First Schwarzwaldpokal for Nordic Combined women

The 58th edition of the Schwarzwaldpokal (Black Forest Cup) will take place in Schonach today and celebrates a big milestone for Nordic Combined with the premier event for women. Previously the popular trophy was only available for men.

The winner of the men’s competition on Saturday will be able to call the heavy bronze cup decorated with rock crystals, which was created by Professor Klaus Ringwald in 1971, their own for one year. Then the challenge cup goes back – while the winner keeps a small version of the noble trophy as a souvenir.

This year, for the first time, the winner of the women's competition will also be duly honored: The Schwarzwaldpokal for women is here!

It was created on behalf of the organizers by the wood sculptor and stonemason Donatus Ketterer. The Schonach local has had contact with the Schwarzwaldpokal for a long time, having immortalized the winner’s names of the men's cup on it in recent years.

Now it was about creating a trophy for the women. “It should be more modern, sporty, and adapted to the times,” Ketterer revealed in an interview. He made patterns out of wood, which were very well received by the organizing committee. It was intended to be a goblet whose value was to be underlined by the material bronze. “Schwarzwaldpokal Schonach”, the year 2024 and a female cross-country skier and Ski Jumper adorn the almost 40 centimeter tall trophy. There is space on the base to immortalize the winners, because like the men's, the trophy is designed as a challenge cup. It will only become the property of an athlete if she has won it three times in a row or five times in general.

The trophy was created using the bronze casting process. Ketterer made a template out of wood, which was sent to a foundry in Munich. A silicone impression with a plaster support structure was then made there, and a wax model was then made from the silicone negative, with the help of which the cup was then cast in bronze.

The elegant piece weighs around 5.5 kilograms. The small copies, which are given to each winner as a souvenir, are around 17 centimeters tall and weigh 1 kilogram. Also the year is engraved into the small copies.

This week Ketterer had a visit to his workshop, which is located on Höfleberg in Schonach, just a few hundred meters from the Wittenbach ski stadium. The Schwarzwaldpokal stadium TV wanted to see where and how the newly created cup was made. Stefan Mayer, stadium announcer at SC Freiburg and presenter of the station TV feeds, interviewed Ketterer. During the FIS World Cup weekend, the film will inform viewers in detail about the creation of the trophy.

Photo caption: Stefan Mayer, presenter Stadion-TV, left and Donatus Ketterer present the small version of the women's Black Forest Cup and the large challenge cup.

Source: OC Schonach