"Handball is in our blood"

It was 4 February 2007 in the Cologne Arena, around 18:20 CET. The former German Federal President Horst Köhler and IHF President Hassan Moustafa worked hard to heave the world championship trophy, which weighs more than 20 kilograms, up and onto the podium. There, the player with number 13 receives the World Cup trophy, lifts it up through the rain of confetti in a seemingly easy manner, and holds it out to his cheering teammates.

“To this day I still get asked how it felt. And then these emotions always come up for me, this indescribable feeling,” said the one who received the trophy, Markus Baur. The captain and his teammates celebrated the World Championship triumph with “Heiner Brand beards” glued in their faces and golden crowns on their heads. Baur add, "I can't believe it's been 16 years, how time flies."

Back then in 2007, Baur was playmaker for the national team and TBV Lemgo, which was called “TBV Germany” because of its large number of national team players. Born in Meersburg on Lake Constance, Baur (now 52) had previously played in Pfullingen, Wallau-Massenheim, Niederwurzbach and Wetzlar before moving to Lemgo in 2001.

Twice he was a German Cup winner, once German champion and won the EHF Cup in 2006 - but he celebrated his greatest successes in the national team; European champion in 2004, Olympic runner-up in 2004, silver medallist at the 2003 World Championship, silver medallist at the 2002 European Championship, third place in the 1998 European Championship - the "extended arm of national coach Heiner Brand" and two-time German handball player of the year was involved in all the successes of the “golden generation”.

A few months after the World Championship, he went to Switzerland as a player-coach and finally coach for Pfadi Winterthur, returned to Lemgo as a coach, briefly took over TuS Nettelstedt and then became a successful coach of the DHB U21 team (2012 to 2016), which, among other things, he led to silver at the EHF EURO.

He then took over the Swiss champions Kadetten Schaffhausen, was coach of TVB Stuttgart from 2016 to 2017 - and after a handball break (he continously works as an TV expert for German public station ZDF) and building up a professional existence - he returned to the Bundesliga stage in autumn 2022 and took over Frisch Auf Göppingen.

But "Captain Schorsch" experienced the biggest day of his career on 4 February 2007 in Cologne. "For me, the LANXESS arena is still the only true temple of handball in the world, especially for our national team - maybe this arena has a special aura because it's not the home of a Bundesliga team," says Baur. And that's why it's a "super great, gigantic honour and task" for him to be the EHF EURO 2024 ambassador for the venue at Cologne: "It's a huge thing for me, I think it's great."

"The LANXESS arena in Cologne, with its enthusiastic fans, will provide magical moments at the EHF EURO 2024, both in terms of atmosphere and sport," says Thomas Zimmermann, Director of Marketing and Communications at the German Handball Federation. “Markus Baur experienced this double magic 16 years ago as captain of the 2007 world champion team and played a decisive role in shaping it. We are therefore very pleased to welcome him to our team as an ambassador for Cologne.”

Baur's fellow ambassador, Laura Wontorra, has had a successful sporting career of her own, but in the studio, rather than on the court. Nonetheless, she is equally as excited about being a EHF EURO 2024 ambassador.

She never played handball herself, but her father was a successful handball coach: While she followed in her father's footsteps by having a television career, this does not apply to the same sport, because her name is more associated with football - not just as a self-confessed fan of Werder Bremen, but also as the face of many football broadcasts from RTL, Sky, Nitro or DAZN.

Wontorra is also known from other TV formats, such as the presenter of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar”, “Grill den Hensler” or “Ninja Warriors”. The 34-year-old, who was born in Bremen, has a special relationship with her adopted home of Cologne - it's where she studied, where her TV career began, and where she often stands in front of the camera for RTL. So who could be a more obvious ambassador for Cologne than Laura Wontorra at the EHF EURO 2024?

"I feel honoured to be an ambassador for Cologne at the EHF EURO 2024. Handball is a great sport, my father coached the women's team at Werder Bremen for years and my brother is currently founding a new TV home for handball Bundesliga with the sports platform DYN, so handball is in our blood. I'm incredibly looking forward to see the next European champion being crowned here in Cologne, my adopted home!"

"The EHF EURO in January next year will be an event that will captivate the masses beyond the numerous handball fans," Thomas Zimmermann adds. "To draw attention to this special sporting event, we are happy to have well-known and sports-loving faces supporting us in the run-up to the tournament. Laura Wontorra is one of the best-known and most popular sports presenters in Germany. With her easy-going and intoxicating manner, she fits in perfectly with the Cologne style of life. Therefore, she is the perfect ambassador for the Cologne location,” adds Zimmermann.

A main round group and the final weekend will be played at the LANXESS arena at the EHF EURO 2024, therefore on 28 January the new European champion will be crowned in Cologne.

Just like at the 2007 and 2019 World Championships, fans from all over the world are expected to attend a huge handball party in the LANXESS arena. It is exactly this atmosphere that makes the venue so attractive to Wontorra, “The atmosphere in the LANXESS arena is always unique, it has become a real handball temple. I hope the arena won't just be jam-packed when the German team plays, and we'll show the world what a great atmosphere the handball fans from all over Europe are creating here!"

Should hosts Germany finish at least second in group A of the preliminary round, they will go from the capital Berlin to the handball temple in Cologne. Opponents from Groups B and C will be waiting there. "Of course I'll keep my fingers crossed for the German team that they'll be on the court until the final day in Cologne," says Baur.

Tickets for all EHF EURO 2024 matches are available at heretoplay.com