World Cup quarters: National team moves into haunted castle in Winston-Salem

Onward journey to North Carolina

Haunted castle for the DFB team: This is the German World Cup quarters

The DFB team travels from Chicago to North Carolina to move into the World Cup quarters. This is characterized by a special style.

On Monday, the German national soccer team will move into its World Cup quarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. National coach Julian Nagelsmann and his team reside in the luxury boutique hotel The Graylyn Estate – a historic property that the DFB has rented in its entirety.

The property includes five mansions in a neo-Norman, castle-like style with 85 individually designed rooms. Knight’s armor, gold-decorated spiral staircases and round-the-clock butler service characterize the 55-hectare site. Nagelsmann made positive comments to the SID before his arrival: “We find great conditions here, both on the pitch and outside of the green grass.” The hostel should become “a place of retreat”. Now “the full focus is on the tournament”.

DFB managing director Andreas Rettig described the base camp as “ideal team quarters” and spoke of “our desired scenario”. It creates “the best possible conditions for a successful tournament”.

According to tradition, The Graylyn Estate is said to be haunted. Nathalie Gray is said to be behind it, in whose honor her husband had the property built in the 1920s. The Austrian Bayern professional Konrad Laimer, who lives with his team near Santa Barbara, joked: “I don’t know where they are, in North Carolina or somewhere else, at Hogwarts.” You can see pictures of the German World Cup accommodation in the photo show above or here.

Training takes place on the grounds of nearby Wake Forest University. There are three fields available at the W. Dennie Spry Soccer Stadium. According to Nagelsmann, all of them are “in very, very good condition” and can be reached by bike or on foot “in less than ten minutes.” Craig Zakrzewski, the university’s athletics director, emphasized: “Everyone here is Team Germany.” According to the DFB, the 3,000 tickets for the public training session on Monday evening were sold out within four minutes.

Replacement Assan Ouédraogo had already arrived on Sunday. The Leipzig player was called up to replace Lennart Karl, who left injured after suffering a torn muscle.