Kids in my generation (born in the 60ies / 70ies) just loved the adventurous stories about Winnetou and his Blood brother Old Shatterhand written by german author Karl May. Besides reading these beautiful designed old books with typical golden letters on their covers we also enjoyed great movies starring Pierre Briece and Lex Barker as main characters. Together with my friends we roamed the fields, meadows and forests pretending to be one of them, recreating our most famous scenes or inventing completely new stuff. It was our mothers expecting us home late afternoon with a smile due to the dirty clothes but happy and tired faces we usually wore after those adventurous days.
So it is one of my greatest pleasures today to live near a place where all these memories come back every summer and I would like to share this as a total recommendation to travel to when you visit the north of Germany:
The "Karl May Festspiele Bad Segeberg".
The location
Bad Segeberg is located in the very north of Germany, somehow in the triangle between Hamburg, Lübeck and Kiel. So when you plan a visit it is most possible that you also can enjoy a few days at the close by beaches or travel around the "5 Lakes" and explore great nature sights. Also Kiel, Lübeck and Hamburg are close by for shopping and sightseeing.
In Bad Segeberg there is the beautiful "Kalkbergarena", the theater and background for the whole play every year.
Best recommendation is to visit the late evening show since the athmosphere then is just magical!
The performance
The beautiful, magical, impressive performance is typical for the real 3-D experience visitors get. The characters are riding right through the seating areas so you almost could touch the horses and smell them. Every now and then it could happen that a group of indians or some bandits are hiding directly behind your back just to jump out the next moment and scare you to death ;-). A lot of beautiful animals are living part of the show - there is the famous eagle Ko-inta always bringing peace and relief, the horses of course, once a skunk, once a raccoon. Lots of farm animals filling the scenery and also one epic year a tiny mini-baby donkey was goofying around and bringing a laugh on everybodys face.
Besides the animals they of course have top actors in place, so its always a good chance to see some (usually german) celebrities. Since the last 7 years Winnetou has been played by awesome Alexander Klaws. People just love him and he has become an important stable part of the show. But every year another top act is booked, so there already have been Sky Dumond, Sascha Hehn, Pierre Brice (Winnetou himself!!!) and many other famous actors. This year its Francis Fulton-Smith and Sonja Kirchberger playing the antagonists as a wonderful crazy bandit-couple.
One of my always most goosebumpy moments every year is when Ko-inta enters the scenery accompanied by its own signature music. Thats always pure magic seeing this beautiful, majestic eagle gliding just a few centimeters above the peoples heads to land next to Winnetou and bringing messages of hope and love. Just by writing this here my eyes start watering up!!
Malia aka Ko-inta is entering the scenery - a free flying eagle always finding his spot next to Winnetou but sometimes not finding its way back (and then just sitting down gently between the people waiting to be picked up by its carer)
Winnetou riding amongst the people
In the entrance area just before the show starts of course there is a lot of merch and drinks and food available, but even better are wild-west-costumed actors equipped with make-up and some gimmicks to make people look more authentic.
See me together with 
, 
, 
and 
perfectly made up for the show
The evening show usually is finished by fireworks and music while you can shake hands with the ensemble wich is very approachable and close to the audience ❤️
For an unforgettable event at the "Karl-May-Festival" I would like to share some advice:
- Book early! The show is really demanded so the best ticket for summer are usually sold out in february
- My favorite seats are in Block B or C - highest rows. Why? Because here Winnetou comes the closest so you can hear him breathing ;-)
- Bring food and drinks! It is officially allowed and you not only safe money but also do not have to wait in endless queues.
- Bring something soft to sit on, the benches are old and hard.
- Even when rain is pouring the show will take place. So bring a rain coat when the wheather seems to be unstable. No umbrellas please since this blocks other peoples view and will be complained hard.
- Come back as often as possible - every year there is a new show, a new story, new top actors, new special effects and new surprises!
