The first edition of Auto-Camping took place in Luxembourg 68 years ago. At the time, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) had entrusted the Automobile Club du Luxembourg (ACL) with the task of organising the first international gathering dedicated to camping vehicles in the town of Diekirch. Here we take a look back at this unusual event.
Between 24 and 31 July 1957, the Diekirch Auto-Camping centre, the only one of its kind in the Grand Duchy at the time, located at the foot of the Härebierg hill, hosted the very first international gathering of camping vehicles. The driving force behind this initiative and the main organiser of the event was Mr Ernest Funck, then-President of the ‘Auto-Camping division’ of the ACL, together with Mr Henry Cravatte, mayor of Diekirch and future Secretary of State for the Economy. A total of 454 campers from 10 countries gathered in Diekirch with their 97 caravans and 48 tents.
According to a report on the day featured in the autumn 1957 issue of Auto Route, a forerunner to Autotouring, the first to arrive at the ACL reception desk was a certain Mr Walker. The Englishman from Leeds had travelled over 7,000km from his home town, making a detour via the Norwegian port of Narvik, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany to Hamburg, before finally pitching his tent at the Diekirch site. One of his fellow countrymen, Bill Whiteman, a journalist for The Caravan Club driving a Willerby-Vogue caravan, stressed after visiting the reception desk that “the magnificent organisational skills of the ACL were once again clear to see in Diekirch”.
The event attracted British, Dutch, French, Belgian, Luxembourger, German, Danish, Swiss and Portuguese visitors over the course of the week, the largest group being the 240 or so British campers, 233 of whom were affiliated with the Caravan Club of Great Britain and Ireland or the Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland. These were followed by the Dutch participants, of which there were 65, affiliated primarily with the Nederlandse Toeristen Kampeer-Club and the Koninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond ANWB. The smallest national groups were those made up of two Swiss campers, members of the Fédération Suisse des Clubs de Camping, and three Portuguese from the Federeaçao Portuguesa de Campismo. There were also ten Luxembourgers in attendance, eight of whom were affiliated with the Automobile Club de Luxembourg.
It should be noted that while some preferred more imposing vehicles like the Carrsons Caravan or the Freeman-Glencairn, some participants travelled to Diekirch by train, carrying their suitcases on small two-wheeler trolleys.
A jolly affair
In addition to the camping vehicles, this inaugural gathering also provided an opportunity to enjoy various performances, including a concert by operetta singer Mésy Faber, who was long the only Luxembourger artist to have performed at the Olympia in Paris. Of the 454 participants, the 127 children also got the opportunity to enjoy the lawns at the site, as well as taking part in a drawing competition. The event ended on 31 July 1957 with a closing dinner, having been a resounding success, according to the then-correspondent for the English magazine Autocar, who dubbed this most enjoyable week a “jolly affair”.
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