Karol Rómmel
Encyclopedia
Karol Rómmel was a Polish and Russian military officer, sportsman and horse rider
. He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
(in the Russian team), the 1924 Summer Olympics
, and in the 1928 Summer Olympics
(for Poland). As a military officer he served with distinction in World War I
and the Polish-Bolshevist War.
Karol Rómmel was born May 23, 1888, in Grodno (then in Russian Empire
, now in Belarus) to family of Karol Aleksander Rummel, a general in Russian service and commanding officer of the 26th Artillery Brigade stationed in that town. His mother was Maria née Marcinkiewicz.
Like his brothers Juliusz
(who later rose to the rank of General of the Polish Army), Wilhelm, Waldemar and Jan, Karol Rómmel joined the ranks of the Imperial Russian Army
. He graduated from the Odessa
-based Cadet Corps
and the Pavel Military School
. He also received a masters degree at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Saint Petersburg. Already in his youth he started training various equestrian disciplines. His first international tournament in 1910 was a failure, but he started extensive training and already in 1912 he participated for Russia in the individual jumping competition
at the 1912 Summer Olympics
in Stockholm
. Despite a serious injury (his fall during the final run cost him six broken ribs) he scored 178 points and finished fifteenth, 8 points behind the gold medallist Jean Cariou
of France. Immediately upon reaching the final fence Rómmel lost consciousness and had to be hospitalised. His strong will however impressed king Gustaf V of Sweden
so much that he awarded Rómmel with a personal gold medal.
In 1914 he started service in the Kalisz
-based 14th Little Russia
n Dragoon
Regiment, in the rank of Captain of cavalry (rotmistr
). The World War I
put an end to Rómmel's sports career. He served with distinction at the Eastern Front of World War I
. In 1918 together with his brother Juliusz Rómmel
and a large part of their family, Karol Polonised his name from the original Rummel to Rómmel.
On August 15, 1919, he joined the newly-formed Polish Army in the rank of Major and then Lieutenant Colonel
(podpułkownik). During the Polish-Bolshevist War of 1920 he commanded with distinction the 8th Uhlans Regiment. Wounded on the field of battle, he received the Golden Cross of Merit and Virtuti Militari
, the highest Polish military decoration. He was withdrawn from front-line service and became a cavalry instructor at various military colleges in Przemyśl
, Stara Wieś
and Grudziądz
.
After the armistice he remained in the army as a professional soldier. He also resumed his sporting career as the main coach of the Polish equestrian national team. He finished tenth in the individual three-day event
and seventh with the Polish team in the team three-day event
. He also placed tenth in the individual jumping
. As a member of the Polish jumping team he finished sixth in the team jumping competition
. One of his team mates was Tadeusz Komorowski, the future General of the Polish Army and commanding officer of the Home Army. In 1928 again representing Poland he won the silver medal in the team three-day event
with his horse Doneuse after finishing 26th in the individual three-day event
.
He also participated in numerous international games, winning World Cup three times: in 1925, 1927 (New York
and 1928 (Nice
). In December 1929 he retired from the army and devoted himself solely to sports career. He won four medals at consecutive Polish Championships (gold in 1935 and 1937, silver in 1938 and bronze in 1934). In the 1927 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year
he ended up second only to Halina Konopacka
. Rómmel was 51 when in 1939 he set the last pre-war high jump record (198 centimetres).
During the World War II
Rómmel remained in the German-occupied part of Poland. Arrested during the AB Action, he was imprisoned and spent the remainder of the war in German concentration camps of Dachau and Mauthausen-Gusen
. After the war he settled in Łódź, where he continued to coach younger generations of horse riders. He also served as a horsemanship consultant in various films (and had a cameo appearance in 1959 Lotna
by Andrzej Wajda
and 1960 The Knights of the Cross by Aleksander Ford
). He died March 7, 1967, in Elbląg
, and is buried at the Gdańsk
's Zaspa cemetery
.
von Rummel, a Livonian Brother or the Sword
who in 1332 owned the Getzingen castle near Julich
in Westphalia
and settled in Courland
to support the Teutonic Knights
in their struggle against the pagan Balts
. Because of Karol Rómmel's service in the Russian Army he is often referred to as Russian. Because he was born in what is now a Belarusian city of Hrodna
, he is sometimes referred to as "the first Belarusian olympian".
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
. He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
(in the Russian team), the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
, and in the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
(for Poland). As a military officer he served with distinction in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Polish-Bolshevist War.
Karol Rómmel was born May 23, 1888, in Grodno (then in Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, now in Belarus) to family of Karol Aleksander Rummel, a general in Russian service and commanding officer of the 26th Artillery Brigade stationed in that town. His mother was Maria née Marcinkiewicz.
Like his brothers Juliusz
Juliusz Rómmel
Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. During the Polish-Bolshevik War, he gained great fame for achieving a decisive victory in the Battle of Komarów, the largest cavalry engagement of the 20th century...
(who later rose to the rank of General of the Polish Army), Wilhelm, Waldemar and Jan, Karol Rómmel joined the ranks of the Imperial Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
. He graduated from the Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
-based Cadet Corps
Cadet Corps
Cadet Corps is a type of a military school for young boys. Although initially such military schools admitted only children of the nobles or gentry, with time many of them were also opened to other classes....
and the Pavel Military School
Pavel Military School
Pavel Military School is a military school in St. Petersburg, Russia, established in 1863 on the basis of the Pavel Cadet Corps. It was closed in November 1917 after the October Revolution.It was named after emperor Pavel I of Russia...
. He also received a masters degree at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Saint Petersburg. Already in his youth he started training various equestrian disciplines. His first international tournament in 1910 was a failure, but he started extensive training and already in 1912 he participated for Russia in the individual jumping competition
Equestrian at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Individual jumping
The individual jumping was an equestrian event held as part of the Equestrian at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had first been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics.-Results:...
at the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
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...
. Despite a serious injury (his fall during the final run cost him six broken ribs) he scored 178 points and finished fifteenth, 8 points behind the gold medallist Jean Cariou
Jean Cariou
Jacques Cariou was a French show jumping champion.-Olympic Record:Cariou participated at the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, where he won a gold medal in Individual Jumping. He obtained a silver medal in Team Jumping with the French team...
of France. Immediately upon reaching the final fence Rómmel lost consciousness and had to be hospitalised. His strong will however impressed king Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V was King of Sweden from 1907. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg...
so much that he awarded Rómmel with a personal gold medal.
In 1914 he started service in the Kalisz
Kalisz
Kalisz is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants , the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce...
-based 14th Little Russia
Little Russia
Little Russia , sometimes Little or Lesser Rus’ , is a historical political and geographical term in the Russian language referring to most of the territory of modern-day Ukraine before the 20th century. It is similar to the Polish term Małopolska of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
n Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
Regiment, in the rank of Captain of cavalry (rotmistr
Rittmeister
Rotamaster was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron , the equivalent of O3 or Captain, in the German-speaking armies, Austro-Hungarian, Polish-Lithuanian, Russian and some other states.The exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spellings in different...
). The World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
put an end to Rómmel's sports career. He served with distinction at the Eastern Front of World War I
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
. In 1918 together with his brother Juliusz Rómmel
Juliusz Rómmel
Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. During the Polish-Bolshevik War, he gained great fame for achieving a decisive victory in the Battle of Komarów, the largest cavalry engagement of the 20th century...
and a large part of their family, Karol Polonised his name from the original Rummel to Rómmel.
On August 15, 1919, he joined the newly-formed Polish Army in the rank of Major and then Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
(podpułkownik). During the Polish-Bolshevist War of 1920 he commanded with distinction the 8th Uhlans Regiment. Wounded on the field of battle, he received the Golden Cross of Merit and Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
, the highest Polish military decoration. He was withdrawn from front-line service and became a cavalry instructor at various military colleges in Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
, Stara Wieś
Stara Wies
Stara Wieś may refer to the following places in Poland:*Stara Wieś, Silesian Voivodeship *Stara Wieś, Subcarpathian Voivodeship...
and Grudziądz
Grudziadz
Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...
.
After the armistice he remained in the army as a professional soldier. He also resumed his sporting career as the main coach of the Polish equestrian national team. He finished tenth in the individual three-day event
Equestrian at the 1924 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1924 Paris Olympics included Eventing , Show jumping and Dressage . Vaulting was not included this year. The competitions were held from July 21, 1924 to July 27, 1924.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
and seventh with the Polish team in the team three-day event
Equestrian at the 1924 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1924 Paris Olympics included Eventing , Show jumping and Dressage . Vaulting was not included this year. The competitions were held from July 21, 1924 to July 27, 1924.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
. He also placed tenth in the individual jumping
Equestrian at the 1924 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1924 Paris Olympics included Eventing , Show jumping and Dressage . Vaulting was not included this year. The competitions were held from July 21, 1924 to July 27, 1924.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
. As a member of the Polish jumping team he finished sixth in the team jumping competition
Equestrian at the 1924 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1924 Paris Olympics included Eventing , Show jumping and Dressage . Vaulting was not included this year. The competitions were held from July 21, 1924 to July 27, 1924.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
. One of his team mates was Tadeusz Komorowski, the future General of the Polish Army and commanding officer of the Home Army. In 1928 again representing Poland he won the silver medal in the team three-day event
Equestrian at the 1928 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1928 Summer Olympics included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from August 8, 1928 to August 12, 1928.-Medal summary:...
with his horse Doneuse after finishing 26th in the individual three-day event
Equestrian at the 1928 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1928 Summer Olympics included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from August 8, 1928 to August 12, 1928.-Medal summary:...
.
He also participated in numerous international games, winning World Cup three times: in 1925, 1927 (New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and 1928 (Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
). In December 1929 he retired from the army and devoted himself solely to sports career. He won four medals at consecutive Polish Championships (gold in 1935 and 1937, silver in 1938 and bronze in 1934). In the 1927 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year
Polish Sportspersonality of the Year
The Polish Sportspersonality of the Year is chosen annually since 1926 by the readers of the newspaper Przegląd Sportowy. Record holders are track and field athletes Irena Szewińska and Stanisława Walasiewicz and ski jumper Adam Małysz - four times each....
he ended up second only to Halina Konopacka
Halina Konopacka
Halina Konopacka , famous athlete, first Polish Olympic Champion . She took part in the Olympic Games in Amsterdam, where she won a gold medal in discus throw breaking her own world record...
. Rómmel was 51 when in 1939 he set the last pre-war high jump record (198 centimetres).
During the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Rómmel remained in the German-occupied part of Poland. Arrested during the AB Action, he was imprisoned and spent the remainder of the war in German concentration camps of Dachau and Mauthausen-Gusen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
. After the war he settled in Łódź, where he continued to coach younger generations of horse riders. He also served as a horsemanship consultant in various films (and had a cameo appearance in 1959 Lotna
Lotna
Lotna is a Polish war film released in 1959 and directed by Andrzej Wajda.-Overview:This highly symbolic movie is both the director's tribute to the long and glorious history of the Polish cavalry, as well as a more ambiguous portrait of the passing of an era...
by Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
and 1960 The Knights of the Cross by Aleksander Ford
Aleksander Ford
Aleksander Ford born Mosze Lifszyc was a Polish film director; and head of the Polish People's Army Film Crew in the Soviet Union. Ford became director of the nationalized "Film Polski" company at the end of World War II...
). He died March 7, 1967, in Elbląg
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
, and is buried at the Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
's Zaspa cemetery
Zaspa
Zaspa is one of the quarters of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. Divided into two quarters:*Zaspa-Młyniec *Zaspa-RozstajeZaspa was founded on a place previously occupied by an airport...
.
Nationality
Although the Rummel family felt Polish and spoke Polish at home, they were in fact heirs to one of the oldest German families in Central Europe, tracing its roots to certain Matthias Heinrich FreiherrFreiherr
The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...
von Rummel, a Livonian Brother or the Sword
Livonian Brothers of the Sword
The Livonian Brothers of the Sword were a military order founded by Bishop Albert of Riga in 1202. Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment in 1204. The membership of the order comprised German "warrior monks"...
who in 1332 owned the Getzingen castle near Julich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...
in Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
and settled in Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
to support the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in their struggle against the pagan Balts
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
. Because of Karol Rómmel's service in the Russian Army he is often referred to as Russian. Because he was born in what is now a Belarusian city of Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
, he is sometimes referred to as "the first Belarusian olympian".
