieved promotion to the state league, and the junior teams also did well in their point games.
The juniors became Bavarian champions on natural ice in 1972 and 1973.
The next step followed with the conversion into an artificial ice stadium from the spring of 1973. The new arena was inaugurated on December 23rd with the state league match against TSV Schliersee (3: 3).
In terms of sport, the temperature independence quickly paid off: Geretsried was promoted to the Regionalliga Süd in the same season, and the stadium was expanded to include a grandstand.
At the annual meeting on February 6, 1976, Mayor Heinz Schneider then presented the ice athletes with the final bill for the renovation: The total cost was 1.6 million D-Marks, or around 865,000 euros.
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A kind of folding roof adorned the Heinz Schneider ice rink from 1980, here the view from the fairground.
However, due to the risk of collapse, it had to be dismantled in 2006
© Archive
2nd Bundesliga South in the covered ice rink
Surprisingly, the TuS'ler were allowed to move up to the Oberliga Süd for the 1976/77 season - the reason was a league reform of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB).
Personnel was upgraded with the engagement of the Tölzer ex-national player Helmut Eberhardt as player-coach and with the American Dave Snyder as the first contingent player.
In 1978 the club celebrated its first major triumph and won the German Regional League Championship in a duel against GSV Moers.
The following year the city council had the first discussions about a roof for the ice rink. In the spring of 1980 the construction work began, which also provided for the extension of the grandstands. This ultimately resulted in 3000 seats, 600 of which were seated. Because the schedule got behind schedule, the team had to play the first league games away from home. The debut under the new roof took place for the new player-coach Hans Rothkirch and his protégés on November 16, 1980. Under the direction of the Tölzers, who had returned from the Cologne EC in the Oberland, the TuS was aiming for promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga South. The fans liked the attractive style of play: The 1000-spectator mark was surpassed in series; the match against ERC Ingolstadt (9: 6) was followed by an incredible 2300 visitors.
While construction measures (wind protection) were being discussed in the city council again, a lot happened in terms of sport: In Geretsried, a junior international match took place for the first time (1200 spectators against Canada), and the first team was allowed to move up to the 2nd Bundesliga South at the green table. In 1983/84 the club was suddenly in the limelight, playing in a league with the old masters EC Bad Tölz and EV Füssen. After two years, however, the adventure was over again. It continued in the regional league, with the club benefiting from its good youth work. In the course of the 1990s, however, the TuS established itself in the Oberliga Süd, in 1992 even stood against the EC Timmendorfer Strand in the final of the German Oberliga championship. In the meantime, the very successful women’s team of mosquitoes was founded,which won the German championship title in 1993.
The cooling system is converted to brine
There were technical innovations in the ice rink, which had meanwhile been named after the former mayor Heinz Schneider.
The cooling system was converted to brine liquid, and walls were raised on the open sides behind the gates so that the arena was almost completely enclosed.
In addition, a ventilation system was installed under the gable, which, however, did its job more badly: Heinrich Korph's jersey, which was hung under the roof to say goodbye to the Czech defender legend, mellowed over the years, until the blue number 6 on the back shimmered in a mossy green.
Danger of collapse: the roof is being dismantled
A huge kink in the truest sense of the word took place in 2006. After the Bad Reichenhall ice rink accident, roofs were tested all over Bavaria for their resilience. Coincidentally, it happened precisely during this period that a wire rope bolt tore off in the stadium on Jahnstrasse. The city then immediately forbade entry due to the risk of collapse, and the ice hockey cracks had to get their equipment out of the cabin through a cellar window below the parlor. Further investigations by the building authority revealed dangerous defects in the roof structure, which is why dismantling was inevitable. From the 2006/07 season onwards, the Geretsried teams not only played in the open air, but also under the roof of the newly founded ESC after they were replaced by TuS. He had leased the ice rink in 2009 and thus presumably saved it from demolition,especially since the city was tired of the high running costs.
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13 years without a roof: On February 17, 2019, the River Rats played their last Bayernliga game in the open-air arena and won 8: 5 against Amberg.
© tw / archive
The open-air arena often gave the River Rats a certain home advantage when the ice rink spoiled guest teams couldn't get used to the icy temperatures outside.
On the other hand, the traditionally technical and skier-oriented Geretsrieder had their problems especially when there was snow on the ice surface.
Last but not least, quite a few talents joined other clubs over the years because they didn't feel like training and games in the snow and rain.
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As nice as ice hockey was on cold, clear nights in the open-air arena, with heavy snowfall many games were endangered - like here on February 7, 2016 against Germering (7: 2).
© Archive
Despite the open-air stadium: return to the Bavarian League
After returning to the bottom division, the ESC cavorted in the state league for a few years before making the leap to the Bayern league in 2015.
Now the calls for a stadium roof were getting louder, because the Bavarian Ice Sports Association had only agreed to a start under certain conditions.
Rightly so, because there was considerable turbulence at least twice.
A game against the Germering Wanderers on February 7, 2016, did not end until 11 p.m. because the heavy snowfall meant that the Zamboni had to clean the ice every ten minutes.
And a match against HC Landsberg (January 13, 2017) was not ended because a central hole in the ice meant an acute (stumbling) risk for the players.
City council decides roof construction and renovation
In 2017, the city of Geretsried finally managed to roof, house and renovate the arena for more than ten million euros. In February 2019, the cooling units were switched off early in order to be able to start construction work. The ESC moved its office temporarily to the so-called “art bunker” on Isardamm, and the various trades met in the ice rink. However, things didn't go completely smoothly - sometimes there was a lack of material, sometimes there was a lack of workers, sometimes bad weather caused a forced break. It quickly became clear that the ice hockey teams had to do their preparation and the first third of the season away from home. A number of training units and Bayernliga games took place in Mittenwald.November 2019 the first Bully finally took place in the Geretsrieder ice rink, which is similar to a construction site. After all, the River Rats celebrated a 9-5 victory over EHC Königsbrunn with five goals from top scorer Ondrej Horvath. The joy of the new sporting home did not last long, because at the end of February the Bayern League points round was prematurely canceled due to the corona pandemic.
Corona pandemic causes two season breaks
With fresh courage, but again not yet completely renovated stadium, the club started the next season in autumn 2020.
Again there were delays due to technical defects in the cooling system and the loudspeaker system.
Coach Rudi Sternkopf's team played eight games (including four home games under strict hygiene requirements) before the second wave of corona brought an early end to this season.
After all, there was now the opportunity to do all the open construction, electrical and painting work and to complete the "jewel box" with seating, new parlor and fresh paint (1100 standing places, 244 seats).
“Seen in this way,” says stadium boss Enrico Lehwald, “we have benefited from the pandemic.
But only when it comes to carrying out the construction work. "
