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A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Germany at Epcot



By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE GERMANY PAVILION IN EPCOT’S WORLD SHOWCASE

By Jim Korkis

According to a 1982 Walt Disney World publicity release, “Although it was always certain that it would be included in World Showcase, Germany was chosen for Phase One for two important reasons.

“First, the Oktoberfest theme provided the perfect context for a large food facility, something vital to World Showcase. Second, Epcot Center planners knew they could count on enthusiastic German manufacturers and exporters to help get it off the ground.

“The authentic look and feel in the platz (plaza) and biergarten is a tribute to the ingenuity and skill of Disney Imagineers who went to Bavaria in search of just the right architectural features to use in order to convey that Old World ambiance.

“Rather than construct precise replicas of anything they saw over there, Epcot Center designers adapted German structures to fit the scale and serve the needs of World Showcase.”

For instance, to create the imposing castle fortress façade at the back of the pavilion, the Imagineers combined parts of the Eltz Castle on the Mosel River and of the Stahleck Castle on the Rhine. The platz includes architecture from the 12th to the 17th century from a variety of regions.

The statue of St. George in the center square resembles the one on top of a fountain in the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Disney’s doppelganger is made of fiberglass that was treated to resemble the stone of the original. The statue is on a fountain guarding the water because according to legend the dragon that the knight slew had made a nest in the city’s water supply.

The Glockenspiel clock tower was designed specifically for World Showcase although influenced by the designs of clock towers in Martinstor and Freiburg. Every hour two figures of Hummel children appear to ring the bell. The melody that plays was composed just for the pavilion. A wooden rooster, flapping its wings, appears briefly over the top of the clock face to reference German cuckoo clocks.

(c) Disney

(c) Disney

The walls of the biergarten were inspired by the walls of Rothenburg, which were built during the 14th and 15th centuries. The Imagineers rearranged elements to create the interior space for a much larger facility than any actual German beer hall that ever existed.

Octoberfest celebrates the October 1810 marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese. Today, that celebration continues for sixteen days from late September through early October.

The original interior design on the left hand side of the pavilion was meant to guide WDW guests through a German house.

The Weinkeller with its racks, low ceilings and tile floor resembles a basement. Next door, the journey continues into the kitchen with shelves and cabinet designs suggesting that location. The next doorway leads to the living room where Christmas is being celebrated. For many decades, the next shop was the Glas und Porzellan where Hummel figures were sold.

Since this is where the artist would work, it needed the best light so was in the attic and Imagineers even went so far as to include floor boards that would squeak beneath the feet of the guests.

To ensure authenticity, five or six times a year, artisans from Goebel would spend a few weeks in the shop molding and painting Hummels and observing the overall operation.

Phase Two, never completed, was to include according to the press release, two more additions: “German Rivers ride-through, guests will learn about German history and culture as they cruise down a course which simulates Germany’s most picturesque rivers and takes them past castles, industrial centers, and recreational sites.

“With Medieval relics, an impressive show, and travel agents ready to make all the arrangements, the Tourism Center will entice our guests to visit the real Germany.”

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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1 comment

1 Anthony { 08.22.16 at 10:40 am }

It always makes me sad that the ride never came to fruition.

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