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Our new series of articles is about the biggest, best and coolest paintball fields in Germany. We visit a field for each edition and make a detailed report for you in which we inform you about the key data of the field and the special features of the individual facilities. We're starting today at Paintball Battlefields in Hildesheim. This playing field has only existed since mid-2016, but the facility is already one of the largest and most modern in Germany .
It's Saturday, we have a sunny 20 degrees, perfect paintball weather. Our goal today is the facility of Paintball Battlefields in Hildesheim. There we want to take a closer look and do our first “playing field check”. For this purpose, it goes on the A7. Coming from Hanover, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the facility, which is very conveniently located. It's less than five minutes from the Hildesheim-Drispenstedt motorway exit and you're already on the field. There we meet the managing director of the paintball division, Roland Marhauer, at the entrance. The experienced paintball player is himself an old MagFed veteran and has been in charge of the operative business of the facility since it opened in 2016, which is located on the premises of Jim & Jimmys GmbH in Hildesheim.
First of all, of course, we are interested in the playing fields. – “What do you get here as a customer?” we want to know. The answer is found quickly, there are three of the nine fields in particular for which players travel from all over northern Germany to play at Paintball Battlefields. On the one hand the large container field. – This was the first large area of the layout and consists of no less than 35 (!) large viewing containers (a total of 65 pieces were installed on the layout) and can be played on several levels. And because that was apparently not enough, there is even an old Russian military helicopter in the middle as cover. The real highlight of the field. This field alone has over 6000 square meters of floor space. In addition, there are the other levels on the individual containers, which can also be used. So there really is a lot of action on offer here. The playing field is so large and varied that you can still try out new ways and game variants even after your tenth visit. Completely flashed by this first impression, we move on to the next field. – Suddenly we are standing in front of a real plane that seems to have “crashed” in the middle of the field. We want to make it clear that we are not talking about a small, single-engine Cessna, but about a fully-fledged ATR72 cargo plane with 74 seats! As far as we know, this has never happened on any other field in Germany. This makes Battlefields Hildesheim the undefeated number one when it comes to highlights on pitches. Just crazy!
On the way to the third field we chat a little with Roland about his everyday work. He proudly tells us how the facility has grown in recent years and what he and his now more than 20-strong team, which consists of nine permanent employees and around 15 mini-jobbers, have achieved in recent years. As with many paintball fields, the start was difficult here. Although the parent company, Jim&Jimmys GmbH, was a wealthy investor behind the planning, the financial means that were significantly more available than in many other paintball projects lacked the know-how for implementation on the other side. Gradually, the team was expanded to include employees who were really familiar with the subject of paintball and, above all, knew what today's players expect on a paintball facility. From then on things went uphill and the facility got better and better every year. Even if most system operators rarely give an insight into their business figures, Roland tells us that in the previous record month in 2018, i.e. already around two years after the opening, almost 3000 players were guests on the system within one month. You don't hear that every day and it certainly speaks for the quality and the range on site.
As we look around we discover numerous young players. – Actually nothing special in times of kids paintball, but the large number still surprises us, so we ask. Roland explains to us that there are several reasons for this. On the one hand, there is the Jim&Jimmys play world right on the site, which was known years ago as the largest indoor playground in the region. The foundation stone for young audiences had already been laid in advance. In order to integrate these young players as well as possible into the paintball theme, Paintball Battlefields has applied for and received a shooting range acceptance. This process is currently unique in German paintball, because the permit makes it possible by law for children and young people from the age of 12 to play under supervision with paintball markers for adults. Before all fathers grab their 12-year-old boys and run to the car, it should be said at this point that Battlefields Hildesheim has set the starting age at 16 for safety reasons, which is still two years earlier than in the rest of Germany. For all younger participants from eight to 16 years, there is the tried and tested Kids Paintball on site. – If you are a field operator and are interested in the topic, you are welcome to get in touch with the guys from Hildesheim. Roland assured us that they would be happy to help other fields with information, because this is the only way paintball in Germany can continue to grow and be made accessible to younger players. We have arrived at the third field that Roland wants to show us today. For the so-called "Infected Checkpoint" field, the investor once again spared no expense or effort and built an entire motorway into the landscape. There are numerous cars and also a real public bus. – What is striking here once again is that each field has a highlight in one way or another as a recognition factor. The helicopter, the airplane, or even the coach. Although the Infected Checkpoint field is one of the smaller fields in the facility in terms of dimensions, you can still have a lot of fun here in a great atmosphere. The short distances invite you to play very fast, varied games.
"Competition sport is also very important here."
Let's move on to the tournament fields. Here, Hildesheim is one of the strongest locations in the north. Two full-size NXL fields with league dimensions, great turf, pit boxes and a large grandstand await the tournament scene. From the district league up to the 3rd Bundesliga, all DPL (German Paintball League) formats are held here. The house team Ballistics Göttingen, around the experienced 1st league player Dustin Hauk, also trains on site and is also in charge of the numerous tournaments that are held on the facility in addition to the league matchdays. – Definitely a top starting point for tournament players and anyone who wants to become one. Of course, the facility offers much more. There are nine squares and we've only played three of them. In addition, two or three more are planned or under construction, Roland tells us. It is therefore guaranteed that there will not be a dull moment at the facility in the years to come.
At the end of our visit, Roland leads us back to our starting point, the players area. The last point of the day is a visit to the field store. Yes, you heard that right, FIELD STORE. Battlefields Hildesheim has an approximately 70 square meter paintball shop on its premises. This is housed in a container that looks very nice from the outside and also looks more like a modern sports shop from the inside than a normal field store. – "It wasn't always like that…" tells us Roland. In the early days, the field store operated behind the registration and the products were on simple shelves in the display. The new store was opened about 2 years ago and is one of the most beautiful and modern in Germany. Of course, the range is limited to 70 square meters, but the guys always try really hard to offer a decent selection and the latest products. However, the needs of the walk-in customers on the field are in the foreground. In the shop itself we now also meet the rest of the Battlefields crew. On the one hand there is Andi Schneider, whom many Paintball Sports customers may know from earlier in Hanover. Since the experienced technician comes from Hildesheim, moving to his hometown a few years ago was practically just a formality. Since then he has been available on site for all technical questions. Roland also introduces us to Kevin Gentemann, he is the salesman in the Field Store and does the external graphics and the web shop. Of course, the team is significantly larger, as you have already learned in the text, but presenting all employees in detail would go beyond the scope here, so we will leave it at that. You will now know the most important contacts on site the next time you visit. We hope that with this article we were able to give you a small impression of what awaits you at Paintball Battlefields in Hildesheim. In the next issue there will be another playing field check at one of the other large playing fields in Germany, stay tuned.
