Fritz Kachler
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FRITZ KACHLER (copyright (c) 2007 George Kletter) Friedrich "Fritz" Kachler (born in Vienna, Austria) was a three-time World Figure Skating champion (1912, 1913 and 1923).
A mechanical engineer, he rose to become president of the Austrian Railways, after having been dismissed by the Nazis (1938-45). He did not believe that sport and nationalism should be mixed and therefore chose not participate in the Olympic Games of 1920 and 1924. He donated his time and expertise to train both Sonja Henie and later Cecilia Colledge to the world championship level. In 1923 the Engelmann family donated the prize for that year's men's figure skating championships: a bronze statue of a Greek discus thrower, rather than a medal. After his death, his daughter donated the statue to "Eislaufen Engelmann" in Vienna, where it is on display.
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The author of the above article is George Kletter. Fritz Kachler was my uncle. My sources of information for this article were his daughter Johanna Kachler Prosser and my mother Charlotte Eisenstaedter Kletter.
