“Off to the fight…” smashes the crowd in the torero song, which is known from the opera Carmen. One can confidently say that this reputation has also shaped Bavarian sports history. Manfred Schnelldorfer had chosen the song, for example, as accompanying music for his freestyle, with which he became Olympic champion in figure skating in Innsbruck in 1964. At that time he was still a 20-year-old boy – and to this day no other German has been able to repeat this success in men’s figure skating.
Schnelldorfer’s sensational victory is undoubtedly one of the Bavarian sporting moments for the ages. The House of Bavarian History has made this proud formulation its own, which is currently in the middle of preparing for a special exhibition on Bavarian sports history. The show will primarily be devoted to the subject “Bavaria and Olympics 1896-2022”, which has so far only rarely been presented in this breadth.
Alois Schloder from Landshut celebrates at the 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship in Vienna.
(Photo: imago Sportfotodienst)
Half a year before the opening, you can say that there is an almost inexhaustible complex of opulence, drama and gripping stories that only real life can deliver. This was confirmed last Wednesday when veteran Olympians Manfred Schnelldorfer (born 1943), Paul Barth (born 1945) and Alois Schloder (born 1947) presented mementos from their athletic careers to the museum in Regensburg.
At a time when football is almost the only dominant sport, it is becoming more and more forgotten how popular other sports used to be. Just read once into the memories of the author Sebastian Haffner (Geschichte eines Deutschen, 1914-1933), who impressively describes how Germany suddenly became a major sporting power in the early 1920s, although it was not a sporting country until then. “The sports reports now played a role like the army reports ten years earlier, and what had been the number of prisoners and looted numbers back then were now records and record times,” wrote Haffner.
Munich’s Paul Barth won the bronze medal in the sport of judo at the 1972 Olympic Games.
(Photo: Carmen Voxbrunner)
The story of the first Bavarian Olympic champion Josef Straßberger alone would be worth filmed at last. His grandson Andreas Lechner recently wrote a great novel about the extraordinary life of this weightlifter (“Heimatgold”, Volk Verlag), which was full of opulence, happiness and tragedy and is no longer possible today in this density.
Alois Schloder from Landshut also experienced unexpected successes and defeats in his long ice hockey career. He was the captain of the German national team for many years, became German champion and sensationally won the Olympic bronze medal with the German team, a blatant outsider, in 1976. Schloder brought his ice skates to Regensburg on Wednesday.
The photo from the 1930s shows the weightlifter Josef Straßberger, who was German champion several times. He was also the first Bavarian Olympic champion (1928 in Amsterdam).
(Photo: Schirner Sportfoto-Archiv / dpa)
The special exhibition will use many examples to show how Bavarian athletes, with their successes at the Olympic Games and World Championships, have become popular figures and ambassadors for sport and the Free State of Bavaria. The judoka Paul Barth also joins this ranks. He won the bronze medal in the light heavyweight division in his hometown of Munich in 1972. As a memento of this memorable event, he presented Marc Spohr, the speaker for exhibitions in the Regensburg Museum, with his combat suit from back then.
The names of many athletes who shaped their time are unforgettable, above all the skier Rosi Mittermaier (born 1950), who won two gold medals in downhill skiing and slalom at the 1976 Olympic Games, as well as a silver medal in giant slalom. Even after the end of her career, Mittermaier remained present in public, among other things as an advertising medium, sports ambassador and author – together with her husband Christian Neureuther, who was also a successful ski racer. The exhibition could also show relics that are not immediately thought of. For example, part of the bouquet that Rosi Mittermaier threw down to the fans from the balcony after her Olympic victory. The Velden sports fan Joseph Schuster caught him back then and holds him in honor to this day.
Rosi Mittermaier won two gold and one silver medal in skiing at the 1976 Olympic Games.
(Photo: dpa)
The list of curiosities and sensations from Bavarian sports history could be continued indefinitely. But one thing cannot be denied. Many of the names of sports celebrities from the past have survived for many years. In contrast to today’s aces, provided they are not footballers. Even current Olympic champions are often almost forgotten a few months after their triumph. Who can answer right away in which disciplines the Bavarian Olympic champions Christian Reitz, Barbara Engleder or Alexander Grimm were successful?
Last but not least, the exhibition will focus on the politically highly charged Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936 and in Munich in 1972, as well as Munich’s failed application to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
“Bavaria and Olympia 1896-2022”, House of Bavarian History, Regensburg, July 12, 2022 to January 15, 2023.