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It all started out with a photo job I did a couple of years ago because this building had a bowling alley, or a "Kegelbahn" how a similar sport is called in Germany. Kegeln is pretty close to bowling but with only nine pins, smaller balls, and shorter lanes. It used to be a big thing in Germany in the 60's, 70's and 80's. These days this sport is not en vogue anymore and it seems that mostly older people go these "Kegelbahnen".
Me and my family and friends used to go "Kegeln" back when I was a kid. So that job was kind of a throw back for me and hit me straight in the heart because it was linked to so many great memories.
That's why I started to create another photo series that goes pretty well along with my other work - I'm a big fan of the central perspective, of lines, and, patterns.
It's been a couple of years now that I've been trying to find the most exciting bowling alleys and "Kegelbahnen" in Southern Germany. I usually just call the places, and if they agree that I take some shots I simply grab my equipment, jump on the motorbike and go for it.
I hope you like it.
More info: robert-goetzfried.com
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Final score:
55points
Priscilla Winslow 7 years ago
I'd be so confused by that perspective... I couldn't find the lane!
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 7 years ago
This would be absolutely horrible... the lane boards and markings are actually an important feature for aim and control. Whoever designed this is insane.
RELATED:
#2
Final score:
49points
Eric Baker 7 years ago
It is an unusual view of the World Map as an American to not see America in the center but you see Europe instead because you are in Europe!
#3
Final score:
28points
Leigh Hogan 7 years ago
Is this the bowling alley in the Hillbilly Moon Explosion video of Call Me?
#4
Final score:
27points
#5
Final score:
25points
Robert Götzfried (Submission author) 7 years ago
It's in the basement of a restaurant. I don't know why they put this stuff there but no one ever sat there.
frank0ys 7 years ago
...I wouldn't wanna sit there either, in case someone might miss and the ball goes flying.
Load More Replies...
Marianne Deschodt 7 years ago
This is amazing. I've never seen or could have imagined anything so different.
#6
Final score:
23points
#7
Final score:
20points
Andrea Fuchs 7 years ago
Hello I was wondering what kind of bowling this was it is very interesting. Thank you.
#8
Final score:
20points
#9
Final score:
19points
#10
Final score:
19points
Robert Götzfried (Submission author) 7 years ago
Hi Alia, I actually shot a photo series of pools. You can check them out on my website.
Load More Replies... #11
Final score:
15points
#12
Final score:
15points
Me 7 years ago
That's the typical outschool look, just as like the kegelbahn in northern germany, where I live. It seems like nothing has changed for fifty years (and it smells like that, too...) For some reason, it starts to be a thing the younger people like to do right now!
Reaperella WeissteBescheid 7 years ago
Oh yes! Remember the smell too, dusty and sometime like an old cellar, which is not that far fetched, because oftentimes the Kegelbahn would be in the basement! Ah, Memories!
Load More Replies... Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
I'd expect to find this bowling alley in the basement of the hotel in The Shining
#13
Final score:
15points
#15
Final score:
14points
#20
Final score:
10points
#23
Final score:
7points
#24
Final score:
6points
#29
Final score:
4points
Add New Image
What do you think ?
William Bonner 7 years ago
These are nice photos. They bring back memories of a company I worked for in Southern Germany in '81. There was a one-lane kegelbahn in the basement for the employees to hang out after work. Nice benefit! (That and the cases of beer they kept in the stairwells.)
Sancha Fung 7 years ago
All these bowling alleys makes me want to move to Germany even though I'm not a bowler
William Bonner 7 years ago
If you look closely at the photos of the 9-pin lanes, you will see a string attached to the tops of the pins. The mechanism reset the pins by pulling up on the strings. Sometimes the strings got tangled up, so the mechanism would drop them all and try again. Once in a while, you had to walk down to the end and untangle them. A few of the photos appear to be of the 10-pin "American Bowling", which use the resetting mechanism common in the USA, where the pins are loose, get gathered up, and cycled back into place.
Stannous Flouride 7 years ago
9-pin bowling used to be illegal in most of the US (it supposedly led to gambling) but still exists in areas that were settled by German immigrants in the 19th c. like New Braunfels, Texas and along the Iowa-Nebraska border. Here's a CBS News clip about the alley in New Braunfels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp9212NbnXM
Robert Götzfried (Post author) 7 years ago
Thanks for sharing this link! I didn't know that story. Interesting to see that 9-pin has a tradition in the US.
Load More Replies...
Katherine Worley 7 years ago
They're mystical I like them but does it strike anyone else that the bowling alleys are all so small? There's hardly any with more than 5 lanes. Are bowling alleys just smaller there?
Stannous Flouride 7 years ago
Since most bowling alleys in the US were built in the open suburbs space was rarely a consideration. Most were in shopping centers and all had even bigger parking lots. Our city bowling alleys were generally much smaller, though still bigger than these kegelbahns.
Load More Replies...
William Bonner 7 years ago
These are nice photos. They bring back memories of a company I worked for in Southern Germany in '81. There was a one-lane kegelbahn in the basement for the employees to hang out after work. Nice benefit! (That and the cases of beer they kept in the stairwells.)
Sancha Fung 7 years ago
All these bowling alleys makes me want to move to Germany even though I'm not a bowler
William Bonner 7 years ago
If you look closely at the photos of the 9-pin lanes, you will see a string attached to the tops of the pins. The mechanism reset the pins by pulling up on the strings. Sometimes the strings got tangled up, so the mechanism would drop them all and try again. Once in a while, you had to walk down to the end and untangle them. A few of the photos appear to be of the 10-pin "American Bowling", which use the resetting mechanism common in the USA, where the pins are loose, get gathered up, and cycled back into place.
Stannous Flouride 7 years ago
9-pin bowling used to be illegal in most of the US (it supposedly led to gambling) but still exists in areas that were settled by German immigrants in the 19th c. like New Braunfels, Texas and along the Iowa-Nebraska border. Here's a CBS News clip about the alley in New Braunfels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp9212NbnXM
Robert Götzfried (Post author) 7 years ago
Thanks for sharing this link! I didn't know that story. Interesting to see that 9-pin has a tradition in the US.
Load More Replies... Katherine Worley 7 years ago
They're mystical I like them but does it strike anyone else that the bowling alleys are all so small? There's hardly any with more than 5 lanes. Are bowling alleys just smaller there?
Stannous Flouride 7 years ago
Since most bowling alleys in the US were built in the open suburbs space was rarely a consideration. Most were in shopping centers and all had even bigger parking lots. Our city bowling alleys were generally much smaller, though still bigger than these kegelbahns.
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