ChessBase Expedition to the Bismarck Springs

by ChessBase
5/30/2005 – Once a year our company stages an outing for all its employees. Somehow we are able to make these trips exciting and adventurous, even if we restrict ourselves to northern Germany. This year we went on a search for the legendary Bismarck Springs, the source of the nation's favourite bottled water. Illustrated report.

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ChessBase Expedition to the Bismarck Springs


Everyone in great spirits at the start of the trip: Yvonne Gerstorff, Gisela Jäger, Mira Kowalski and Helga Wellerhaus


Hamburg is sometimes called the Venice of the North. Public transportation includes barges.


You can get to many places in the barges, which have to fit under low bridges


The ship has to go through a number of locks to descend to the level of the Elbe River


A silhouette of Hamburg Harbour – yes, you actually get to the forest by ship


On the ship with Stefan Meyer-Kahlen (the Shredder guy), Steffen Giehring (Support), Thomas Stark (Support), Oliver Reeh (IM, multimedia), Nadja Woisin (Spanish page), Martin Fischer (Playchess Tournament Director), Jeroen van den Belt (Programmer) and Gisela Jäger (Shipping).


Company founder and CEO Matthias Wüllenweber


Co-founder and chessbase.com editor Frederic Friedel, regarding the motion of the ship with suspicion.


André Schulz of chessbase.de and GM Rainer Knaak of ChessBase Magazine


Stanislav Tsukrov, who will soon provide us with Playchess access on mobile phones (how cool is that!)


Ben Bartels who looks after the ChessBase servers


"Arnold" van den Belt, ChessBase programmer


Gisela Jäger (Shipping and Cheerful Spirits)


Nadja Woisin, who hablas Espanol like a native


The mother of all Playchess SysOps: Gaby Assmann


Holger Lieske (Playchess SysOp) and Hans Frenay (Dutch support). In the background Frederic Friedel badgers Fritz engine programmer Frans Morsch


Martin Fischer (Playchess TD) and Lutz Nebe (ChessBase Programmer)


Peter Schreiner (Support, Documentation) with Matthias Wüllenweber


Before we embark on the dangerous journey to the source of German bottled water a hearty lunch in the Forsthaus Friedrichsruh Restaurant in the famous Sachsenwald


Forsthaus Friedrichsruh was the training camp of German boxing legend Max Schmeling, who won the heavyweight title of the world in 1930 and knocked out Joe Lewis in 1936. Schmeling died earlier this year at the age of 99.


Into the dark forest we go, armed with deadly GPS systems


Where are those damned satellites? Stefan Meyer-Kahlen and Jeroen van den Belt search, while ChessBase's commercial CEO Rainer Woisin has a baad feeling about this GPS thing.


Jeroen has the ultimate geek toy: a GPS watch


What dangers lurk for us in these meticulously kept German forests?


The perilous crossing of a forest brook


At times we encountered rugged, almost impassable terrain


At last, in the remote depths of the dark forest, we reach the Bismarck Springs


...and pause to refresh ourselves in the Bismarck Springs restaurant


At the end of this great adventure the trip home on a commuter train.


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