The Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team opened its tour of Germany this week.
The Battling Bishops landed in Frankfurt on Tuesday morning and went on a tour of the Rhine River, boating from Bingen to St. Goar. The team stopped at the Nahe-Skywalk in St. Johannisberg on the way to the host city of Baumholder.
Baumholder regional mayor Bernd Alsfasser and city mayor Günther Jüng welcomed the Bishops to town on Wednesday. The team then saw Baumholder’s city museum, the Goldener-Engle (golden angel), with curator Ingrid Schwerdtner leading the tour and talking about the region’s history.
After a walking tour of Baumholder that included the remaining section of wall from when Baumholder was a walled city and the town’s legendary 300-year-old linden tree, the team stopped for a traditional photo at the restored guard tower (Dicker Turm or thick tower), where Bernd Mai told the story of the tower’s historical significance.
Then, the team proceeded to the U.S. Army base in Baumholder, where the Bishops presented a clinic for family members of soldiers on the base, followed by a tour of the base itself.
It was on to Oberkirchen for the first game of the trip, but a surprise stop saw officials from FC Oberkirchen and regional mayor Karl Josef Scheer dedicate a brick in an Oberkirchen plaza to Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer coach Jay Martin. The Bishops have played games in Oberkirchen on each trip to Germany since 2005.
After a show by the Oregon National Guard band, the Bishops then prepared for their first game, taking on the JFG Schaumberg-Prims U-19 team in a friendly hosted by FC Oberkirchen. Ohio Wesleyan put together a couple of first-half scoring chances but could not finish, and goals in the 71st and 83rd minutes gave JSG Schaumberg a 2-0 win.
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
