Two kilometres away from England’s luxurious training base, the Spa & GolfResort Weimarer Land, is a sleepy town with a population of around 9,000 people.
Blankenhain is the municipality Gareth Southgate and his players will be calling home during their stay in Germany for Euro 2024, and if you were walking along the main road, you would be forgiven for wondering whether a new tourism partnership with England had been agreed.
England flags are placed alongside German flags in shop windows and there is an England flag made out of flowers — planted a week ago — outside Blankenhain Castle, which is where Southgate and squad members will be carrying out their media duties.
The front door to the irregular oval-shaped castle is adorned with England flags. It was built around 1150 and was owned by the Lords of Blankenhain in the 13th century. Following the fires in the 17th century, it had to be rebuilt and has remained standing.
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It is now commonly used for wedding ceremonies, festivals and other cultural events, as well as conferences — but has been taken over by the Football Association (FA) for the duration of the tournament, acting as the media centre.
There is a darts board inside the press conference room, with Adam Wharton representing the players against the media on Wednesday, and a games room upstairs with a pool table, TVs, a putting mat and a foosball table.
Wharton takes on the media at darts (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Blankenhain is isolated, and a far cry from 2006, when England’s players’ families descended on Baden-Baden, a spa town in south-west Germany, and took the limelight away from England’s efforts in the World Cup.
There are no designer boutique stores in Blankenhain, nor are there any fancy restaurants. There is, however, a kebab shop — Alanya Grill, where €7 (£6; $7.50) is enough to buy you a ‘mega kebab’ — and a sushi restaurant.
Just up the road is a barbershop — Gold Style — and Beauty & Sun for anyone looking to top up their tan on a sun bed. There is a butcher’s, a hotel — the Pension Parkhotel — and a large Euro 2024 football alongside the main road as you drive away from Blankenhain Castle.
Parked no more than 50 metres away from Alanya Grill was an advertising truck, with the message: “Dear Three Lions, Football is coming home — to the ancestors of your king. Have a good time in Thuringia.”
(Dan Sheldon/The Athletic)
Just behind the truck is a bench that has been inscribed with a swastika, which is widely recognised as a symbol of the German Nazi Party. On a wall outside the castle, there is a plaque commemorating the “fatalities of the Nazi euthanasia from Thuringia”.
The district, however, could not be considered far-right. Christiane Schmidt-Rose of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany party recently defended her position in the local elections on June 9.
Even though players such as Harry Kane, Bayern Munich’s striker, and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham are no more than a 10-minute drive away, but for a few shop windows displaying a sense of football fever, Blankenhein doesn’t appear to be getting sucked into the circus that follows England.
“I only found out last week that England are going to be staying close to us,” Marko Holland-Moritz, a local 29-year-old resident, tells The Athletic. “I don’t watch football, so it isn’t something I was aware of. The football fans who live here are excited, but the rest of us don’t really care.”
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In Baden-Baden, players’ families became the main attraction, but that is an episode unlikely to be repeated in Blankenhain.
The players’ loved ones will be able to visit them the day after England play, and the expectation is that many of them will just travel in and out for games instead of basing themselves out in Germany for the tournament.
“The town is a sleepy one,” says Nicole Kollner, a 42-year-old shop owner, who has decorated her store with England flags. Next to the checkout are England bracelets, yours for €5.
“We hope the town is going to be busier!” Kollner adds. “We decorated our shop at the beginning of this week. We haven’t seen any players yet, and we aren’t expecting them to make the trip to the town.
“Our colleagues are on holiday in England and will be back tomorrow with lots more decorations!”
Kollner, left, in her shop with Doreen Klein (Dan Sheldon/The Athletic)
Kollner’s daughter went to the Spa & GolfResort on Monday to welcome England’s players, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bellingham. Although they saw the coach turn in, they did not see the squad make their way into their complex.
“It is great for the town that England are staying nearby, it is exciting knowing they are close,” Kollner adds. “Where they are staying is very nice. Before England came, the German national team were using the same base.
“When Germany was there, my daughter was thrilled with (Thomas) Muller and how he was with the fans. They hoped it would be the same when England arrived, but the England players are more isolated. But they are here to play football.”
Given the vast array of amenities on offer at England’s training base, which includes an outdoor padel court, a golf course, a basketball court with outdoor and indoor swimming pools. The indoor pool has become the main social area.
When the players entered their bedrooms, they were greeted by personalised notes from their families and photos of them on the wall.
England always bring their own fragrance to their training camps and it is no different in Germany. The corridors of the Spa & GolfResort have the same scent as St George’s Park and their rooms have a signature aroma.
“From the games room to outdoor sports to the golf courses, everything, and recovery-wise there’s everything there,” Ivan Toney told BBC Radio 5 Live. “You name it, it’s there.”
Toney says the “20 saunas” will be great for their recovery, and highlights how he will be “flicking through” the book full of messages from his family for as long as England are in the competition.
“I just miss people that are close to me, and I just end up flicking through my phone and looking at pictures, such as my children,” he said. “I always flick through photos of them when I’m away, but to have them on the wall straight away and on the book is good.”
Tom Heaton, the 38-year-old who joined the England squad as a training goalkeeper, said the facilities are “impressive, top end”, while stressing “no one will get distracted from what we’re here for”.
Locals have given England a warm welcome in Blankenhain (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
The resort boasts three golf courses, two 18-hole courses and a nine-hole one. The most expensive course to play is the Bobby Jones Championship Course, which costs €105 for a round during a weekday and €115 at the weekend. Its longest hole is the par-5 eighth, measuring 580 yards.
There is a state-of-the-art golf simulator on site, meaning the players can still play indoors if it is raining.
The facilities at the squad’s disposal should keep them entertained and are a big reason Germany wanted to use this as their training base for the tournament, having spent time there in March.
“Blankenhain is a lonely city, but one that has lots of nature,” adds Holland-Moritz. “Where England are staying is a nice spot. The most famous landmark we have is the castle, which has been taken over by England flags!”
(Getty Images)
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