Germany at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Germany at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Flag of the German Empire
IOC code	GER
NOC	German Olympic Sports Confederation
Website	www.dosb.de (German) (English) (French)
in Athens
Competitors	19 in 6 sports
Medals Ranked 3rd	Gold Silver Bronze Total 6 5 2 13
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920–1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956–1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games Saar (1952) United Team of Germany (1956–1964) East Germany (1968–1988) West Germany (1968–1988)

Germany competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Germans were the third most successful nation in terms of both gold medals (6 plus 1 as part of a mixed team) and total medals (13). Gymnastics was the sport in which Germany excelled. The German team had 19 athletes. The Germans had 75 entries in 26 events (of which 48 entries were in the 8 gymnastics events), taking 13 medals.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Gold	Flatow, AlfredAlfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's parallel bars	April 10
Gold	Böcker, ConradConrad Böcker, Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow, Georg Hillmar, Fritz Hofmann, Fritz Manteuffel, Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft, Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars	April 9
			Men's team horizontal bar	April 9
Gold	Schuhmann, CarlCarl Schuhmann	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9
		Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman	April 11
Silver	Hofmann, FritzFritz Hofmann	Athletics	Men's 100 m	April 10
Silver	von Gödrich, AugustAugust von Gödrich	Cycling	Men's road race	April 12
Silver	Flatow, AlfredAlfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Silver	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	April 9
			Men's rings	April 9
Bronze	Hofmann, FritzFritz Hofmann	Gymnastics	Men's rope climbing	April 10
Bronze	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9

Results by event

German team at sailing

Athletics

Hofmann's silver medal in the 100 metres was the only medal earned by the German athletes, though they finished 4th or 5th an additional 4 times.

Event	Place	Athlete	Heat	Final
100 metres	2nd	Fritz Hofmann	Unknown	12.2 seconds
	–	Friedrich Traun	Unknown	Did not advance
		Kurt Doerry	Unknown
400 metres	4th	Fritz Hofmann	58.6 seconds	Unknown
	–	Kurt Doerry	Unknown	Did not advance
800 metres	–	Friedrich Traun	Unknown	Did not advance
1500 metres	4th	Karl Galle	No heats	4:39.0
110 metre hurdles	–	Kurt Doerry	Unknown	Did not advance

Event	Place	Athlete	Best mark
Long jump	–	Carl Schuhmann	Unknown
Triple jump	5th	Carl Schuhmann	Unknown
	–	Fritz Hofmann	Unknown
High jump	5th	Fritz Hofmann	1.55 metres
Shot put	–	Fritz Hofmann	Unknown
		Carl Schuhmann	Unknown

Cycling

Germany's only cycling medal came in the long-distance road race.

Event	Place	Cyclist	Time/Distance
333 metres	5th	Theodor Leupold	27.0 seconds
	8th	Joseph Rosemeyer	27.2 seconds
2 kilometres	–	Joseph Rosemeyer	Did not finish
10 kilometres	4th	Joseph Rosemeyer	Unknown
100 kilometres	–	Bernhard Knubel	Did not finish
		Theodor Leupold	Did not finish
		Joseph Rosemeyer	Did not finish
		Joseph Welzenbacher	Did not finish
12-hour race	–	Joseph Welzenbacher	Did not finish
Road race	2nd	August von Gödrich	3:42:18

Gymnastics

Germany dominated the gymnastics program, taking 5 of the 8 gold medals and medalling in each event.

German team at parallel bars

German team on horizontal bars

Event	Place	Gymnast
Parallel bars	1st	Alfred Flatow
	–	Konrad Böcker
		Gustav Flatow
		Georg Hillmar
		Fritz Manteuffel
		Karl Neukirch
		Richard Röstel
		Gustav Schuft
		Carl Schuhmann
		Hermann Weingärtner
Horizontal bar	1st	Hermann Weingärtner
	2nd	Alfred Flatow
	–	Konrad Böcker
		Gustav Flatow
		Georg Hillmar
		Fritz Manteuffel
		Karl Neukirch
		Richard Röstel
		Gustav Schuft
		Carl Schuhmann
Vault	1st	Carl Schuhmann
	3rd	Hermann Weingärtner
	–	Konrad Böcker
		Alfred Flatow
		Gustav Flatow
		Georg Hillmar
		Fritz Manteuffel
		Karl Neukirch
		Richard Röstel
		Gustav Schuft
Pommel horse	2nd	Hermann Weingärtner
	–	Konrad Böcker
		Alfred Flatow
		Gustav Flatow
		Georg Hillmar
		Fritz Manteuffel
		Karl Neukirch
		Richard Röstel
		Gustav Schuft
		Carl Schuhmann
Rings	2nd	Hermann Weingärtner
	5th	Carl Schuhmann
	–	Konrad Böcker
		Alfred Flatow
		Gustav Flatow

Event	Place	Gymnast	Height
Rope climbing	3rd	Fritz Hofmann	12.5 metres

Event	Place	Team
Team parallel bars	1st	Germany
Team horizontal bar	1st	Germany

Tennis

Traun was defeated by Boland in the first round of the singles tournament. The two entered the doubles tournament as a pair, winning the gold medal in that competition as part of a mixed team; that medal is not counted for Germany.

Event	Place	Player(s)	Round 1	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Singles	8th	Friedrich Traun	Lost	Did not advance
Doubles	1st	Friedrich Traun and  John Pius Boland (GBR)	–	Won	Bye	Won

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Greece	2	0	1.000
Great Britain	0	1	0.000
Total	2	1	0.667

Weightlifting

Schuhmann's lift was equal to that of the bronze medallist, but lifting form was used as a tie-breaker in the event.

Event	Place	Weightlifter	Best lift
Two handed	4th	Carl Schuhmann	90.0 kilograms

Wrestling

Schuhmann first faced Launceston Elliot, the one-handed lift weightlifting champion, defeating him fairly easily. He received a bye in the semifinals, to face Georgios Tsitas in the final match. That contest took two days, after it had been postponed on account of darkness 40 minutes into the first day. Schuhmann quickly won on the second morning.

Event	Place	Wrestler	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Greco-Roman	1st	Carl Schuhmann	Won	Bye	Won

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Great Britain	1	0	1.000
Greece	1	0	1.000
Total	2	0	1.000

References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.