Germany at the 1896 Summer Olympics

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.

Germany at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Flag of the German Empire
IOC code	GER
NOC	German Olympic Sports Confederation
Website	www.dosb.de (in German, English, and French)
in Athens
Competitors	19 in 6 sports
Medals Ranked 3rd	Gold 6 Silver 5 Bronze 2 Total 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 2020
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games  Saar (1952)  United Team of Germany (1956–1964)  East Germany (1968–1988)  West Germany (1968–1988)

Medalists

German team at sailing

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Gold	Alfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's parallel bars	April 10
Gold	Conrad Böcker, Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow, Georg Hilmar, 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	Carl Schuhmann	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9
		Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman	April 11
Silver	Fritz Hofmann	Athletics	Men's 100 m	April 10
Silver	August von Gödrich	Cycling	Men's road race	April 12
Silver	Alfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Silver	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	April 9
			Men's rings	April 9
Bronze	Fritz Hofmann	Gymnastics	Men's rope climbing	April 10
Bronze	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9

Results by event

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. Alfred Flatow was entered in the 100 metres but did not start.[1][2][3]

Track and road events

Athlete	Events	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Fritz Hofmann	100 m	12.6	2 Q	12.2
Friedrich Traun		13.5	3	Did not advance
Kurt Doerry		Unknown	5	Did not advance
Fritz Hofmann	400 m	58.2	2	56.7	4
Kurt Doerry		Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance
Friedrich Traun	800 m	2:13.4	3	DNS
Carl Galle	1500 m	N/A		4:39.0	4
Kurt Doerry	110 m hurdles	Unknown	Unknown	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Events	Final
		Result	Rank
Fritz Hofmann	High jump	1.55	5
Carl Schuhmann	Long jump	5.70	8
Fritz Hofmann	Triple jump	Unknown	6–7
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	5
Fritz Hofmann	Shot put	10.00	5–7
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	5–7

Cycling

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

Cyclist	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Theodor Leupold	Time trial	27.0	5
Joseph Rosemeyer		27.2	8
Joseph Rosemeyer	Sprint	DNF
Joseph Rosemeyer	10 km	Unknown	4
Bernard Knubel	100 km	DNF
Theodor Leupold		DNF
Joseph Welzenbacher		DNF
Joseph Rosemeyer		DNF
Joseph Welzenbacher	12 hour race	DNF
August von Gödrich	Road race	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

Artistic

Gymnast	Apparatus/Place
	PH	R	V	PB	HB
Alfred Flatow	3–15	4, 6–8	4–15
Conrad Böcker	3–15	4, 6–8	4–15	3–18	3–15
Gustav Flatow	3–15	4, 6–8	4–15	3–18	3–15
Georg Hilmar	3–15	N/A	4–15	3–18	3–15
Fritz Manteuffel	3–15	N/A	4–15	3–18	3–15
Karl Neukirch	3–15	N/A	4–15	3–18	3–15
Richard Röstel	3–15	N/A	4–15	3–18	3–15
Gustav Schuft	3–15	N/A	4–15	3–18	3–15
Carl Schuhmann	3–15	5		3–18	3–15
Hermann Weingärtner				3–18

Gymnast	Event	Result	Rank
Fritz Hofmann	Rope climbing	12.5

Team	Event	Rank
Germany	Team parallel bars
	Team horizontal bar

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.

Player	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Friedrich Traun	Singles	Boland (GBR) L	Did not advance			8

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Great Britain	0	1	0.000
Total	0	1	0.000

Weightlifting

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

Weightlifter	Event	Weight (kg)	Rank
Carl Schuhmann	Two hand lift	90	4

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.

Wrestler	Event	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Carl Schuhmann	Greco-Roman	Elliot (GBR) W	Bye	Tsitas (GRE) W

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

References

1. Butler, Maynard. The Olympic Games. In Mallon & Widlund, pp. 37–41.
2. Ekkehard zur Megede : The history of Olympic athletics. Volume 1: 1896-1936. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970.
3. "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

• 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.