Internationales Glasbachrennen, Hill Climb

The Internationales Glasbachrennen is one of Germany's premier hillclimb events, staged on a closed stretch of the L1027 road climbing through the Thuringian Forest near Steinbach-Hallenberg and Bad Liebenstein. First run in 1974 as an East German championship fixture, the event drew thousands of spectators before fading after reunification, then was revived in 2011 by local volunteers. A major rebuild and route extension completed in 2012 stretched the course to about 5.5 km with roughly 250 m of elevation gain and 35 corners, making it the longest hillclimb in Germany and one of Europe's most modern and best-protected courses. The climb counts toward the Deutsche Bergmeisterschaft (German Hill Climb Championship) and is the only German round of the FIA European Hill Climb Championship, also serving as a qualifier for the Austrian and Luxembourg series. Run almost entirely by volunteers, it draws a large crowd of up to around 25,000 fans. Czech specialist Christian Merli holds the outright course record, set in 2017 aboard an Osella prototype. The historic pre-2012 layout measured roughly 3.6 km.

Organised by: Rennsportgemeinschaft Altensteiner Oberland e.V.

Also known as: Glasbachrennen, Internationales ADAC Glasbachrennen, Glasbach