The most important trophy in club handball

Keeping their eye on the title, the top four men’s club handball teams of KS Vive Targi Kielce, FC Barcelona Intersport, THW Kiel and HSV Hamburg are in Cologne, primed for battle, for the chance to lift the coveted VELUX EHF Champions League trophy.

Four years ago the new format of the competition - the VELUX EHF FINAL4 - needed a new trophy.  It was necessary to reinvent the ultimate prize and think beyond the normal cup that had been part of the sport and award ceremony for so many years.

Commissioned in 2010, the unique metallic arm is a mesh of stainless steel and brass, forged in fire by Austrian sculptors Herbert and Stefan Gahr.

Stefan Gahr said that for inspiration he had looked through hundreds of snapshots of top handball games and the mighty throwing arm had caught his eye. Symbolising the throwing arm of a player, the fleeting moment between victory and defeat is encapsulated in this distinctive sculpture which was created especially for the VELUX EHF FINAL 4.

Shaped and moulded at temperatures beyond 1,000° C, the surface of the steel was cleverly distorted before being coated with liquid brass. Oxidation was then responsible for the distinctive colouring of the trophy and the wild stream of welds resulting from this then poured and cascaded over the steel to create the unique individual design.

In 2010, Michael Wiederer, Secretary General of the EHF and THW Kiel’s player Dominik Klein, alongside the rest of his team were the first to put their hands on the trophy and they did it again in 2012, Klein himself mentioned how he liked the beautiful and remarkable design of the new trophy but joked that “you couldn’t drink out of it” – it has been rumoured though that since their victory last year the team have found a possibility to combine drinking champagne using the arm-shaped trophy.

Uros Zroman (KS Vive Targi Kielce) likes the design of the trophy, “It’s really nice, the artist had a very good idea. I don’t care about its shape. If we won the trophy, we’d drink champagne out of a glass.”

“It’s a nice trophy, because it means you’re the best team in Europe," said Viran Morros (FC Barcelona Intersport). "If we won the arm-shaped trophy, I’d do everything with it: I’d hug it, I’d raise it and I’d kiss it.”

Kiel’s goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer has already raised and kissed the winners’ trophy in 2010 and 2012. He mentioned the trophy was really heavy, but actually he didn’t care about its weight when he raised it. “Every time I enter the THW Kiel office and I see the two VELUX EHF FINAL4 trophies there I remember those exciting matches in Cologne.”

Marko Vujin (player, THW Kiel) says, “It’s a little strange and beautiful. I hope we can take it home to Kiel.”

Pascal Hens (HSV Hamburg) doesn’t know the sculpture, “I don’t know what it is. It’s a bad omen to inspect a winners‘ trophy before a tournament. Anyway a cup or a trophy is just a symbol for the victory.”

For the first time, this year’s VELUX EHF FINAL4 started with a huge Opening Party for handball fans on Friday (31 May) evening. Players from the handball teams made a special appearance at the party, talking about their crucial matches and signed autographs for their fans.

At the party the winners’ trophy was also presented to the fans and lots of passionate handball fans from all over Europe used the opportunity to take a photo in front of the highly coveted object.

Martin is at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 for the fourth time. When he saw the sculpture for the first time in 2010 he didn’t like it too much, but now he has got used to the unique shape.

Michaela Müller (40) is a handball coach for children and teenagers and is crazy about handball. She was very happy to be very close to the trophy. She said the trophy was a symbol for what you could achieve if you worked hard.

Annika and Ludmilla find the trophy needs getting used to.

Sören (10) likes it, “It’s nice, it’s like a throwing arm of a player and much better than a cup.”

Gunnart Schröden is delighted with the trophy; “the arm expresses power and dynamic movement” he said.