The Sonderzug Files

The away trip to the last game of the magical FC every season is legendary. There is a right of first refusal for fan clubs for this special train, which must be exercised by the end of January. This time there were around 850 orders for 1300 places. How the fan shop manages to process this flood of orders and distribute them fairly fairly is worthy of all honor. But good: that's the work of the St. Pauli fan shop anyway. Great people!

The special train has two party carriages, each with a bar crew and a DJ who ensure that there is a good mood, fresh drinks and the opportunity to dance the entire journey. Needless to say, everyone works on a voluntary basis and the proceeds from the sale of drinks go to social projects. The crews behind the bar and turntables naturally change, so a wide variety of music styles waft through the entire train during the journey. The DJs' ideas for music can be subscribed to via the normal speakers in the compartments. I think everyone does that. It feels like it starts with death metal and ends with pop music. It's a challenge for anyone with two healthy ears, but my free jazz requests are never picked up by the DJs. I don't understand that at all. That's how I get to know great hits, like Karl Dall's "Heute schütte ich mich zu". Or Mike Krüger with his ode to the Bundeswehr soldier. I recorded short video sequences for my wife on my cell phone, otherwise she wouldn't believe me when I tell her which songs hardcore Sankt Pauli fans can sing along to. Of course there are also great songs that I like to listen to afterwards. I'll admit that. This time Eight Balls was very popular with "Individuell". You can sing along without hesitation. Quality is a hand cream after all.

A miracle for me was my first seat neighbor, J., who had to sleep for around three hours with melodious death noises before waking up and immediately being able to sing along to the song that was playing, knowing the lyrics, even though I didn't even know that the sounds coming from the loudspeaker were actually real words , and a beer opened. Or maybe it was the other way around: first beer and then singing. No idea. I'm still amazed at it.

And that is the great thing about this special train. The people. Everything is possible, nothing is compulsory. Everyone can be who they want to be. Nobody is bothered by the smell of sweaty socks coming up against hand-rolled meatballs in a crowded compartment. An incredible number of helping hands and minds ensure that the journey is trouble-free. For example, members of the supervisory board were almost permanently in the party car, but not to celebrate; they were there to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Self-sacrificing people put on an "orderly" T-shirt and check on the well-being of the passengers. Everyone brings enough food to share and does so. Even if they are seeing the person they are talking to for the first time. There are countless examples of individuals creating added value for many with their efforts. It is impossible to list them all without forgetting someone. So just a quick word: THANK YOU!

I just read on Facebook that N. thanked the travelers very much. I thought we needed to thank him. After all, he was constantly running through the special train and collecting deposit cans and bottles from the trash. Crazy world.

It was my second special train ride and I would get on one again at any time.

This time the mood was particularly relaxed, but only on the return journey. The journey there was characterized by nervous tension. In between, some nerves said goodbye the dramatic end to the season. To be honest, it was only around Lüneburg that I slowly began to realize that the season was now over.

Actually, the saying goes, "What happens on the special train stays on the special train." But it also goes, "Pictures, or it didn't happen." It's quite understandable that the latter has even more weight for me. In order to do justice to the significance of this wonderful travel experience on the special train with the fan shop tours, I decided to shoot two films with my Leica M4. For those who aren't so camera-savvy: the Leica M4 is a purely mechanical 4mm camera with no electronics. So there is no light meter, for example. And no autofocus at all. I really like the Leica MXNUMX because it's very pure photography. There's nothing to distract you. The camera only helps you minimally when taking photos. Every mistake I make is my own fault. No automatic or other CPU that I could blame for the mistake.

Of course, the following small photo gallery does not claim to be a complete report on the special train. For that, I would have to shoot at least ten times as many films. Or I would have to constantly run through the long train with 15 other photographers. Too much is happening. These are just my personal sequences of a wonderful journey that I will remember for a long time and with great joy. "If you don't feel it, you can't understand it."

For those interested in photography: everything photographed with a Leica M4, the Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar and the Leica 24mm Summilux on Kodak Tri-X 400 - exposed at ISO200 in the morning and developed in HCD 80 & HCD 20, exposed at ISO800 in the evening and at night and developed in HCD 80 & HCD 50. Exposure time in most cases 1/60s with the aperture usually wide open.