Magicalelfin

In the 2^nd biggest city of Germany, Hamburg, a well-known shipping event “EISBEINESSEN” takes place on the first Friday in November every year. This hilarious event is held by Hamburg Shipbrokers Association (VHSS) and all related corporations in shipping are invited to join in it. The participators are mostly international ocean carriers, local feeder companies, freight forwarders, shipbrokers, inland transportation hauliers and so forth, who are reserving several seats to reward their staff or entertain the major clients. When the evening comes on this special day, numerous people wearing in formal dress crowd into the Congress Center in Hamburg (CCH), and are ready to enjoy the banquet heartily.

The particular event name “EISBEINESSEN” directly came from a German word which means a meal of pork knuckle; “Eisbein” is the traditional boiled port knuckle in North German style whilst “Essen” is the same meaning as “meal” or “eat”. Why was this event given by such a peculiar name? Guess it’s because of the main course in the dinner – a big boiled knuckle of pork! Meanwhile, another light dish “Kassler” with lightly smoked pork loin and vegetarian dish are also provided at different choice.  In addition to the main course, guests are served with typical German sauerkraut, potatoes, pease pudding, bacon and drinks; you might feel full enough after finishing up your own dish. For me, it’s really quite interesting to know the meaning behind event name as people in Taiwan would never denominate a momentous event in such a straight way.

According to the history of Eisbeinessen, there were only 110 people attending when the first Eisbeinessen started in November 1948; it was convened by the Managing Director of VHSS and celebrated for the resumption of shipping operations and business in Hamburg after the war. After that successful evening, all participants agreed to continue this gathering to become a regular event; with great support from all parties in this field, this activity has grown gradually and participants keep increasing every year. Up to year 2006, it has conducted the 58^th session, total more than 300 tables were prepared and the amount of people present rose to more than 5000 approximately.

In Europe, as long as you are invited to participate a formal party, it’s very common to have some drinks at bar area for relaxation before the dinner starts, you may order different kinds of juice, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, and then get together with coworkers around the bar or look for the clients to give a warm greeting. During the whole evening till night, no any performances were played except for the opening speech given by the Managing Director of the Association, this brings people more opportunity to have conversations with each other either in personal topics or business matters and fulfill the purpose of this gathering. The party lasted till 2 o’clock past midnight, therefore, after the generous feast, more and more people ganged up in the bar again, and the famous German beers and soft drinks were served as much as you like! It indeed gave me a deep impression on Germans’ ability in drinking beer and endurance in staying in a party all the night.

 The best souvenir from this event is the participants’ brochure; every participant at the Eisbeinessen will receive a brochure, giving details of all companies participating, with the surname and first name of guests. Having this brochure, then it’s not a problem to seek out anyone you would like to meet among hundreds of tables. Learned from the colleagues that some people already participate this unique event for more than 20 times and almost appear here every year since they started the career in shipping. To participate Eisbeinessen is an unforgettable experience to me, not only for the celebrated Eisbein, but also for its joyful atmosphere. EISBEINESSEN does introduce a wonderful social occasion in the shipping world!

通常，離EISBEINESSEN舉辦的日子越近，有時在跟feeder公司連絡完要掛上電話時，對方就會順道問一句「你會不會參加EISBEINESSEN阿？到時候見」， 彷彿參加這個活動已經是德國航運業者間的一種習慣，一種彼此間存在的默契。跟德國同事或同桌來賓閒聊間，得知有些人參加這個活動的經驗值已達將近20次之多，幾乎是打從進了航運業後就是年年參加，每年一定要到CCH現場去哈拉一下才甘願。EISBEINESSEN不但拉近了航運人間的距離，也讓我們這些外地來的短暫過客，在工作之餘，有機會貼近德國人的生活，著實體驗了一次特別的地方風情。