The King of the Carousels

Atelier Peter Petz: the combination of art and rides
Article of GAMES & PARKS INDUSTRY 9 - 1996

It is perhaps this title wich best describes Peter Petz, who for the last 15 years has been an artist and designer of attractions. Each piece he creates - whether a horse merry-go-round, aferris wheel, a kiosk or other attraktion - is a masterpiece, awork of art in which culture, tradition, art and technique are combined together to create an atmosphere of nostalgia. Nostalgia, becaus the common characteristic of the products which leave the German establishments of Atelier Petz, is that of strongly resembling the rides and pavilions of the late 1800s.

"On the subject of carousel - Mr. Petz explained during our recent visit to his office - a unique characeristic of our horse merry-go-rounds is what we name them according to the year of production, minus one hundred years. In this way, those produced this year are arked 1896. Of course, this is simply a symbol, also because we don't aim to produce carousels which are merely a reproduction of those made last century"

Yet the fact is that they do give this impression.

"True. In fact customers often ask me to emphasize the process which I subject the carousels in order to recrate their antique appearance."

Are they hand painted?

"Certainly, one by one. I myself take care of this final touches. Thanks to this attention to detail, our carousels are very high-quality attractions which are unaffected by the passing of time. In fact, they often improve with age."

Really?

"Yes, so much so that often a second-hand carousel may cost more than a new one."

Who are your customers?

"Games areas ibn shopping centers and entertainment parks throughout the world. In this monent we are selling very well in South America, while the United States and Far East markets are always reliable."

We know that as well as selling individual attrations,
you often supply complete park packages.

"Exactly. At Gardaland, for example, there is an example of our smal park within a park which was opend in 1995 (an impotant result for us given the Italy's reputation as the country of the carousels). In addition, Spain's most important shopping center chain, El Corte Ingles, recently commissioned us to create another entertainment park. Hiperlandia, located in Marbella, next to one of their most prestigious shopping centers"

Did you also plan this park?

"Yes, we planned the park and supplied al the equipment..."