Interactive journey through 50 years of Europa-Park

Franz and Roland Mack were on their way back from a trip to the United States, where they had visited American theme parks together. The first sketches of Europa-Park were actually drawn on a beer mat. Originally, the theme park was to be built in Breisach am Europaweiher, which inspired the visionaries to come up with the park's current name. However, a veto from the Water and Shipping Authority prevented the original plan from being implemented. After another unsuccessful attempt in Neuenburg, Roland Mack discovered the fishing village of Rust on his way home from the University of Karlsruhe.

A school friend of Roland Mack, Michael Scholz, took on the role of site manager and supervised the construction work. On 12. July 1975, the time had finally come: Europa-Park opened its gates! It had rained heavily in the days leading up to the opening, but on the day of the opening, the sun was shining brightly and 4,000 visitors were welcomed. The park already had 15 attractions, some of which still exist today in a modified form. Behind the entrance gate was Fairytale Land. Those who wanted to get an overview of the park took the monorail, as is still the case today. Adventurers took a raft ride and dreamers strolled along the Fairytale Avenue, visited the Dwarf City or the Magic House. Since its opening, Europa-Park has also taken on social responsibility with the 'Happy Hearts' campaign: the Mack family invites tens of thousands of socially disadvantaged guests to visit Germany's largest theme park free of charge.

Europa-Park's mascot was created for the park's opening and was called 'Kitty' at the time.
In 1977, it was decided to hold a naming competition. More than 10,000 people took part, with 'Euromaus' winning by a narrow margin over ‘Rusti’.
In the beginning, Euromaus had a lot of friends in the park who were very similar and they called themselves the Country Mice. After a design overhaul in 1997, they moved out of the park. At the same time, Euromaus got his new friends Louis, Böckli, Eurofant and Euromausi.
 

For the new ride, MACK Rides brought the American water ride specialist Arrow Dynamics Inc. on board and together they created today's Tirol Log Flume, the first major attraction at Europa-Park. The planning and construction of the attraction took two years. 
In 2005, the attraction was refurbished by MACK Rides. The Tirol Log Flume celebrated another reopening in 2024, together with the Alpine Express 'Enzian' and the new Magical Valley of Diamonds.

Experience the Tirol Log Flume at home

The idea of a European theme had been in the works for some time, but the necessary know-how had been lacking. In 1979, film architect and set designer Ulrich Damrau was working on a miniature world for the park's own Fairytale Railway. Roland Mack was so impressed by Damrau's attention to detail and talent that he commissioned him to create a design for the theme park. Damrau accepted the commission and drew inspiration for his design from real European landmarks and architecture. His detailed and authentic design of an Italian piazza impressed Roland Mack and construction began immediately. Fun fact: the buildings are all real and not just backdrops, as is often the case in other parks. The buildings are still used today for two purposes: storage and offices. In 1982, after two years of construction, the first European themed area was opened: Italy. In addition to the authentic buildings, special attention was paid to the appropriate flair and country-specific gastronomy.

With the opening of the Italian themed area and the Varieté Theatre in 1982, spectacular live shows with artists started at Europa-Park. The cooperation with the Maxim Theatre from Budapest and the introduction of a real variety programme laid the foundation for today's extensive show programme. Even at that time, impressive performances took place on the Italian open-air stage.

Fun fact: If you were to watch all the shows in a row, they would run for 23 hours!

For Europa-Park's 10th anniversary, Switzerland got its own themed area, including an attraction: Swiss Bob Run. During the first test run of this attraction, the bobsled got stuck on the first descent. As a result, part of the track had to be demolished and rebuilt in secret, and the ride was opened later that year. The Swiss Bob Run was inaugurated by real bobsledders from Unterhaching and has been a favourite with visitors of all ages for almost 40 years. In 1993, the themed area was expanded to include the Valais Village, which transports visitors directly to the Swiss Alps with its authentic flair.

Experience the Swiss Bob Run in 360° at home!

The next attraction at Europa-Park was inaugurated: Pirates in Batavia was opened as the main attraction in the Dutch themed area by Franz and Roland Mack together with Wolfgang Schäuble, then head of the Federal Chancellery. At the time, the attraction was the largest themed ride in Europe. The raw material for the numerous wooden elements was imported directly from Indonesia to support the particularly authentic flair that characterises Europa-Park. However, during the construction period of over a year, there were a few mishaps: During a visit to the construction site, Franz Mack fell into a pit and broke his leg. A few weeks later, Ulrich Damrau fell into the same pit and also suffered minor injuries. Hours before the opening, chaos broke out behind the scenes: a central drive chain had snapped. The problem was fixed at the last minute and a new chain was installed. The ride opened on time and has been thrilling millions of guests ever since.

Discover the original 1987 TV commercial for the Pirates of Batavia!

Since its opening, the Eurosat dark coaster with its iconic silver spherical shape has dominated the park's silhouette. Made up of 1,504 triangles, it was designed by Franz Mack and built by Mero in Würzburg. It is the largest geodesic dome, a dome built from triangular segments, in Germany. The rollercoaster built into it by park founder Franz Mack achieved cult status because it was the first time that 'rollercoaster' and 'sphere' had been combined. This concept was previously unthinkable, as the shape of a sphere did not seem particularly suitable for a rollercoaster. With its rather rough ride through the darkness, it has given more than 80 million visitors an adrenaline rush in 28 years. In 2018, it was completely modernised. A faithful replica of the Parisian cabaret theatre Moulin Rouge now adorns the façade of Eurosat - CanCan Coaster, as the new modern version is called, which also features a second station along the route of the virtual reality rollercoaster Eurosat Coastiality.

Experience a nostalgic ride with Eurosat. 

When they built their first themed hotel 30 years ago, the Mack family broke completely new ground. Up to that point, no German theme park had ever built a hotel. It was Rudi Neumeier, the man behind the interior design of all Europa-Park hotels, who originally suggested the hotel idea to Roland Mack.
Initially, the park was looking for an operator for the hotel. When none of the hotel chains approached agreed to work with the Macks in the quaint fishing village of Rust, they simply took the hotel business into their own hands. It is almost forgotten that Franz Mack was initially very critical of the construction, and would sneak into the architecture office at night and cut a floor out of the plan with a razor blade. 
The 'El Andaluz' was built in the style of a Spanish finca to match the adjacent themed area. Authenticity was of the utmost importance. Around 20,000 roof tiles and special tiles were imported from Spain for the construction. It was an immediate success. After just one year, the hotel was expanded and just a few years later, Roland Mack won the 'Hotelier of the Year' award.

Dive into the history of Europa-Park!

In 1997, Europa-Park opened Euro-Mir, a high-speed rollercoaster with rotating trains. The attraction was designed by Franz Mack, who, at the age of 76, was sitting in the front row when the ride opened. Its massive, mirrored towers have become a real landmark of the park. Euro-Mir's unique look was inspired by the Russian space station Mir. But few visitors know that they can actually enter an original Mir space station. When the Soviet Union developed the Mir space station, two identical stations were built. One went into space, while the other served as an authentic training station for cosmonauts. One day, Roland Mack read in the newspaper that the Mir programme was being terminated and that the training station would also have to be decommissioned. Within days, the Europa-Park boss had arranged a meeting with the space agency in Moscow and bought the space station from the astonished Russians. A few weeks later, Mir was transported from Russia to Rust in a complex operation.

More than 1,300 events are held at the theme park each year. These range from workshops and lectures to conferences, large corporate events and weddings. But that's not all: the theme park is also a popular production location for TV broadcasters such as BR, Sat.1, SWR, ZDF, ProSieben and RTL. Around 200 TV programmes are recorded here every year and even broadcast live.
The name is a combination of the words 'Conference' and 'Entertainment' and reflects the unlimited variety of entertainment options offered by this business division.
 

The castle's carefully selected interior design takes you back to 15th-century Spain and reminds guests of the times of knights, kings and damsels. Those who have 'conquered' the castle are rewarded with a great view of the Spanish arena and even Europa-Park from many rooms. At the height of the battlements on the ninth floor of the hotel is the 'Buena Vista Club' bar, a tribute to the most successful Spanish-speaking band in the world: the legendary singers from Cuba. Within a very short time, the 'Castillo Alcazar' and 'El Andaluz' have become a magnet for visitors, with an average occupancy rate of 98 percent.

Europa-Park also has a Globe Theatre! It is a replica, about two-thirds smaller, consisting of 484 cubic metres of wood and more than 3,000 individual parts. What makes it special is that it was originally built in another location, not in England, but in Switzerland. It stood in the small town of Lichtensteig and was used to stage the Festspiele. After the festival, however, the question remained: what would happen to the theatre? At first it was dismantled and stored in pieces. The Swiss 'Globe' was brought to the attention of Europa-Park's Managing Director Roland Mack by TV presenter Kurt Felix. Eventually, the Globe Theatre was sold to Europa-Park because the replica fitted perfectly into the English themed area.

Around 180,000 guests visited the park during the six weeks it was open. Rides such as the Swiss Bob Run and all the water attractions had to be closed due to the weather, but there was twinkle, sparkle and glow everywhere. Today, around half a million guests set out to admire the 'Winter Wonderland' in Rust, with a total of 2 million lights, a Christmas market and over 6,000 fir trees. Most of the attractions can now be operated in winter.

When Roland Mack was walking towards the impressive Colosseum in Rome during his trip to Italy, he immediately knew how the building of the new hotel should look: a giant Colosseum arch with Italian facades in the foreground! The hotel's piazza was to be modelled on the market square of the city of Lucca in Tuscany. And that's exactly what happened! As always, Europa-Park placed a great deal of emphasis on an authentic flair and had the walls lavishly painted by the Italian painter Roberto Radici. The original barbershop from 1913, brought over by Rudi Neumeier from Verona, is still one of the hotel's highlights today. 700 invited guests, including numerous celebrities, celebrated when what was then the largest hotel in Baden-Württemberg opened its doors.

Travel back in time and be there when hotel 'Colosseo' opened its doors for the first time.

DJ BoBo's spectacular stage shows at Europa-Park are legendary and an integral part of the park. For 17 years, each of his world tours has started in the tranquil village of Rust.
He has enjoyed a close friendship with the Mack family for many years. As a result, the star DJ is very familiar with Europa-Park and has supported many of the park's projects. For example, the Swiss star lent his unmistakable voice with a Swiss-German accent to the character Böckli in the 4D animated film 'The Mystery of Balthasar Castle'. The initiative for the ultra-modern multifunctional arena, the Europa-Park Arena, was also a joint project. DJ BoBo also supports the charity project 'Europa-Park Little Heroes Children's House' as project patron.

Watch the 2023 DJ BoBo concert!

An important milestone in the history of Europa-Park: the opening of blue fire Megacoaster!
It was the first rollercoaster with loops and corks designed by MACK Rides. Michael Mack had to promise his father Roland Mack that he would be the first to ride the new coaster. Over a period of two years, MACK Rides tinkered, developed, rejected and re-developed until finally, after 15 drafts, a combination dark ride and launch coaster was created. A total of 230 employees from 50 different companies were involved in the construction of the attraction featuring the highest looping of any catapult coaster in Europe and the Icelandic themed area. 
The blue fire Megacoaster, which quickly became a visitor favourite, was finally inaugurated by Roland Mack. A year later, Michael Mack even proposed to his wife Miriam on the coaster. He stopped the ride high in the air and popped the question. Needless to say, the answer was an immediate 'Yes'.

The blue fire Megacoaster is here! 

Surrounded by the little river Elz and as a direct neighbour of the English themed area, the place almost seems like a real island that can be reached via three bridges. There, in the land of green hills, goblins and castles, a true paradise awaits the youngest guests of Europa-Park. And as a ‘Children's World’, the themed area has a lot to offer, including the first children's rollercoaster in the theme park, the Ba-a-a Express, which takes the whole family on a ride through the island's green landscape. Covering a total area of 10,000 square metres, visitors will not only find lovingly designed rides, but also a delicious range of gastronomic delights in an Irish pub atmosphere and entertaining shows for young and old alike.

Since the start of the 2017 season, visitors to Voletarium, the largest flying theater in Europe, have been going on a breathtaking journey through Europe. Captivating images, for which special camera stabilization techniques have been developed, fascinate passengers on screens with a diameter of 21 meters. In two theaters, up to 140 explorers at a time are transported in spectacular fashion through beautiful scenes in chairlift-like flying machines.
The Voletarium also introduced another innovation: the fantastical story world of the Adventure Club of Europe (ACE), developed in-house. This secret society of adventurers, explorers and inventors has made it its mission to explore the world's secrets and discover the new. At the Voletarium, guests meet ACE members and aviation pioneers Eckbert and Kaspar Eulenstein and take a trip in their legendary aircraft. The exciting adventures of the ACE can now also be experienced in many other attractions in the park and have also inspired internationally successful book series, comics, films and much more.

Discover the secrets of the ACE!

The plan to build a waterpark has been in the works for a long time. The first ideas date back to 1996. After surveying guests, it became clear that they wanted a themed water park with slides and a wave pool. To make this happen, the Mack family brought in American industry expert Chip Cleary who, together with Michael Kreft von Byern, now director of Rulantica, spent two years gathering inspiration from various water parks around the world. The result is one of the largest themed water worlds in Europe, with over 50 attractions and water slides, including Europe's longest speed slide. MACK One developed a story around the mystical world of Rulantica with the mascot Snorri, wonderful books and exciting audio stories especially for the water world. With the final design of the water world, it was decided to build another hotel - 'Krønasår - The Museum-Hotel', which is directly connected to the water world by a bridge. A convenient shuttle bus service connects the hotel and Rulantica to Europa-Park and the rest of the resort.

Embark on the expedition to Rulantica! 

YULLBE, an innovative virtual reality experience for the whole family, has been developed jointly by MACK One and VR Coaster.  Next to the new hotel 'Krønasår', an adventure centre has been built where young and old can leave their familiar reality behind and experience exciting worlds with incredible adventures. Behind the YULLBE concept is a group of ambitious VR pioneers initiated by Michael Mack, Managing Partner of Europa-Park. The group's goal is to set a new standard for VR experiences using the latest technologies and unprecedented media quality. YULLBE is available in two different versions: In YULLBE GO, guests equipped with hand trackers can move freely in a virtual world and complete exciting tasks as a single player. YULLBE PRO is a free-roaming VR experience with full-body tracking where groups of up to four people can experience incredible adventures. YULLBE can now be found all over the world, including on cruise ships in the AIDA fleet.

Discover new worlds with us at YULLBE!

The MACK Academy, under the direction of Frederik Mack, Director of HR & Organisation, opened marking a milestone in the area of employee qualification and development. Frederik Mack is the son of Jürgen Mack, who joined the management team in 1988. The well-being of employees has always been the driving force of Jürgen Mack, which he has now passed on to his son. With the opening of the MACK Academy, Frederik Mack has set new standards for the support and development of employees at the Europa-Park resort and their well-being.

Now, all training, specialist training and further education for employees takes place in the new premises at the ‘Bell Rock’ hotel. Six rooms have been set up for this purpose, which are ideally suited to the wide range of training requirements. For example, language, cash register and catering training courses have found their perfect home there. The MACK Academy is also a place where employees of Europa-Park feel comfortable and can fully develop their potential. In addition to specialist knowledge for operational and administrative areas, soft skills such as resilience and innovation are taught, and personal coaching is available. A central aspect of this is the ‘train-the-trainer’ programme, which specifically focuses on the internal know-how of long-standing employees.
 

In 2024, visitors were delighted by some particularly spectacular new attractions. After more than two years of construction, the new Voltron Nevera powered by Rimac rollercoaster proved an instant hit. The Stryker Coaster from MACK Rides accelerates up to 100 kilometres per hour four times, including once in reverse. With seven inversions, 2.2 seconds of continuous weightlessness and the world's steepest launch at 105 degrees, the new rollercoaster sets numerous new records and offers a unique ride experience. Voltron Nevera was created in cooperation with the Croatian company Bugatti Rimac, which is also a pioneer in its industry with the Rimac Nevera, the fastest electric sports car.
The new super rollercoaster is part of the 17th European themed area at Europa-Park: Croatia. The holiday paradise on the Adriatic can be experienced in an authentic way at Europa-Park, with magnificent facades and original plants.

Discover the construction documentary of Voltron Nevera!

Just in time for the park's 50th anniversary, Michael Mack has come up with something very special: GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE, a 90-minute cinematic adventure with Ed & Edda, the famous Europa-Park mascots, will be released in summer 2025. The animated film is a co-production between MACK Magic and Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany and will be released internationally in all cinemas. On top of that, Europa-Park is also creating an interactive family attraction based on the film, GRAND PRIX EDventure. But that's not all: a whole year of celebrations at Europa-Park awaits you, including two midnight openings and a brilliant finale with the premiere of the DJ BoBo Arena Tour 2026! 

Fun fact: around 150 million people have visited Europa-Park since it opened in 1975!