Pogum Kreiern - Wadden-Speedster

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If you're climbing aboard a Kreier for the first time, you're in for quite a ride. The agile mudflats have almost cult character on the coast. Originally, the mud slides served as work vehicles for the dollart fishermen. They drove them out into the mudflats and set up their traps to harvest the "coastal gold": Eel, crabs, halibut and other fish. Later, the Kreier got a new boost as a piece of sports equipment. The mudflats became a competition track when the Ems-Dollart tourist office invited people to the annual mud speedster race. In earlier years, the mudflat spectacle attracted up to a thousand of spactators to the Dollart.

From service vehicle to racing slider: the Kreier has had a truly eventful development.

The wooden mud skid or wadden speedster can look back on a long tradition in Rheiderland. The strange-looking vehicles were described in chronicles as early as the beginning of the 19th century. It is very likely that they existed long before that. They were not only nippy and practical, but also allowed the driver a long range in impassable terrain. In order to reach their fishing nets, the dollart fishermen drove their wooden vehicles elegantly over the mud out into the Wadden Sea. They used to catch crabs, eels, halibut and herrings - and out in the Dollart they often attracted a bigger "harvest" than near the coast. The fish was packed into baskets and brought back to shore. For the dollart fishermen, this was a race against the time as they only had six hours for the trip. 

Those who mastered the speedster literally flew over the muddy surface. This requires less strength than technique: with the right swing and kick, the mud skimmer glides almost silently over the mudflats.

Today, this type of fishing is almost extinct. But the Kreier has survived the times - as a competition vehicle at cheerful mudflat races. The Ems-Dollart tourist office used to regularly invite people to the Kreier race in summer, attracting up to 1000 people.

No matter who won or lost: the silt made everyone the same. At least on the outside.