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Alfred Schwarzmann (22 March 1912 – 11 March 2000) was a German Olympic gymnast. He won three gold and two bronze medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and another silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. During World War II, Schwarzmann served in the Wehrmacht and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.[1]
| Alfred Schwarzmann | |
|---|---|
 Schwarzmann at the 1936 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 22 March 1912 Fürth  German Empire |
| Died | 11 March 2000 (aged 87) Goslar  Germany |
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics |
| Club | Heeressportschule Wünsdorf, Zossen; TV 1860 Fürth, Fürth[1] |
Medal record | |
Career
editAlfred Schwarzmann joined the 13th Company of the Nuremberg Infantry Regiment on 1 April 1935 after signing up for a twelve-year period of service. He was promoted to Unteroffizier on 1 May 1935 and was a member of the Gymnastics team preparing for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won three gold and two bronze medals.[1]
On 10 May 1940 Schwarzmann and his company parachuted into the Netherlands and took a key bridge at Moerdijk. In the first hour of the fighting Schwarzmann was badly wounded when a bullet pierced a lung. He was treated for his wounds in Dordrecht after the Dutch capitulation.[1]
Aged 40, Schwarzmann competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a silver medal on the horizontal bar. In 2008 he was inducted into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Awards
edit- Iron Cross 2nd Class & 1st Class (25 May 1940)[2]
- Wound Badge (1939) in Black (29 May 1940)[2]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 May 1940 as Oberleutnant and platoon leader in the 8./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1[3]
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class
- Heer (army) Parachutist Badge
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alfred Schwarzmann". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
- ^ a b Thomas & Wegmann 1986, p. 284.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 696.
Bibliography
edit- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Thomas, Franz; Wegmann, Günter (1986). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Teil II: Fallschirmjäger [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part II: Paratroopers] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-1461-8.
