Many names were found for Hans-Günther Schmidt, whom the German handball nation appropriated as “Hansi”: “goal machine”, “enforcer”, “backspace bomber”, “goal scorer on duty” or “best half-left player in the world”. And none of these descriptions should be considered exaggerated, because hardly any other player has shaped indoor handball in Germany like Hans-Günther Schmidt, who was born in Marienfeld, Romania. In the 60s and 70s, Schmidt was the outstanding player in the king’s position in the left backcourt. Only Erhard Wunderlich achieved similar legend status as Schmidt, the Augsburger who died in 2012 almost logically took over Schmidt’s legacy at VfL Gummersbach.
Schmidt had already significantly established the world fame of the Oberbergische, led a largely unknown village club to seven German championship titles and four triumphs in the European Cup of Champions – today known as the Champions League – and thus made Gummersbach a world-famous brand in handball. In these triumphs at the highest international level, including against his hometown club Steaua Bucharest, he scored an incredible 338 goals in 53 games. Schmidt also played 98 international matches for Germany, in which he was – of course – the best scorer with 484 goals.
From today’s perspective, these values are all the higher, because far fewer goals were scored in a handball game at the time: In 1970, for example, Gummersbach won the national champion’s cup with a 14:11 against the then GDR champions SC Dynamo Berlin – nine goals were scored by Schmidt. The right-hander was top scorer in the Bundesliga eight times and scored more than 1,000 goals in 173 games in the German top tier.
But not only his extraordinary goal threat raised the 1.96 meter tall powerhouse above the competition, Schmidt was able to play with the right and to score goals on the left. This made him particularly difficult to calculate for goalkeepers. From today’s perspective, an almost unbelievable ability that was due to an injury. In a fight against two defenders, Schmidt dislocated his right shoulder and trained his left arm during a break of several months. He also refined his throwing technique and has since been credited with inventing the delayed jump shot, and his tremendous jumping ability came in handy. His Bundesliga record in a game is 16 goals, four of which the right-hander scored with the left hand.
Schmidt was born on September 24, 1942 in Marienfeld, grew up as a Banater Schwabe, a German-speaking minority in a country triangle formed by Romania, today’s Serbia and Hungary. His extraordinary abilities were quickly recognized. Schmidt, who actually wanted to be an athlete, played in the Romanian junior national team and became champion with Steaua Bucharest at a young age. At a tournament with the national selection in Germany, he took the opportunity at the age of 21 and did not return to his homeland. In view of his skills, the exceptional handball player managed to quickly gain a foothold in his new home.
In addition to his handball career, Hans-Günther Schmidt was a passionate teacher, because when he was active there was no professional sport of today’s type. Schmidt also attracted criticism because of his great dominance, some teammates considered him too setting the tone, and he always represented his opinion, which was not always comfortable. However, he was always a welcome guest in the Gummersbacher Halle and celebrated his 80th birthday last September. The former captain of the national team died on Sunday night after a serious illness surrounded by his family in Gummersbach.