“They love to build stuff in Germany.”
A country that builds its own parks
Mike Boisvert has been to Germany four times between 2023 and 2026, about a month in total, from Berlin to Cologne and Munich. What surprised him most was the amount of DIY skateparks everywhere. His favorite moment in the country: a visit to Martin, the founder of Black River, which Mike calls the biggest fingerboard company in the world, and one of his sponsors. Martin lives a bit out of the way, but there are about ten DIY skateparks around his place. “One day we went around, we skated 10 DIY skateparks.” At his house there is a fingerboard skatepark, and in his warehouse about 25 people build the ramps and boards. “It's like a whole operation there.”
Where to skate
Every German city has its own ecosystem, says Mike. Berlin has a lot of spots and much of the skate industry, and Cologne is big too, with lots of skateparks. And because of the winter, there are a lot of indoor parks. In Berlin, the Skatehalle is a staple, and Skatepark Vogelfreiheit is a cool plaza with a mini ramp, in a huge public park that used to be an airport. In Cologne, KAP686 is a super street plaza with a good view, good ground and more manual pads than you usually see. “Perfect.”
Skaters to know
Sebastian Hofbauer (@mr.hofbauer) lives in Augsburg and is a full-time high school teacher. He is also, Mike says, one of the best skaters he has ever seen: “like a European Daewon Song.” Mike has seen him put 36 tricks into one mini ramp combo, and skate ten hours straight. He reads every week, doesn't drink or smoke, and is the team manager who got Mike on SkatePro.
Déniel Cramer (@denielcramer) lives in Cologne and travels a lot for contests. He is Mike's number one pick in Germany, and the subject of the video A Day With Germany's Nicest Skater. “He's the sweetest guy ever.” Born in Germany with Algerian roots, he rides for Algeria's national team, and Mike would like to give him a JACKALOPE Golden Ticket. Danny Darkslide (@dannydarkslide) is the creative one, a freestyle skater from Dortmund.
The names to know around the scene: Titus, a family skate shop chain whose founder's son, a former contest skater, now runs it; Skate Aid, which builds skateparks around the world; Bubble Skate Mag; and Confusion Magazine, a magazine about DIY. Also on Mike's list: Black River, Railslide, Bonkers, Homeboy, Reels and Concrete Wave.
If you go
Go see the Berlin Wall. “I think you have to go if you go to Berlin.” Eat a döner kebab: you would think it's not from Germany, says Mike, but it is, and they have the best one in the world. And if you are into fingerboarding, Black River is a reason on its own to make the trip.
Barriers? Mike can't name one. What he would like to see is a real JACKALOPE festival there. And don't worry about the language: “Everybody speaks English in Germany.” The most underrated thing about the country, for him, is the people and the community. “They're going to skate forever.”
Photos and videos: Mike Boisvert / The Skate Nomad. Part of the JACKALOPE Skate Atlas, one country at a time, with the skaters who live there. See every country on the map.
