Miscellaneous

The table tennis arena, officially designed to hold 426 spectators and located in the heart of Mühlhausen’s historic old town, was packed to the brim last Saturday. The local Post-Sportverein (SV), the only East German men’s table tennis Bundesliga club, celebrated its 75th anniversary on June 13 and had invited two former world stars, Jan-Ove Waldner and Jörgen Persson, to mark the occasion. The “old Swedes” demonstrated at the table that they still know how to thrill the audience. “Our long-time chairman, Thomas Baier, had been hoping for this exhibition match, and we were happy to grant his wish. After all, he’s been with the club for 55 years—it’s practically his life’s work,” reports SV Managing Director Thomas Stecher, who has been the first full-time managing director in the history of Post SV—with its nearly 300 members—since 2019.

For them, it’s all about that little round white ball. Ever since Mühlhausen made the leap to the top league in 2013 and has since established itself as a fixture there, this small town of 38,000 residents, located about 35 kilometers north of Eisenach, has become well-known among table tennis fans across the country. On league match days, fans flock to western Thuringia—and not just from the immediate vicinity—to cheer on the team, which features top player Marcos Freitas from Portugal, along with Kay Stumper and Steffen Mengel. The audience regularly includes guests from Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and even North Rhine-Westphalia. Word has spread, especially among table tennis clubs, that a weekend trip to Mühlhausen is well worth it—and not just for sporting reasons.

“We’re really happy to have become something of a brand ambassador for our city,” explains Thomas Stecher, pointing to the family-like atmosphere. For example, after every home game, fans can meet the players and chat with them—sometimes even over a beer together. The physical therapist works on a volunteer basis. Two doctors not only provide medical care for the team but also act as private sponsors. It’s a welcoming environment for the players, led by a dozen coaches with head coach Erik Schreyer at the helm—for whom it goes without saying that he also looks after the teams all the way down to the district league. A total of eight men’s and six youth teams compete in the league wearing the Mühlhausen jersey, plus a women’s regional team. No wonder that from Monday through Friday, the seven tables in the club’s own Kristan Hall—located in the shadow of the imposing 13th-century Divi Blasii Church with its twin towers—are constantly bustling with activity, as players of all ages whirl around and work up a sweat.

This Thuringian table tennis success story began in Mühlhausen in 1951 with the founding of the Post Office Sports Association (BSG), from which, six years later, a postmaster named Heinz Schneider emerged as the World Championship bronze medalist in singles. His bronze medal for the GDR was the very first ever won by German table tennis after World War II. Heinz Schneider, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 74, won nearly two dozen national titles during his career, competed in eight World Championships, and is considered a legend in his homeland. His wife Brigitte, herself a former successful player, is still a welcome guest at the hall today. She is a sort of “superfan,” much like Johannes Bruns, who has served as mayor for nearly 14 years. The 59-year-old even attended an away game in the Champions League in Orenburg, Russia, once. For him, Post SV is also “an important social institution in the city.” Even though the roughly 80 local sports clubs all do “excellent youth work,” the table tennis club plays a leading role due to its popularity and its work with young talent.

The relationship between City Hall and the table tennis club is correspondingly close. In recent years, the municipal budget has regularly allocated 20,000 to 30,000 euros annually, primarily to keep the hall in good condition. In addition, the local public utilities and the municipal housing authority serve as key supporters among the club’s total of about 50 sponsors. Thomas Stecher still vividly remembers the summer of 2013, when the old GDR-era hall—purchased by the club in 1998—was completely gutted following promotion to the first Bundesliga and, within three months and with the help of many volunteers, transformed into a state-of-the-art training and competition facility equipped with every modern convenience. Hardly anyone would have thought back then that the Thuringians would manage to stay in the league year after year since then and finish in a brilliant fifth place among twelve teams last season.

What some might consider a “sports miracle” is, according to Thomas Stecher, the result of consistent, solid work with an annual budget “in the lower mid-range” and, according to Mayor Johannes Bruns, “relatively limited resources”—especially when compared to top clubs like Düsseldorf or Saarbrücken. While the SPD politician expresses his greatest wish that someday a “homegrown player” will make the leap to the Bundesliga team, Thomas Stecher looks ahead with a different idea in mind. In Mühlhausen, according to his vision, something like an international “youth academy” for top European talents should be established—and perhaps one day the Post will come on board as a sponsor. The club has retained the name for traditional reasons; unfortunately, there is no partnership with the company. “But that could certainly change. We have the potential for such a collaboration. That would be a wonderful anniversary gift.”

Source: Andreas Müller