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
01 ! Gold	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
01 ! Gold	Flatow, AlfredAlfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's parallel bars	000000002016-04-10-0000April 10
01 ! 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	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
			Men's team horizontal bar	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
01 ! Gold	Schuhmann, CarlCarl Schuhmann	Gymnastics	Men's vault	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
		Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman	000000002016-04-11-0000April 11
02 ! Silver	Hofmann, FritzFritz Hofmann	Athletics	Men's 100 m	000000002016-04-10-0000April 10
02 ! Silver	von Gödrich, AugustAugust von Gödrich	Cycling	Men's road race	000000002016-04-12-0000April 12
02 ! Silver	Flatow, AlfredAlfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
02 ! Silver	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
			Men's rings	000000002016-04-09-0000April 9
03 ! Bronze	Hofmann, FritzFritz Hofmann	Gymnastics	Men's rope climbing	000000002016-04-10-0000April 10
03 ! Bronze	Weingärtner, HermannHermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's vault	000000002016-04-09-0000April 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.

Cycling

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

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

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.

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.

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.