What is: Der Schwur des Kärnan
Der Schwur des Kärnan, often shortened just to Kärnan,
is a steel roller coaster, located at Hansa Park, in Germany.
The ride opened to the public as the tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster,
produced by the German attraction manufacturer, Gerstlauer.
As of 2017, the ride stands as the only hyper coaster in Europe to feature inversions.
Kärnan opened to the public on the first of July 2015,
as the park’s third Gerstlauer roller coaster.
As of now, Hansa Park is home to an Infinity Coaster, Kärnan;
a Eurofighter, and a Gerstlauer family coaster.
Similar to other new roller coasters in Europe, the theming for the ride was completed
after the attraction officially opened.
A large majority of the theming, including the cladding on the impressive tower structure,
as well as the rooms within the indoor queue line,
were completed during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The ride itself is themed around Karnan, a real medieval tower, located in Sweden.
The tale of the tower is one surrounding the cruel ruler of the Danish Empire,
within the 13th century.
The king vowed he would construct a fortress so great it would be unconquerable.
To complete this task, he commanded his Master builder to take an oath
to create an invincible fortress with a grand keep.
However, the master builder, as well as many under the rule of the king, wanted to see his reign end.
To stick to the oath, yet still go against the king, the builder turned to magic.
Once the tower was completed, he told the ruler:
for the fortress to be truly unconquerable a magic spell, that would come at a high price, was needed.
The arrogant King began to recite the spell and for every word of the spell spoken,
pieces of his soul left his body and entered the keep of the fortress.
Shortly after the entire spell had been recited, Karnan was unconquerable;
but the Danish ruler grew old and soon died.
To this day, it is said that no-one has been able to conquer the fortress,
and the king’s soul remains trapped within the keep.
The full name of the attraction translates to “Kärnan’s Oath”,
referring to the oath taken by the master builder to ensure the fortress was invincible.
A ride on Kärnan begins with the guests navigating the extensively themed queue line.
As they travel around the fortress, various TVs explain the history of the tower in a documentary style.
Prior to boarding the trains of the ride, guests enter a preshow room.
At this point in time, riders are batched into four rows.
A lighting sequence occurs around the room, before illuminating the floor.
Each row of riders are instructed towards a different door, via the lights.
This entire sequence is randomised, meaning guests are oblivious to the row they will be seated in,
up until moments before the experience begins.
Once the doors to the train opens, 16 riders board the vehicle, arranged in 4 rows of 4.
The ride begins with a small bunny hill, immediately after the train is dispatched,
followed by an abrupt stop at the base of the vertical lift hill.
At this point in time, riders ascend vertically, in classic Gerstlauer fashion,
to the maximum height of 73m (239.5ft).
As they crest the top of the lift, they quickly navigate a 90 degree bank to the right,
before plummeting 67m (220ft) towards the ground.
At the base of the drop, riders emerge from the large tower structure into daylight.
Without warning, and still dazed by the rapid change of lighting,
guests begin to ascend the first hill.
The trains enter the oddly shaped element, braced by a mess of metal supports.
From the ground, the element resembles a non-inverting version of the classic sea serpent roll.
Riders complete and descend the section of track into an overbanked turn to the right.
From this point on, the majority of the ride takes place low to the ground,
giving the sensation that riders are travelling much faster than they really are.
Although, the trains are anything but sluggish throughout the layout,
as they reach the top speed of 127kmh (79mph).
The rest of the experience is made up of many heavily banked turns, several airtime hills,
more banked turns, and a small ascent into the brake run.
If you are yet to ride Kärnan and would like aspects of the ride experience to remain a mystery,
please skip to the time shown on screen now.
For those too intrigued to look away, the ride has several tricks up its sleeve.
To begin with, Kärnan opened to the public as the world’s first roller coaster
to feature a ‘reverse freefall’ drop.
As the train climbs the vertical lift hill, it comes to a stop.
After several seconds, guests fall backwards down the lift hill,
before slowing and coming to a halt.
They then climb the vertical lift once again, and crest the hill.
For the 2017 season, the intensity of the reverse freefall drop was increased,
making it even more scary for first time riders.
Towards the end of the coaster, guests traverse the brake run.
They then enter the coasters singular inversion, a heartline roll.
This is located in darkness, before the final brake run and station.
The entire experience, excluding the time spent on lift hills and brake runs,
lasts for a total of 56 seconds.
This occurs over the rides large layout, which measures 1235m (4052ft) long.
Many people applaud the coaster, for it’s focus on intensity and speed,
as well as it's unique qualities.
The height and scale of the ride leads to the question:
Should Gerstlauer begin to manufacturer more traditional hyper coasters?
What’s your opinion?