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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. Today we are guests at the largest paintball facility in the capital, at GO Paintball in Berlin. The field has been increasingly transformed into a paintball event park in recent years and has a lot to offer.
What immediately catches your eye at Go Paintball is the unique atmosphere of the park. The overarching Western theme with its detailed scenery runs through numerous areas of the park and thus ensures a real amusement park feeling away from the playing fields. One thing became clear to us from the first meters, GO Paintball is definitely not a normal paintball field, but a real action sports amusement park.
As a guest, we first enter the very spacious player area. On around 5000 square meters there are numerous tables, seating and registration, a snack bar where you can order delicious burgers at lunchtime, the issue of rental equipment and paintballs, as well as the sanitary facilities. A total of up to 700 players have room to develop here. However, since those responsible usually only allow 400 players per day on the facility, it is very pleasant and, despite the large number of visitors, does not seem as crowded as some other facilities. “The players should feel comfortable here and enjoy their time on the facility. Just a day off,” says Robert Koplin from the team operating the Go Paintball facility.
From the very centrally located players' area, we can reach all the surrounding fields of the facility. Here, too, the operators have thought along and kept the walking distances for the players as short as possible. From each of the 12 playing fields you can return to your regular table in the players' area in a short distance. “Guests should be able to start the game immediately on the playing fields and not have to walk to the starting point for a long time and then run back from there to the first fight and, in the worst case, leave the field immediately after being hit. First and foremost, you want to play, have action and have fun and not just run all day.” Robert tells us as he leads us away from the players' area to the pitches. Suddenly we are standing in front of the backdrop of a western town. A bank, the saloon and a sherif's office stand tall in front of us. However, this impressive building is not the playing field, but merely the entrance to it. We are in front of Cayenne, one of the most unique and detailed paintball fields in Germany. The GO paintball team has recreated a real western town on around 2500 square meters where you can now play cowboys and Indians with paintball markers. Anyone who has ever wanted to rob the mail train armed with a paintball marker or clear out the bank can experience it all here. The very detailed buildings, some of which have several floors, look impressive and offer a truly unique atmosphere. The Cayenne playing field is the heart of the facility and is located right next to the players' area. In total, the GO paintball facility currently has 12 paintball fields with a wide variety of themes and four more are planned by 2022.
Some of the older fields are a bit simpler, but that doesn't make them any less fun. You will also find, for example, a hyperball field on the facility that is unique in Germany. For those who don't know what Hyperball is, well, that's how tournament sports started several decades ago in the USA, even before Supair bunkers were invented. A piece of nostalgia that has survived the restructuring of the park to this day and still provides lots of fun and action for visitors. The newer the fields, the more interesting, because you can see with each individual topic that the operators not only thought about the field structure in advance, but also spared no expense or effort in the implementation to integrate their very detailed plans into the to implement action. We now look at the Diggin Dirt field. This is a large field with bunkers, bridges and a huge ditch and canal system in which players can explore the entire field on multiple levels. It almost feels like a trench in old Call of Duty games. An incomparable gaming experience that we have never experienced on any other field. If you would like to see the playing field live, you can simply scan the QR code on this page. Tobi from the Paintball Channel walked the entire field with his camera shortly after it opened and captured the almost endless paths that the field has to offer for you. The third and final field we want to look at is called Jungle Trail. This is also just a few meters away from the playersare. Next to the registration, a steep wooden staircase goes up a slope. A wooden sign between bamboo stalks bears the name of the field and shows us the way. When we get to the top of the bridge, we wince for a moment, because it sounds as if a helicopter has just flown very close above our heads in the direction of the playing field. “This sound is part of the experience here.” Robert explains to us. In addition to the unique scenery, each playing field is also equipped with a matching sound. On the Jungle Trail field, which has the Vietnamese jungle as its theme, we hear the sounds of exotic animals and gunfire in addition to the helicopter. By the way, we actually found the helicopter later on the field. Apparently the Vietcong shot him down and so he stands in a clearing in the forest and serves as cover for us during the game. This field is a lot of fun, especially in summer. Then the "jungle" is really densely overgrown and when the sun's rays come through the dense treetops, you have a really cool atmosphere. Just a real jungle trail.
Back in the players area, we want to know what else there is to know about the park. "It was always important to us that the paintball players could bring their children with them, and so the theme world "Pirate's Bay" was built for the little ones," explains Robert. This playground looks like an old seafaring town. The deceptively real setting with a jetty and small houses includes slides and a climbing frame where the children can let off steam while their parents have fun on the "playground for adults" next door. Of course, the pirate bay is again provided with light and sound. In the evening, the scenes are indirectly lit. A Caribbean port atmosphere comes from hidden loudspeakers and from time to time pirates sing their songs. Originally, this area was only intended as a kind of bullet trap wall to delimit the neighboring playing fields. A few creative hours later, the simple protective wall project had suddenly turned into a blueprint for a pirate town. Here, too, you can see the special attention to detail that goes into the entire facility.
Over a delicious burger from the grill at the GO-Imbiss Restaurant, Robert tells us a little about the history of the park. This was in fact opened in the 1990s, at that time still under the name Outdoor Sports. Even then, the park was a fixture in eastern Germany. Even the German paintball championship was held there at the time. Unfortunately, at some point the commitment of the operators waned and the park more and more disappeared from the focus of the players. In 2014, Primo, the then captain of the German record champions Frankfurt Syndicate, took over the park together with Robert. Since then, the team has been working hard year after year to awaken the park from its slumber and bring it back to its former glory. They definitely succeeded, because today the park is bigger and better than ever. Even today, people tinker and work in the park five days a week. New paintball fields are being created and parts of the park are being modernized more and more. By the way, there is no standstill on the other two days, on the contrary, then paintball is played here. Since the facility has been well attended on the weekends for years, the construction work for the game operation has to be suspended.
But the Go Paintball Team is far from finished. Robert tells us some of the future plans and visions. The park will soon offer its visitors even more variety. Three playing fields are currently being revised and provided with new coverings, sound and other details. The player area is also getting an update. The shelters will be completely renewed and equipped with light. This is important because there are always night events in GO Paintball. These special events offer a very special atmosphere thanks to special light and sound effects and an interesting storyline.
Robert tells us that all the old pitches will be gradually rebuilt and renovated over the coming years. New themes such as "Star Wars", the medieval world "Fortress" and the planned pirate bay "Tortuga" should captivate the players and provide even more paintball action. Visitors can look forward to one or two new highlights every year. “Our plan already extends a good 10 years into the future. What we have achieved in the last 6 years is just the beginning.” Robert explains to us with shining eyes. There really is someone with heart and soul here. Incidentally, Robert is also the driving force in the park when it comes to planning the facility, the backdrops and their implementation. The passionate craftsman is in the park himself every day, working on the structures and having a lot of fun implementing the busy construction plans. Meanwhile, his partner Primo keeps the team together and, in addition to administration, also ensures that the quality standards in the park remain as high as they are at the moment. A well-established team that complements each other perfectly. It has to be the same if you want to stay on the road to success with such a large paintball amusement park as GO Paintball. We are sure the two of them can do it and wish them continued success in implementing their ambitious plans.
That was our visit to Go Paintball in Berlin. If you're ever in the capital, be sure to stop by the field. It's definitely worth it, because this paintball field is unique in Germany.
