Krake

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title: "Krake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["heide-park", "roller-coasters-in-germany", "dive-coasters-manufactured-by-bolliger-&-mabillard", "roller-coasters-operated-by-merlin-entertainments"] description: "Steel roller coaster at Heide Park" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Steel roller coaster at Heide Park ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox roller coaster"]

Field	Value
name	Krake
logo
logodimensions
image	Krake, Heide Park 4.jpg
imagedimensions	250px
caption	One of Krake's trains in the splashdown element
location	Heide Park
locationarticle
section
subsection
coordinates
status	Operating
opened
soft_opened
year	2011
closed
cost	€12,000,000
extend
type	Steel
type2	Dive Coaster
manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
model	Dive Coaster
track	Out and back
lift	Chain lift hill
height_m	41
drop_ft
length_m	476
speed_km/h	103
inversions	1
duration	Under two minutes
angle	87
acceleration
acceleration_from
acceleration_mph
acceleration_in
restriction_in
restriction_cm	140
trains	3
carspertrain	1
rowspercar	3
ridersperrow	6
virtual_queue_image
virtual_queue_status
single_rider
accessible
transfer_accessible
rcdb_number	9097
::

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|gforce= |restriction_ft= |restriction_in=
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Krake (German for "kraken") is a steel Dive Coaster roller coaster at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. It is the first roller coaster of its kind in Germany. At a cost of 12 million euros, the roller coaster features floorless trains, 476 m of track, and a maximum height of 41 m. The attraction officially opened to the public on April 16, 2011.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Krake,_Heide_Park_construction.jpg" caption="Krake's splashdown area during construction"] ::

Speculation that Heide Park would be getting a new roller coaster began in late 2009 after it was revealed that the park was working on a project code named "Ungetüm 2011" (translates to "Monster 2011"). In September 2010, track pieces from manufacture Bolliger & Mabillard began to be delivered to the park which then led to rumours that the new roller coaster would be a Dive Coaster. On October 31, 2010, Heide Park officially announced Germany's first Dive Coaster, Krake.

Construction was handled by RCS, a German construction company. In late January 2011, the final piece of track (top of the first drop) was installed. After testing and a ribbon cutting ceremony, Krake opened on April 16, 2011.

After the original advertised octopus mouth (where riders would drop through) that was to be placed at the bottom of the first drop was never built, the public began to question why the park didn't follow through with what they advertised. In response, the mouth was constructed during the following off-season.

Experience

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/KRAKE_gesamtansicht.JPG" caption="Aerial view"] ::

Queue

Krake's queue is divided into two sections. The first section is only used during busier days and isn't paved, but rather filled in with gravel. The second section is a paved path that leads the roller coaster's station.

Ride

Krake is based on a pirate theme and features riders being "eaten" by an octopus.

Once the floor drops and the front gate opens, the train is dispatched straight into the 41 m lift hill. Once at the top, the train continues going straight for a short period before making a left turn into the holding brake. After about three seconds, the train descends the 87-degree drop and reaches a speed of 103 km/h. At the bottom, the train enters the "monster's" mouth, followed by a splashdown. Then, the train goes through an Immelmann loop. After going over an airtime hill, the train makes a banked right turn into the final brake run. The train makes a left turn into the brake run before entering the station. One cycle lasts just under two minutes.

Characteristics

Track

The steel track of Krake is approximately 476 m long, and the height of the lift is approximately 41 m high. The colour of the track is black while the supports are dark brown. Also, the entire track weighs a total of about 700 t.

Trains

Krake operates with three floorless steel and fiberglass trains. Each train has three cars that can seat six riders in a single row for a total of 18 riders per train. The seats are black and each have a brown over-the-shoulder restraint. On each train, there are a pair of tubes that allow the water to be shot into the air as the train reaches the bottom of the first drop. Also, the trains for the roller coaster were manufactured in Switzerland.

Reception

Jurnan Schilder's review from Theme Park Tourist was mostly positive but said that the story of the ride could have been further improved, "[The story] could have been developed more fully to improve the waiting experience and to make the rollercoaster make a little more sense", and overall rated the roller coaster four out of five stars for its "wow" factor.

Awards

| type = steel | access-date = February 26, 2014 | 2011 = - | 2012 = 118 | 2013 = 147

The roller coaster has never placed in ''Amusement Today'''s Golden Ticket Awards.

References

References

1. (February 10, 2010). "Heide Park is planning an "Ungetüm 2011"". Ultimate Roller Coaster.
2. (November 14, 2009). "Speculation: "monster" 2011". Heide Park Forum.
3. (September 21, 2010). "Diving Into Heide Park In 2011". NewsPlusNotes.
4. (October 31, 2010). "Heide Park Announces Krake for 2011". NewsPlusNotes.
5. (December 16, 2010). "Krake Growing at Heide Park". NewsPlusNotes.
6. (January 16, 2011). "Time For A Krake Update". NewsPlusNotes.
7. (January 29, 2011). "The Completed Krake".
8. {{cite RCDB
9. (April 16, 2011). "Photo TR: Opening Day Krake at Heide Park". [[Theme Park Review]].
10. (April 12, 2011). "Krake Is Creepy!". NewsPlusNotes.
11. (February 21, 2012). "Heide Park Completing Krake Theming". NewsPlusNotes.
12. "Krake". Heide Park.
13. (November 17, 2012). "Krake Roller Coaster POV B&M Dive Machine Heide Park Germany". themeparkreviewTPR (YouTube).
14. (June 5, 2011). "Krake Onride POV". Denny Robl (YouTube).
15. (April 15, 2011). "With Germany's first dive coaster - OCTOPUS - flying high". Heide Park World.
16. (November 1, 2010). "Heide-Park baut Deutschlands ersten Dive Coaster (Heide-Park is building Germany's first dive coaster)". Wallstreet Online.
17. (February 24, 2011). ""Krake" erobert Heide-Park Soltau ("Octopus" conquered Heide-Park Soltau)". Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
18. Schilder, Jurnan. (April 27, 2011). "Review: Krake at Heide-Park". Theme Park Tourist.
19. "Issue Archive". [[Amusement Today]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::