“Where in Germany can you still watch real dirt track racing with cars and bikes from the thirties to the fifties?”
Dirt track in the Spreewald.
On an 800-metre sand oval near Lübbenau, always the second September weekend. Vehicles up to model year 1959 only — and no parade.
The short answer
- The Hindenberg Speedway sits on the grounds of the MSC "Jugend" Lübbenau club in Brandenburg; the sand oval was built in 1970 for professional sand track racing.
- The Hindenberg Dirt Track Races run every year on the second September weekend — in 2026 on 11 and 12 September.
- Cars and bikes up to and including model year 1959 with four-stroke petrol engines are eligible; the build year of the chassis is what counts.
Germany has plenty of events where old cars drive in circles. Most of them are regularity runs, parades or processions. The Hindenberg Speedway is none of those, and the organisers say so with remarkable bluntness: putting on classic-car parades or regularity runs, or organising a US-car meet, is not their aim — others do that better. What they want is racing.
What happens at the Hindenberg Speedway
Vintage dirt track racing: practice and elimination heats on a sand oval, for cars and motorcycles built up to and including 1959. The model is American circle-track racing of the thirties to fifties, where at times more than forty vehicles shared the track at once.
Hindenberg runs nowhere near that many. No more than four cars or six bikes are on track together, and on loose sand that is plenty. Motorcycles are split by displacement — under and over 500 cc — and cars run in Modified, Late Model Flathead and Late Model. Technical inspection and start numbers are handled on site.
Only vehicles with four-stroke petrol engines are admitted. For the model year, the chassis counts, not the engine.
The track
The sand oval, a little under 800 metres, lies on the grounds of the MSC "Jugend" Lübbenau club in the German state of Brandenburg and was inaugurated in 1970 for professional sand track racing. The organisers measure it in American currency: just under 800 metres is their half mile, their half-mile dirt track.
Before and between heats it is prepared by a water truck and the track crew — on sand, water is half the work. How much dust still hangs in the air depends on the weather, and at the September dates of recent years that has regularly meant a lot.
The 2027 date
The Hindenberg Dirt Track Races are held every year on the second September weekend. That makes planning simple, even though the exact date is published late.
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 13–14 September |
| 2023 | 8–9 September |
| 2026 | 11–12 September |
| 2027 | second September weekend, date still open |
2023 was the eleventh running. So this is no one-off — but it is not something you find through advertising either. You find it through the scene.
Getting there and staying over
The venue is the sand track at An der Sandbahn in 03222 Lübbenau, Hindenberg district, roughly an hour's drive south of Berlin and in the middle of the Spreewald. By train you go to Lübbenau and need a vehicle or a bicycle from there.
People stay on site, and the atmosphere is school-trip: tents line the track, sleeping bags sometimes lie in the open, being near your own vehicle takes priority. Anyone looking for a hotel room with breakfast is at the wrong event.
What to bring
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Ear protection | Unsilenced four-strokes over 800 metres of sand |
| Dust mask or bandana | The track gets watered, but not always enough |
| Tent and sleeping bag | Staying on site is part of the thing |
| Cash | At a club event, card payment is not a given |
| Sturdy footwear | Sand track, paddock, no tarmac |
Where the Hindenberg Speedway sits in the scene
Germany has three events that take old American racing culture seriously, and they do three different things. Race 61 in Finowfurt runs eighth-mile sprints for vehicles up to model year 1976, with a party hangar attached. NitrOlympX at Hockenheim is drag racing at European championship level — modern engineering, 500 km/h. Hindenberg is the third format: oval racing on sand, with vehicles twenty years older than anything the other two admit.
Know all three and you have seen the range. If you can only make one and pre-war engineering is your thing, go to Hindenberg.
FAQ
When is the Hindenberg Speedway in 2027? On the second September weekend. The organiser announces the exact date at short notice; in 2026 the event ran on 11 and 12 September.
Which vehicles are eligible? Cars and motorcycles up to and including model year 1959, with the build year of the chassis being decisive. As a rule, only four-stroke petrol engines are admitted.
What classes are there? Motorcycles run under and over 500 cc. Cars start in Modified, Late Model Flathead and Late Model.
Where is the Hindenberg Speedway? At An der Sandbahn in 03222 Lübbenau, Hindenberg district, on the grounds of the MSC "Jugend" Lübbenau club in the Spreewald.
Can you camp on site? Yes, staying on the grounds is part of the event. Tents stand right by the track.
Is this a US-car meet? No. The model is American, the event is a race. For US-car meets the organisers explicitly point elsewhere.