Champions League in the Montafon valley

End of 2007: football fever is spreading in Europe, especially in Austria. As the host of EURO 2008, Austria would be there throughout the tournament. At that time Johannes Boric, responsible for Eastern Europe since 2005, heard about a very special international match that had only recently taken place - between Rauch teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Apparently it had been a gigantic festival. Hmm, football brings people together, Boric thought.

"Good idea. We'll do it," said Jürgen Rauch when Boric outlined the "Rauch EURO" to him: a football tournament with teams from all the Rauch sites as a backdrop for getting to know each other on a personal level and beyond our own locations. In the rapid growth of recent years, this aspect had been somewhat neglected. A young employee from Boric's team took over the organization.

Meeting place for over 400 colleagues

As the venue, Schruns in the Montafon valley offered the perfect infrastructure. You can often watch famous teams like Werder Bremen, Southampton or even the Spanish national team training here. On 12th June, buses carrying 26 teams and their fans rolled into Schruns, altogether over 400 colleagues.

On the Friday they visited the factories in the Ländle region, and in the evening everyone got together for an official welcome. The tournament began on the Saturday morning with the ceremonial entry of the teams, led by the Bürgermusik Silbertal band and accompanied by enormous cheers from the appropriately styled fans. The day was all about the matches. The highlight of the first Rauch soccer tournament was the giant party in the evening with awards ceremony, live music and an atmosphere similar to the Champions League final.

Boric: "One emotional highlight was when our colleagues from the former Yugoslavian states, once bitter enemies, sang the old national anthem together. For everyone who was at Schruns, dealing with colleagues from other sites felt different afterwards, more familiar." Yes, football brings people together. And that's why the Rauch EURO has been held every 3 years since then.

Football brings people together, and since 2008 that includes employees from the various Rauch countries