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Closing Ceremony, 25th International Vocational Training Competition, Cork 1979. Program and speeches

Opening Ceremony, 25th International Vocational Training Competition, Cork 1979. Program and speeches

German application form for the 1956 International Competition

It is in the German language suggesting it was distributed to potential participants in Germany. Against a bright yellow background the cover depicts the trophy awarded to the winners. The form is in two parts: the first has a preamble explaining eligibility, rules and logistics. The second part is the form to be mailed by the interested applicant to the organizing committee’s office in Madrid, Spain by 15 February 1956. The 20 listed skills were in the wood, metal, electricity and building work categories. Participants would be divided into two groups: A was “lads” born in 1935, 1936 and 1937, group B those born in 1938, 1939 and 1940. Travel expenses to and from the event would be borne by the country from which the apprentices came. Expenses incurred within the host country, including board, lodging and “general organization” would be paid for by the host.

Klaus Etzel's photo album, 1953

The book features photographs, newspaper cuttings, postcards, currency samples and hand written notes by Etzel. Its cover has a green and brown crosshatch pattern with a charm from the 1953 contest.

Scrapbook of Klaus Etzel, 1953

A personal scrapbook created by Klaus Etzel, as a commemoration of the event, and features newspaper clippings and a handwritten diary, in a heavy script, in which Etzel recorded his daily activities. Etzel and his fellow apprentices all lived in the industrial city of Wuppertal. The Spanish contest was a major topic and the local newspapers reported extensively about it before, during and after the event. He was a runner up. The scrapbook also features clippings of the official reception and prize ceremony Etzel made an official present, a coloured glass window with the municipal coat of arms of Wuppertal. The German delegation was not officially organized by the West German Government, however, the newly appointed German ambassador in Madrid, Adalbert von Bayern, appreciated the effort of the German delegation and gave a reception in their honour on 7 December 1953. There is a touching diary entry by Etzel on the last page which translates as, "I will never ever forget this adventure and I am thankful to all friends who helped in realizing this journey."

Edgar Stengal's album, 1953

A scrapbook album of Edgar Stengel, the German apprentice tool maker who won a second place trophy at the 1953 Madrid Competition. The album features black and white touristic photos of landmarks in France and Spain. Stengel was part of the 22-member German. The apprentices’ expenses were covered. The trip was a major undertaking at the time. Almost none of the competitors had travelled abroad before. The delegation departed from the town hall of their home city of Wuppertal on 15 November and arrived in Spain three days later to a friendly welcome. The Mercedes bus was brand new and only allowed to travel 80 km per hour. The teenaged boys had a grand adventure, but the travel guides were nervous about how they would be received in France so soon after the war and drove non-stop day and night to cross the country

Karl Heinz Trott's scrapbook

Created by Karl Heinz Trott, the leader of the German delegation and team to the 1953 competition in Madrid, it contains newspaper cuttings from the local press in Wuppertal, photographs from the competition, and two typed accounts written by Trott.

1950-1967 Scrapbook

A charming and neatly organized, bound scrapbook about some of the early European competitions 1950 - 1967 with a focus on 1955 onwards. The scrapbook gives a vivid and comprehensive picture of the contests through photographs, hand-written and typed notes, test project drawings, and postcards. The text is mostly German and some English. The author is not known.

Olympia Der Arbeit (Work Olympics)

A book presented to successful competitors in the annual Reichsberufswettkampf, a vocational skills competition for young Germans held between 1934 and 1939. The competition was organised by the state controlled German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) in conjunction with the Hitler Youth. The author of the book is Artur Axmann, Reichjugendfuhrer of the Hitler Youth and who presided over the competition from 1936. As well as propaganda text extolling the virtues of skills training under National Socialism, it includes a large number of photographs. Some illustrate what was seen as the moral decay of German youth post World War One, while others show positive images of skills, including metal work, baking, engineering, baking and even hairdressing. A label inside the cover shows this copy was present to Walter Mayer of Stuttgart "fur gute Leiftung" (for good learning) in 1937. Also include is a four page pamphlet that includes other recommended political texts and attributed to Günter Kaufman, another Hitler Youth official who was also the author of an authorised biography of Baldur Von Shirach, the former head of the Hitler Youth before Axman and who, as governor of Vienna, was one of the organisers of the first European Youth Association in 1942, whose delegates included Jose Antonio Elola-Osala, head of the Spanish Youth Front and, in the post war era, responsible for the national and later the first international vocational skills competitions held in Madrid.

Die olympischen Spiele der Arbeit im Wandel

Interview with Silvia Felix to mark her Gold medal victory at Bern in 1968, published by Schulblatt Kanton Zürich with the support of Swiss Skills to mark the 50th anniversary of her winning the Gold medal for Cabinetmarking at the Bern Competition in 1968. This is thought to be only the second time women took part in a Competition and the first Gold medal won by a woman in what were considered to be "male" skills.

Clive Barker's certificate of participation, 1961

Clive Barke's certificate of participation, 1961

Leslie Woolley's certificate of participation, 1961

Mach dir einen Spaß aus deinen Beruf

An interview with Edgar Stengel who competed as a tool maker in the 1953 competition in Madrid. The interview was published by WorldSkills Germany in April 2020.