November 12, 2020, 11:04 am | Read time: 4 minutes
The COVID-19 pandemic also put amusement parks to the test. Now, with the second wave, new concepts are needed again–and perhaps the most unusual amusement park in Germany has come up with an equally unusual concept. In Kalkar, in the Lower Rhine region, there will be a drive-in Christmas market. What it will look like and what a nuclear power plant has to do with the park: TRAVELBOOK investigated.
Kalkar is a quiet, picturesque small town on the Rhine near the Dutch border, with only about 13,000 residents. But the appearance of a dull province is deceiving, because since 1996, it has been home to Wunderland Kalkar, which includes Kernie’s Family Park. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, they have come up with something special–a drive-in Christmas market.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most Christmas markets in Germany have been canceled, as the risk of infection is considered too high. Kalkar wants to seize this opportunity and is planning a 2.5-kilometer-long Christmas market route.
Driving Through the Quirky Amusement Park
“Due to COVID-19, we currently have hardly anything to do, all restaurants and hotels are closed, the halls for trade fairs are closed–so I thought: We have the capacity, we have enough space, let’s use it!” says Managing Director Han Groot Obink in an interview with TRAVELBOOK. The route is planned to run across the entire Wunderland Kalkar site, where various themed worlds with artificial snow, illuminated tractors, and circus acts will be presented.
Groot Obink already has a clear vision of the scene: “Imagine driving first into the parking lot and then up into the amusement park, which is beautifully lit, with lovely music, somewhere you see Santa Claus packing presents, and then you see a few acrobats.” In addition to the entertainment factors, he also wants to set up 25 to 30 booths with drinks and snacks in the parking lot, where you can order like in a drive-in.
Organizationally, 250 to 300 cars are allowed to enter the park per day, with time slots to be allocated online in advance. This is intended to avoid queues or traffic jams. Currently, the cost is set at 12.50 euros per car, and according to Groot Obink, you can drive the route multiple times. The city of Kalkar has already approved the plan.
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Amusement Park Was Once Built as a Nuclear Power Plant
But what makes Kernie’s Family Park arguably the quirkiest amusement park in Germany?
The answer: It was once intended to produce fissile plutonium from uranium, and the facility in Kalkar was to become a nuclear power plant. The project, which began in 1970, was doomed from the start: There were repeated demonstrations in Kalkar, fueled by numerous accidents worldwide.
By the time of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, the facility, completed just a year earlier, was already at its end–when it was closed in 1991, it had consumed seven billion marks without ever going online.
Kalkar lay unused until 1996 when Dutch businessman Hennie van der Most bought the site, as noted on the park’s website. Today, Wunderland Kalkar and the associated amusement area Kernie’s Family Park offer, among many restaurants, a log flume, carousels, and a Ferris wheel, with dozens of attractions in total.
The standout highlight is literally the 46-meter-high former cooling tower, which now houses a carousel and can be climbed.
“Kernie’s Wonderland” Offers a Fun Flat Rate
The park’s approach: Everything is included in the admission price–rides, food, and drinks, essentially a fun flat rate. This led many visitors to indulge in unrestrained “booze tours.” However, they have since moved away from this, and no hard liquors are served anymore.
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By the way: In the past, people often asked in “Kernie’s Wonderland” if nothing was still radioactive here, says park owner Han Groot Obink, laughing to TRAVELBOOK. “Come over. You’ll actually be glowing afterward–but only because you enjoyed it so much with us.”