The white handkerchiefs waving in the stands of the main stadium have become one of the inseparable images of Aachen
A tradition that has accompanied the farewell of riders for over seven decades, the origin of which coincides with a particularly significant year for Spanish equestrianism: 1953, when Spain won the Nations Cup at the German show.
The story of this particular ceremony began precisely that year. During the closing ceremony, the stadium announcer at the time, the lawyer Dr Kurt Sonnamini, spontaneously asked spectators to take out their handkerchiefs and wave them while the participants did their lap of honour. The initiative was enthusiastically received by the public and ended up being repeated until it became one of Aachen's defining hallmarks.
Since then, tens of thousands of fans have taken part in a farewell ceremony currently known as the “Abschied der Nationen”, the Farewell of the Nations. Handkerchiefs fill the stands as the competitors bid farewell to the arena, an image that has survived the passing of the decades and has also formed part of the recent FEI World Championships held in Aachen.
The ceremony also has its own soundtrack. Handkerchiefs are waved to the rhythm of “Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus”, a traditional German melody linked to Württemberg and popularised during the 19th century by the composer Friedrich Silcher. Its lyrics speak of a farewell and the desire to return, a particularly fitting meaning for the moment when Aachen says goodbye to its participants until the next edition.
The melody would eventually achieve international fame too. In 1960, Elvis Presley popularised “Wooden Heart”, based on “Muss i denn”, after performing it in the film “G.I. Blues”. However, long before that version, the song had already become linked to the German contest's distinctive farewell.
The birth of the white handkerchiefs also holds a curious connection with one of the great historical chapters of Spanish show jumping. In 1953, Spain won the Nations Cup in Aachen with a team led by Colonel Pablo Montoya Gaviria.
Joaquín Nogueras Márquez with Frisar, Manuel Ordovás González with Bohemio, Ángel Alonso Martín with Brise Brise and Francisco Goyoaga Caamaño with Baden were the members of the Spanish team that achieved that victory.
That 1953 proved to be especially brilliant for Francisco Goyoaga. That same year, the Spanish rider was crowned individual Show Jumping world champion in Paris riding Quorum, becoming the first Spaniard to win the world title in the discipline.
The victory in Aachen was not an isolated success either. Spain won the Nations Cup again the following year and added a third victory in 1958, completing a particularly notable period for national equestrian sport in one of the most emblematic venues on the international calendar.
Seventy-three years after that first farewell, Aachen continues to fill with white handkerchiefs when the time comes to close its major competitions. A tradition that was born spontaneously and that holds a special historical coincidence for Spain: the year in which it began to be written was also the year of the first of its three victories in the Aachen Nations Cup.
