‘Father Rhine’ opens Ingelheim Harbour Festival

The role of Father Rhine is to promote the town of Ingelheim and the Ingelheim Harbour Festival. At the same time, the figure symbolises sustainability. This is precisely what Philipp Weitzel considers important. His mission: he is committed to sustainability, environmental protection and the careful use of the precious resource ‘water’.

‘My goal is to talk about sustainability and bring the issue into focus,’ emphasises the current Father Rhine. He has done this with great commitment at various official events during the first twelve months of his two-year term of office. Among other things, he lent a hand at the ‘Selz Clean-up’ and volunteered to help clear the Selz and its banks of rubbish and debris. The fight against environmental and water pollution is a matter close to Philipp Weitzel's heart. ‘If everyone gets involved, you can achieve a lot,’ emphasises Father Rhine. ‘It's unbelievable how much rubbish was lying around,’ he says, looking back on the campaign, which ended up collecting bags and bags of rubbish.

Father Rhine also makes an appearance at wine and folk festivals, where he enjoys talking to people about sustainability. He does not shy away from controversial discussions. ‘You can tell that there is interest,’ says Weitzel, who works in the renewable energy sector himself. ‘Interesting discussions come up time and time again.’ Thanks to his technical expertise, he was able to provide information and education in personal exchanges. In keeping with the theme of environmental protection, Philipp Weitzel is able to use a bright red e-bike as his ‘company car,’ which is provided to him by Ingelheimer Kultur und Marketing GmbH (IkUM) for his appointments.

The Ober-Ingelheim resident has big plans for the next twelve months. In the second half of his term, he wants to focus more on the younger generation. ‘I want to visit the kindergartens in Ingelheim and talk to the children there about sustainability,’ explains Father Rhine. This is definitely an important topic, especially for the little ones. Father Rhine's agenda also includes other events and campaigns focusing on sustainability, environmental protection and the valuable resource of water.

Philipp Weitzel secured the title of ‘Father Rhine’ on the opening day of the 2024 Harbour Festival in an exciting competition organised by IkUM (Ingelheimer Kultur und Marketing GmbH). With his victory in the ‘Father Rhine Contest’, the Ober-Ingelheim native succeeded Andreas Bockius, who had previously embodied ‘Father Rhine’ for three years. Andreas Bockius, known as the stadium announcer for Mainz 05 and from the Mainz Carnival, passed the baton to his successor Philipp Weitzel on the harbour festival stage.

The figure of ‘Father Rhine’ as a symbol of the Ingelheim Harbour Festival has a long tradition. He was already on board at the harbour festival premiere in 1954. In the anniversary year 2024, the Ingelheim Father Rhine was chosen for the first time in a competition.