Uncanny has been going on for centuries in the Russian Hanseatic City of Novgorod. A mysterious legend seems to be more alive than ever.
For a long time, HANSA-PARK has been planned to expand its portfolio of roller coasters. The decisions were not easy. Many models had their advantages. For the creative team, one thing is certain: the roller coaster should go completely new ways. It should be unique in the roller coaster world.
At the start were, among other things, a Spinning Coaster concept, and the X-Cars by Maurer Söhne. An innovative idea finally solved the roller coaster question: "Why not combine a Euro-Fighter from Gerstlauer with one of their Launch Coaster". The idea was well received. The same day the company Gerstlauer was contacted and asked to check the feasibility. The cataplector class was born.
A new roller coaster was in development. But the creative team want to offer the guests more. They thought of the successful concept of various American amusement parks. A story has been worked out. The story should draw the guest from the queue to the exit in his spell. The roller coaster is now no longer a classic thrill machine but the means for a completely new experience. The guest is transferred into the center of the action.
The year 1365. For eleven years, the Lübeck Peer Oldendorp has not heard anything from his father Heinrich. The last letter from his father takes him to Novgorod. But nobody knows anything about the whereabouts of his father. The tracks lead to the mendicant Alexej Bartava, whose father accompanied Heinrich Oldendorp on his journey to Novgorod. Alexej suspects nothing good, and tells Peer of the legend of the evil wizard Wolchow. Although Wolchow was publicly hanged hundreds of years ago, he still seems to cause trouble in the woods of Novgorod. Every traveler outside the city walls is in danger. Those who do not make it into the protective halls of the city fast enough will experience the Curse of Novgorod.
Together with Alexej Peer goes after the clue, in search of his missing father.
The construction of the Curse of Novgorod became part of a major marketing campaign. Shortly after the start of construction, a mini site appears on the Internet. Until the opening and beyond, new information and up-to-date construction images were provided almost weekly. Rumors and competitions rounded off the page, making it one of the most successful sources of information for all roller coaster enthusiasts, and a very successful advertisement for the park.
The construction was followed with tension. Fans met in front of the scaffolding and the border fences of the park to observe and analyze the construction process.
A combination of Euro-Fighter and Launch Coaster. No easy task for the designers of Gerstlauer. The Euro-Fighter car was never built for an additional module on the chassis. So had to be examined, how far changes must be made to the vehicle. For a corresponding tensile force of Linear Induction Motors (LIM) to catapult the car from about 25 km/h to 85.5 km/h, two permanent magnets were attached. As a result, the car has a wider track compared to the previous Euro-Fighters. In the following year, the speed was raised to about 100 km/h.
In addition to the technically demanding roller coaster construction, a considerable amount of energy was put into the theming. The story should be credible to the guest in the end. The team looked around Novgorod and discovered three towers at the Kremlin that best fit the roller coaster layout and history. So they decided to copy the Savior, the Court and the Vladimir tower in the park. Connected by two ramps and a double-barreled tunnel, the building serves the darkride part of the roller coaster. Here the story comes alive.
The core of the building was composed of precast concrete parts, like a huge puzzle. The bare walls were then elaborately clad with brick clinker, and decorated with windows, wooden fronts and ornaments. The ramps were completely made of wood except for the concrete floor slabs. Until the beginning of the 2010 season, craftsmen worked on the design.
Much emphasis has been placed on special effects to bring the story as close as possible to the guest. It works with amazing, inconspicuous and frightening effects. Much speaks against the name "roller coaster" as much as "a fast and exciting theme ride".
After leaving the roller coaster, the path leads around a corner, down into the basement vault of the city. Here, the path branches into a tangled labyrinth, which was visited by members of the Brotherhood in the first years after the opening. Only one way leads out into the Gemstone Tunnel, and ends in a cozy farmhouse, richly decorated with goods from Russia. Above all, driving photos of the escape from Wolkow can be taken as memories, as evidence of escaping the Curse of Novgorod.
