Football pitch – Rifle club – Festival ground. Photograph taken in 1965
Due to lack of suitable space, Jork was relatively late in acquiring a football pitch. The council set up today’s sports ground in the 1950s, with the help of the sports club and its members, who invested their own time and labour in the job. When their building work fell short of expectation, the mayor threatened them by saying: “If you don’t pull your socks up, I’ll plough the place up and plant potatoes.” As a result, the team went up in the charts to join the regional league.
The rifle club (Schützenverein Jork-Borstel) was founded in 1953, with the aim of promoting rifle sports, cultural activities and traditions, and of encouraging young people in these. To quote the Jork church minister at the time, “Marksmen’s fairs have spread over the past few years and are a cause for “ill” fare, as the marksmen celebrate extremely liberally and enjoy an abundance of alcohol,” was how he complained about the situation. The shooting range was remarkably primitive at the time the club was founded. It was expanded upon in 1970 and modernised, and an air-gun range was added in 2017. Nowadays the club offers a wide variety of activities from social gatherings to shooting events, and has found its niche in the life of the parish.
Once a year the Norddeutsche Obstbautage (an annual trade fair for fruit growers and fruit marketers) takes place on the festival grounds. Around 200 exhibitors present products, services, information, trends and developments related to fruit growing and fruit marketing. Parallel to the exhibition and trade fair programme, specialist lectures are held on topical subjects. The fair entices numerous visitors to Jork every year from the whole of Germany – and even from abroad.
