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Only here, in a small part of the 15,000 square meter facility, do the laws of the new everyday lose their validity for a brief moment, here, in an angled indentation in the basement, where the impossible is made possible for a brief moment.
Where he can learn to fly.
Two lonely men float with outstretched arms in the 15-meter-high wind tunnel, the force of gravity temporarily suspended, it looks majestic.
The bodies, wrapped in flight suits, slowly rise and fall again.
The light is still on in the restaurant kitchen directly opposite.
Cream of porcini mushroom soup with dried figs and dry-aged ox cutlet are on the menu.
But the tables are empty.
There are no visitors.
“It feels a little wrong,” says Jochen Schweizer as he leads through the huge deserted arena that bears his name.
Taufkirchen near Munich.
A good half an hour from the city center.
A place that Schweizer built according to his ideas, a “place for special experiences”, as he says.
Bodyflying in the wind tunnel.
Indoor surfing on the standing wave.
Racing in the simulator.
Or helicopter tours around the site.
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A great adventure playground for people who love adventure.
Only: The playground has been completely empty for weeks.
The two people in the wind tunnel?
Bundeswehr soldiers who are only allowed to train here on business.
The kitchen?
Only open for delivery service.
An emergency stop for people and brands
In the place for special experiences, you can't really experience so much anymore, because the laws of everyday life have now, in mid-January, become a special law of the pandemic.
Jochen Schweizer, 63 years old, of the stature of a Nordic Viking, tilts his head, looks into the vastness of the room and smiles.
“Even if it doesn't feel like it right now, everything will be very, very good,” he says.
An amazing sentence from a man who has not only geared his business concept but also his entire philosophy of life to experiencing things, to have experiences.
The corona pandemic has not only ordered the brand, but also the person Jochen Schweizer, an emergency brake.
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The sectors hardest hit by the crisis are tourism, gastronomy and the event industry.
"For me, that means three times the maximum fine," says Schweizer, whose world of experience is actually only thriving on tourism, gastronomy and events.
But why is he so optimistic then?
What can you learn from a man who is not scared by a pandemic, even if it calls his entire business model into question?
Adrenaline as a manifestation of freedom
In front of the arena, in the orphaned parking lot, is Swiss Range Rover.
Right next to a bright red, lightly snowed helicopter.
He gets into the car and starts the engine.
“I have a motto in life,” he says and steps on the accelerator.
“My starting point is where I am.” Short pause, he lets the sentence take effect.
"That means that I am always at the beginning and never finish," he adds.
“Just like everyone else.
We are constantly on a journey that is called life. ”When asked why he is so optimistic about the further course of his journey, he answers with a confident smile.
His optimism, says Schweizer, is fed by two sources.
From his previous biography.
And from his philosophy of life.
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His biography.
If you wrote down Jochen Schweizer's career, it would probably read like an adventure novel.
From the simplest of circumstances, he worked his way up, plowed, took on the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in order to finance his idea of freedom.
He traveled the world, explored undeveloped whitewater areas by kayak, rode through the Sahara on a motorcycle, lived the life of an outlaw, driven again and again by the addiction to life.
Always looking for the next adventure.
For him, adrenaline was a manifestation of freedom.
At some point Schweizer found his calling and became a world-famous stuntman.
He dedicated himself to extreme sports - and finally brought bungee jumping to Germany.
He gave people the feeling of overcoming the limits of gravity, the limits of their own nature for a brief moment.
The people were intoxicated by the new attraction.
And Jochen Schweizer became a millionaire.
“You are what you experience,” says Schweizer
“At the end of the day, you are what you experience,” says Schweizer.
It's more than just a motto.
It's his mindset.
His philosophy.
“Man,” he says, “is the sum of all his emotions.” It is emotions that guide us.
It is emotions that influence our state of mind.
If we have experienced bad things, then we often become fearful and reserved people, believes Schweizer.
If, on the other hand, life has always caught us up in difficult times, then we are more likely to become self-confident and risk-taking people.
The emotions determine our state of mind.
Our mindset.
Schweizer calls this the "circle of emotional addiction".
“But,” he says, “we have the opportunity to break out of this cycle, the chance to control our emotions.
By deliberately exposing yourself to new, positive experiences.
These experiences are made through special experiences.
Kayaking.
Wind tunnel flying.
Or just long walks through nature.
“It doesn't always have to be high risk,” says Schweizer.
"It's all about getting out of your comfort zone."
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Schweizer distracts his Range Rover from the paved road and parks in front of a wooded area.
Allgäu.
Late afternoon.
Swiss marches ahead.
Big strides.
A man like a power plant.
The trees are covered with snow.
At some point, in the middle of the route, he stops for a moment, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Risk”, he says, “is something subjective.
In my world there is no failure.
There are only new situations, challenges that you can grow with.
There are turning points that are always opportunities. "
Schweizer had many turning points in his life.
The most dramatic was probably July 20, 2003. In Dortmund, a man jumped from one of his bungee systems to his death.
The rope was broken.
A technical defect.
Schweizer was in shock, paused all the systems he had.
And suddenly everything was uncertain.
Especially his future.
Schweizer lost everything he had.
His business.
Its money.
His wife.
But he knew, he says: nothing could equal the pain that the victim's family had to endure.
Instead of letting the crisis defeat him, he worked harder than ever and developed a new business model.
Most people rack their brains about what to give other people on a variety of occasions.
Why no experiences, thought Schweizer?
He specialized in gift boxes with adventure vouchers, led his company through the crisis, built the Jochen Schweizer Arena and became a multimillionaire.
And with the same mindset, he is now rebuilding his business again.
For his gastronomy he is switching to delivery service.
Events are now streamed on the internet.
His arena is now equipped with TV quality cameras.
“There are no crises,” says Schweizer.
"Only challenges that you have to face."
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Corona might be something of a collective turning point.
“I am convinced that this event will change people,” says Schweizer.
“I think that humans will initially become more anxious by nature.
More careful. ”He thinks.
“But I also believe that the addiction to life cannot be beaten.
That man can only dissolve all the bad emotions that he has in the course of this pandemic if he throws himself back into life afterwards. ”So that ultimately they cannot negatively influence his mental attitude.
“And then we will continue to be there,” he says and looks confidently into the distance.
"Probably even bigger than ever before."
The philosophy of the experience
The entrepreneur is currently having a huge congress hotel built right in front of the Jochen Schweizer Arena.
Subsequently, he is planning the Jochen Schweizer Academy.
There he doesn't just want to convey experiences to people, but also the right philosophy.
“You are what you experience,” says Schweizer.
In times of the pandemic he thinks a lot about these things again.
Try to derive a lesson from what he has lived that will help people.
He will write a book, he says.
A great narrative.
Then he looks down at the forest from the hill he has climbed, claps his hands and trudges on through the deep snow.
There is still something to discover.
And actually it is much too early to just stop.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: Welt am Sonntag