Final 2023
The final of the 17th Carcassonne World Championships will be held on Saturday 7th of October 2023 in Spielezentrum Herne / Germany.
The address is Hölkeskampring 2, 44625 Herne. Please remind yourself that it's NOT in Essen this time!
We will stream the final live on our youtube channel.
The tournament will start at 10.30 h and will end around 17:30 h with a winner ceremony. Each player will enjoy a free lunch during the break. The author of the game Carcassonne, Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, will come to Herne for autographs and photos around noon. There will be an additional winner ceremony for the first four places only at Spielezentrum booth 1-G150 the next day (Sunday 8th of October at 13.00 h) in Essen. Of course everyone else can attend also and use this additional chance to meet Klaus-Jürgen Wrede again or thank Moritz Brunnhofer (head of publisher "Hans im Glück") for sponsoring the Carcassonne World Championship. Each player will get a free ticket for the game fair valid on a day of choice and send via email. Therefore it's strongly recommended to stay in Germany for at least two full days (one to play in the final and one to explore the game fair). The first four places will get an additional ticket to attend the winners ceremony on Sunday if neccessary.
How to get to Spielezentrum in Herne?
We offer a FREE BUS SHUTTLE SERVICE on Saturday (only) between Essen and Herne for all players and interested viewers. This is the fixed timetable:
Departure in Essen (to Herne): 09.00 * / 09.30 * / 14.00 / 16.30
Departure in Herne (to Essen): 11.15 / 15:30 / 18.15 / 18.30
(* take one of these busses to be in Herne in time for the start of the tournament)
In Essen the bus will start and stop a little south of the game fair grounds at the official bus stops directly opposite parking garage P9. Don't worry, it's very easy to find and just a short walking distance from the game fair. If you come to the game fair by subway U11 simply depart at the final destination "Messe West / Süd / Gruga" as ususal but this time go the other direction instead (not to the game fair). Use the stairs up to the open parking space and you will find yourself right at the bus stops. Otherwise if you start at the west entrance go down Norbertstrasse (away from the fair) and turn right after 200 meters into the street "Am Grugapark" and you will be there, too. For further assistance our tournament director Karsten (wearing a black shirt with a yellow Spielezentrum meeple on it) will wait there in the morning so if you want to take the bus at 9.00 or 9.30 h Karsten will be there to help. You can also find help at our booth 1-G150 on the game fair grounds.
In Herne the bus will start (and stop) right in front of Spielezentrum (no plan needed).
The busses will have a sign reading "World Championship Final 2023 - Bus Shuttle Service" inside the front window. For better orientation you see here a photo of a typical bus from the company Graf's Reisen. It's easy to recognize because it has the same colours like our logo! :-)
Please be aware that each bus can transport 50 people only and therefore the players always have "boarding priority". This will guarantee that the players (with one accompaniment) can be sure to get to the final and back using the shuttle service. Nevertheless we are optimistic that the transport capacity will be sufficient for all participants and visitors of the Carcassonne Final. Therefore two busses will run in the morning and evening which means 100 persons can ride at the most critical times.
Alternatives:
If you want to travel independently you can also use public transportation which is quite easy here in the Ruhr area. Due to decades of neglect we have more conctrution sites than ususal at the moment but nevertheless it's an alternative way to travel. You can find information in English on the VRR site concerning nearly all local transport connections. You can also download detailed maps (so called "Stadtlinienpläne") for every city in the Ruhr area (just scroll down the page a little; the maps are sorted alphabetically by the city name). They are in German only but very helpful for getting an overview of the area where you stay.
From Bochum main station (Bochum Hbf) or Herne station (Herne Bf) runs the subway line U35 directly to Spielezentrum. This line is called campus line (CampusLinie) because it connects to the university in Bochum (Ruhr-Universität).
If you start in Bochum the direction is "Herne / Schloß Strünkede" or if you start in Herne the direction is "Bochum / Hustadt" (depending how it is written on the signs). Either way you always have to depart at the station "Hölkeskampring".
Leave the subway station using first the exit (Ausgang) "Hölkeskampring" and then the exit "Flottmannstraße". You will find Spielezentrum inside the large district center (Stadtteilzentrum) H2Ö only a few meters away and you should see it right away. Please use the main entrance under the large H2Ö sign.
As an additional orientation you will also find our logo - the huge yellow meeple (Pöppel) - on the far right side of the building. I apologize in advance for the condition of the street in front of the district center. This is more of a tank proving track than a regular road so be careful crossing it...
Of course you can also use a car and drive here. Unfortunately due to a contruction project there are currently only few parking spaces available directly at the district center. Therefore you can also park in the back of the OLD Spielezentrum on the other side of the road (don't get confused with the new building). For navigation please use the address "Jean-Vogel-Str. 17, 44625 Herne". The entrance of the parking space is a few meters to the right side of the old building.
(Reminder: this is the OLD building. The tournament is NOT there!)In case you are totally lost because everything went wrong please contact Thomas! All players will get his phone number a few days before the tournament via email. He will be in Spielezentrum all day long and due to the fact that it's not as noisy as on the game fair there's a really good chance he actually will hear the phone ringing... ;-)