The Schottenring was a motorsport

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also ...

situated near

Schotten Schotten is a town in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Larger towns nearby include Alsfeld in the north, Fulda in the east, Friedberg in the south and Gießen in the west. Geography Location The officially recognised climatic spa lies between 168 ...

in the

Vogelsbergkreis The Vogelsbergkreis is a ''Kreis'' ( district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig Main-Kinzig-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

, between

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

and

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

. After

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

, Schleizer Dreieck,

Solituderennen The ''Solituderennen'' (eng: ''Solitude race'') motorsport events are held on the 11.4 km '' Solitudering'' race track near Stuttgart. The event and the track were named after the nearby Castle Solitude. Motorsports events were held there fr ...

and

AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

, it was one of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

's oldest race tracks, inaugurated on 22 July 1925. The track was popular for club events, and had attracted 90,000 spectators to its first post war event in 1947. In 1953, partially as the result of a compromise between Germany's two controlling bodies, the DMV and the

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual m ...

, it was selected to host the

German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is a part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship since 1952. The event is due to take place at the Sachsenring until at least 2026. History The first two ''Großer Preis von ...

. Even by the standards of the day, the track had never been regarded as particularly safe, and after an inspection made before practice had begun, the factory teams from

AJS A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, A ...

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan * Norton Parish, New Brunswick ** Norton, New Brunswick, ...

Gilera Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio. History In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was, at t ...

and

Moto Guzzi Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production. Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling m ...

decided unanimously that the track was too narrow for "modern" 350s and 500s to race. Bordered on many fast corners by trees and with a track surface so slippery at the most dangerous points that it would be disastrous to run a championship event there. With the unprecedented departure of the majority of major teams even before racing was due to begin, officials from the FIM decided that the only way to proceed at such short notice was to allow the event to continue, but that only the smaller 125cc and 250cc races would count towards the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Racing was discontinued after 1956, but rallies and classic bikes events are still held on a shortened version.

References

External links

*
Schottenring Website
*

Defunct motorsport venues in Germany Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Sports venues in Hesse Vogelsbergkreis {{Hesse-struct-stub