The Hungarian national team will be preparing for the soccer European Championships in a place fit for a fairy tale, we took a look at the team’s accommodation and training ground

Cool wind, snow and an almost completely deserted village welcomed us at the end of April in Weiler im Allgäu, in the southwestern tip of Bavaria, when we visited the future European championship base of the Hungarian football team. The small village, which is a good two-hour drive from Stuttgart, is without any exaggeration like a fairy tale: a church tower rises from the narrow valley, neat little colorful houses are lined up around it, endless green lanes stretch to the right and left, and in the distance there are snowy mountain peaks Weiler im Allgäu above. And the fresh alpine air is just icing on the cake.

The largest hotel in the area, the four-star Tannenhof Sport & Spa, is located on the border of the settlement, which will be the accommodation of the Hungarian team during the European Championship. The pine slatted wellness hotel consists of several buildings and includes an outdoor and indoor pool, outdoor and indoor tennis courts and even a cabin. When we visited, there was apparently no full house, only a few premium brand SUVs parked in the parking lot, and apart from two guests sitting in the steaming pool, the place was like a ghost hotel. If you are looking for a bit of peace and retreat, you couldn’t find a better place than this, just win with your wallet. The cheapest double room for one night costs 273 euros, or almost HUF 108,000, and we haven’t even counted the other services.

By the way, more than six thousand people live in the village, but when we were there, we saw almost no sign of it. Wandering among the wooden buildings of the old town, we felt as if we were just walking among scenery, we hardly met people on the streets. The wintry weather probably played a role in this. As we learned, the weather was still bright and sunny last week and people were barbecuing in their gardens in t-shirts.

As the European Championship approaches, of course the commotion here will be greater, from June 10, a whole army of journalists and crews will follow every step of the Szoboszlai Dominikés. For example, when the team will walk over to the soccer field a few hundred meters away, where they will have their training sessions. This is the “stadium” of the local football club, the sixth division FV Rot-Weiss Weiler, and here we met Sebastian Koch, the tourism manager of the area, who, to our surprise, greeted us with a loud “Have a nice day!”. As it turned out, one of his best friends is Hungarian, he has visited Budapest and Lake Balaton several times, and some Hungarian expressions have stuck with him. After a quick introduction, he then took us around the sports complex.

Even though the team only plays in the local Württemberg regional league, their infrastructure is enviable. The dressing room is almost brand new, spacious and equipped with modern furniture, not much different from the dressing rooms of Bundesliga teams. In addition, a beer terrace was created on the roof of the building, which functions as a kind of VIP sector. And speaking of beers, our tour guide pointed out that there are two breweries nearby, one of which is right next to the track. He also said that tourists come here mainly in the summer, who go biking and hiking in the surrounding forests and mountains. Due to the European Championship, they expect even more guests this summer, but he reassured everyone that they will not run out of beer anyway.

As we looked around from the beer terrace, we saw a strange thing behind the opposite gate: a huge Borussia Dortmund flag and an identical Schalke flag fluttering side by side in the wind. An unusual pairing, you might say. Anyone who knows German football knows that this is the biggest rivalry in the country, and the fans of the two clubs do not like each other, to put it mildly. When I asked about this strange combination, Koch just laughed and then told me that a father and son live in the house behind the gate, one of them supports Dortmund and the other Schalke, which is also expressed by the flags. I would rather not raise the question why anyone in this part of Germany supports teams from the Ruhr region.

From the terrace, we went to one of the most important rooms of Rot-Weiss Weiler, the buffet, which can also be considered a club museum. A display case full of trophies and medals stood against the wall, and the club’s small triangular flags hung from the ceiling. The framed picture next to the counter reminded me of the most famous native of the village, the world champion Karl-Heinz Riedle, who played soccer in the local team as a youth.

Riedle was one of the best German strikers of the 1980s and 1990s. Despite his height of 179 centimeters, he was an excellent header, which is why he was nicknamed “Air”. He was also a German champion with Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund, played for Lazio and Liverpool, and was a member of the West German national team that won the World Cup in 1990 and the German team that won the silver medal at the 1992 European Championship. The most memorable match of his career was the 1997 Dortmund-Juventus Champions League final (3-1), he scored two goals in five minutes in the first half, essentially winning the cup for the Germans. After finishing his active career, Riedle returned to the Allgäu, opened a hotel in Oberstaufen, a few kilometers from his native village, and organizes children’s soccer camps. According to Sebastian Koch, Riedle still maintains contact with Rot-Weiss Weiler, and can be seen regularly in the village during Oktoberfest.

All in all, Weiler im Allgäu seems to be a perfect choice for the MLSZ, everything is here for Marco Rossi and his team to prepare successfully for a good appearance in the European Championship. In the village, they are preparing to host not only the Hungarian national team, but also the fans, a fan zone with a projector will be created near the brewery, so that fans who did not get tickets to the match can even watch the matches of the national team from here. The first is on the second day of the European Championship, June 15, when the Hungarian team plays Switzerland in Cologne. Then the two group matches in Stuttgart follow: on June 19, the Hungarian national team will play against the hosts, and on June 23, against the Scots.