Germany at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Encyclopedia
Germany
was represented at the 1956 Summer Olympics
by a United Team of Germany
of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany
(FRG) (West Germany
) and, for the first time at Summer Games, also from the German Democratic Republic
(GDR) (East Germany) which had not joined in 1952. Also, the Saarland
athletes who had to enter as a separate team in 1952 could now join in even though the accession of their state was not yet in effect. Thus, this was the only Olympic team ever to comprise athletes from three German states.
Most of the Games were held in Melbourne
, Australia
, but due to Australian quarantine regulations the equestrian events
were held five months earlier in Stockholm
, Sweden
. 158 competitors, 134 men and 24 women, took part in 95 events in 15 sports.
, carrying injured rider Hans Günter Winkler
to two Gold medals, and one more in 1960 for an all-time record.
Heinz Fütterer
, who had tied the 100m world record and set some European records, had been a favorite for medals, but was injured before the games in an event held in the GDR.
Compared to 1952, were no Gold had been won, the Germans improved significantly, but still won more than twice as many Silver than Gold, being ranked joint 4th in Total medals.
Men's Marathon
Men's 2.000m Tandem
Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit
Men's Team Time Trial
Men's Individual Road Race
Men's foil
Men's épée
Men's sabre
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was represented at the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
by a United Team of Germany
United Team of Germany
The Unified Team of Germany , competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic...
of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(FRG) (West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
) and, for the first time at Summer Games, also from the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR) (East Germany) which had not joined in 1952. Also, the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
athletes who had to enter as a separate team in 1952 could now join in even though the accession of their state was not yet in effect. Thus, this was the only Olympic team ever to comprise athletes from three German states.
Most of the Games were held in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, but due to Australian quarantine regulations the equestrian events
Equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions...
were held five months earlier in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. 158 competitors, 134 men and 24 women, took part in 95 events in 15 sports.
Events
The greatest German heroes of the Games were the miracle horse HallaHalla (horse)
Halla was a horse ridden by Hans Günter Winkler. She is the only horse ever to win three Olympic Gold medals in the sport of show jumping.*Color: Bay*Markings: Star, black points...
, carrying injured rider Hans Günter Winkler
Hans Günter Winkler
Hans Günter Winkler is a successful former German show jumping rider...
to two Gold medals, and one more in 1960 for an all-time record.
Heinz Fütterer
Heinz Fütterer
Heinrich Ludwig Fütterer is a West German athlete, who mainly competed in sprint events. He was born in Illingen...
, who had tied the 100m world record and set some European records, had been a favorite for medals, but was injured before the games in an event held in the GDR.
Compared to 1952, were no Gold had been won, the Germans improved significantly, but still won more than twice as many Silver than Gold, being ranked joint 4th in Total medals.
Gold
- Wolfgang BehrendtWolfgang BehrendtWolfgang Behrendt was a bantamweight amateur boxer from East Germany, who competed for the United Team of Germany at the 1956 Summer Olympics.-Amateur career:...
— Boxing, Men's Bantamweight - Michael ScheuerMichael Scheuer (kayaker)Michael Scheuer was a West German sprint canoer who competed in the 1950s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won three medals with a gold and two bronzes ....
and Meinrad MiltenbergerMeinrad MiltenbergerMeinrad Miltenberger was a German sprint canoer who competed in the 1950s...
— Canoeing, Men's K2 1.000m Kayak Pairs - Hans-Günter Winkler — Equestrian, Jumping Individual
- Hans-Günter Winkler, Fritz ThiedemannFritz ThiedemannFritz Thiedemann was a German equestrian, considered to be one of the greatest show jumpers of his time....
, and Alfons Lütke-WesthuesAlfons Lütke-WesthuesAlfons Lütke-Westhues was a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the German team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....
— Equestrian, Jumping Team - Helmut BantzHelmut BantzHelmut Bantz was a German gymnast and Olympic champion. He received a gold medal in vault at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, competing for the United Team of Germany....
— Gymnastics, Men's Long Horse Vault - Ursula HappeUrsula HappeUrsula Happe is a German swimmer and Olympic champion. She competed at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, where she received a gold medal in 200 m breaststroke.-References:...
— Swimming, Women's 200m Breaststroke
Silver
- Karl-Friedrich HaasKarl-Friedrich HaasKarl-Friedrich Haas was a West German athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres.He competed for West Germany in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland where he won the bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metre relay with his team mates Hans Geister, Günther Steines and Heinz Ulzheimer.Four...
— Athletics, Men's 400 metres - Klaus RichtzenhainKlaus RichtzenhainKlaus Richtzenhain was an East German athlete who competed mainly in the 1.500 metres.He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia in the 1.500 metres where he won the silver medal.-References:...
— Athletics, Men's 1.500 metres - Christa StubnickChrista StubnickChrista Stubnick is an East German athlete who competed mainly in the sprints.She competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia both in the 100 metres and 200 metres...
— Athletics, Women's 100 metres - Christa StubnickChrista StubnickChrista Stubnick is an East German athlete who competed mainly in the sprints.She competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia both in the 100 metres and 200 metres...
— Athletics, Women's 200 metres - Gisela Köhler — Athletics, Women's 80m Hurdles
- Harry KurschatHarry KurschatHarry Kurschat is a retired boxer from Germany, who competed in the Lightweight division during his career as an amateur.-Amateur career:...
— Boxing, Men's Lightweight - Fritz BrielFritz BrielFritz Briel is a German sprint canoer who competed in from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. He won a silver medal in the K-2 10000 m event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne....
and Theo Kleine — Canoeing, Men's K2 10.000m Kayak Pairs - Therese ZenzTherese ZenzTherese Zenz is a Saar-born West German sprint canoer who competed from the early 1950s to the early 1960s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, she won three silver medals ....
— Canoeing, Women's K1 500m Kayak Singles - August Lütke-WesthuesAugust Lütke-WesthuesAugust Lütke-Westhues was a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the German team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....
— Equestrian, Three-Day Event Individual - August Lütke-WesthuesAugust Lütke-WesthuesAugust Lütke-Westhues was a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the German team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....
, Otto Rothe, and Klaus Wagner — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Team - Liselott LinsenhoffLiselott LinsenhoffLiselott Linsenhoff was a German equestrian and Olympic champion. She won a gold medal in team dressage at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with the team from West Germany, and an individual gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.-References:...
, Anneliese Küppers, and Hannelore Weygand — Equestrian, Dressage Team - Karl-Heinrich von GroddeckKarl-Heinrich von GroddeckKarl-Heinrich Erich Moritz von Groddeck is a German rower who competed for the Unified Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics, in the 1960 Summer Olympics, and in the 1964 Summer Olympics.He was born in Toronto, Canada....
, Horst ArndtHorst ArndtHorst Arndt is a German rower who competed for the Unified Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics.In 1956 he was a crew member of the German boat which won the silver medal in the coxed pairs event.-External links:*...
, and Rainer BorkowskyRainer BorkowskyRainer Borkowsky is a German rower who competed for the Unified Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics.In 1956 he was the coxswain of the German boat which won the silver medal in the coxed pairs event.-External links:*...
— Rowing, Men's Coxed Pairs - Wilfried DietrichWilfried DietrichWilfried Dietrich was a German wrestler, Olympic Champion in freestyle wrestling, Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, winner of a total of five Olympic medals, World Champion in freestyle wrestling, and European Champion.He was born in Schifferstadt and died in Durbanville, South...
— Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Heavyweight
Bronze
- Heinz FüttererHeinz FüttererHeinrich Ludwig Fütterer is a West German athlete, who mainly competed in sprint events. He was born in Illingen...
, Leonhard PohlLeonhard PohlLeonhard Pohl Leonhard ("Leo") Pohl Leonhard ("Leo") Pohl (born July 18, 1929 in Allenstein (today Olsztyn, Poland) is a West German athlete who mainly competed in the 100 metres....
, Lothar KnörzerLothar KnörzerLothar Knörzer is a West German athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia in the 4 x 100 metre relay where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Leonhard Pohl, Heinz Fütterer and Manfred...
, and Manfred GermarManfred GermarManfred Germar is a West German athlete who mainly competed in sprint events.He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia where he won the bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metre relay with his team mates Lothar Knörzer, Leonhard Pohl and Heinz...
— Athletics, Men's 4x100m Relay - Marianne WernerMarianne WernerMarianne Werner is a retired West German athlete who mainly competed in the shot put events....
— Athletics, Women's Shot Put - Michael ScheuerMichael Scheuer (kayaker)Michael Scheuer was a West German sprint canoer who competed in the 1950s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won three medals with a gold and two bronzes ....
— Canoeing, Men's K1 10.000m Kayak Singles - Reinhold Pommer, Horst Tüller and Gustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur is a former German cyclist and one of the most popular sportspeople in East Germany. He was the first German to win the amateur competition of the World Cycling Championships and the Peace Race...
— Cycling, Men's Team Road Race - Liselott LinsenhoffLiselott LinsenhoffLiselott Linsenhoff was a German equestrian and Olympic champion. She won a gold medal in team dressage at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with the team from West Germany, and an individual gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.-References:...
— Equestrian, Dressage Individual - Günther Brennecke Hugo Budinger, Werner Delmes, Hugo Dollheiser, Eberhard Ferstl, Alfred Lücker, Helmut Nonn, Wolfgang Nonn, Heinz Radzikowski, Werner Rosenbaum, and Günther Ullerich — Field Hockey, Men's Team Competition
- Eva-Maria ten Elsen — Swimming, Women's 200m Breaststroke
Athletics
Men's 110m Hurdles- Martin LauerMartin LauerKarl Martin Lauer is a former West German athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics.Born in Cologne, Lauer was a German champion in 110 m hurdles from 1956 to 1960 and in decathlon in 1956....
- Heat — 14.2s
- Semifinals — 14.4s
- Final — 14.5s (→ 4th place)
- Berthold Steines
- Heat — 14.3s
- Semifinals — 14.5s (→ did not advance)
Men's Marathon
- Lothar Beckert — 2:42:10 (→ 19th place)
- Kurt Hartung — 2:52:14 (→ 28th place)
- Klaus Portadnik — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Cycling
Men's 1.000m Scratch Sprint- Günther Ziegler — 19th place
Men's 2.000m Tandem
- Friedrich NeuserGünther Ziegler — 10th place
Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit
- Kurt GieselerRolf NitzscheSiegfried KöhlerWerner Malitz — 12th place
Men's Team Time Trial
- Horst TüllerGustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur is a former German cyclist and one of the most popular sportspeople in East Germany. He was the first German to win the amateur competition of the World Cycling Championships and the Peace Race...
Reinhold Pommer — 27 points (→
Bronze Medal)
Men's Individual Road Race
- Horst Tüller — 5:23:16 (→ 4th place)
- Gustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf SchurGustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur is a former German cyclist and one of the most popular sportspeople in East Germany. He was the first German to win the amateur competition of the World Cycling Championships and the Peace Race...
— 5:23:16 (→ 5th place) - Reinhold Pommer — 5:24:38 (→ 18th place)
- Erich Hagen — 5:26:38 (→ 22nd place)
Fencing
One fencer represented Germany in 1956.Men's foil
Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's foil
The men's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on November 26, 1956. 32 fencers from 14 nations competed.-Results:...
- Günter StratmannGünter StratmannGünter Stratmann is a German Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual events at the 1956 Summer Olympics for the Unified Team of Germany.-References:...
Men's épée
Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's épée
The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on November 30 1956. 41 fencers from 18 nations competed.-Results:...
- Günter StratmannGünter StratmannGünter Stratmann is a German Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual events at the 1956 Summer Olympics for the Unified Team of Germany.-References:...
Men's sabre
Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre
The men's sabre was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the thirteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on December 5 1956. 35 fencers from 17 nations competed.-Results:...
- Günter StratmannGünter StratmannGünter Stratmann is a German Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual events at the 1956 Summer Olympics for the Unified Team of Germany.-References:...