Germany at the Summer Olympics

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Germany at the Olympic Games

Flag of Germany
IOC code  GER
NOC Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund
external link (German)
Olympic history
Summer Games
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 19561 • 19601 • 19641 • 19682 • 19722 • 19762 • 1980 • 19842 • 19882 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008
Winter Games
1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 19561 • 19601 • 19641 • 19682 • 19722 • 19762 • 19802 • 19842 • 19882 • 1992 • 1994 • 1998 • 2002 • 2006

1As the Unified Team of Germany (EUA)
2As the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)
Other related appearances
East Germany East Germany (1968–1988)
Saar Saar (1952)
See also: Germany at the Winter Olympics

Athletes from Germany (GER) have appeared in only 22 of the 25 editions of the Summer Olympic Games as they were not invited to three events after the World Wars, in 1920, 1924 and 1948. Germany hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

The nation appeared 12 times as a single country (IOC code GER), before World War II and again after German reunification in 1990. Three times, from 1956 to 1964, German athletes from the separate states in West and East competed as a United Team of Germany, which is currently listed by the IOC as EUA, not GER.

Due to partition under occupation that resulted in three post-war German states, German athletes took part seven times for the contemporary states they lived in, in 1952, and from 1968 to 1988. The all-time results of German athletes are thus divided among the designations GER, EUA, FRG, GDR and also SAA (the Saarland only took part in the 1952 Summer games and won no medal).

Contents

[edit] Timeline of Germany at the Summer Olympics

[edit] 1896 - 1912

1896-1912
1896-1912

Germany entered all Olympic Games starting in 1896, even though the relations between the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the French Third Republic where Pierre de Coubertin revived Olympic games and held the 1900 Summer Olympics, were strained following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The overall medals ranks varied from 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th to 7th.

The worst result, 7th overall, occurred in Paris in 1900. The German gymnasts were judged no better than 53rd in the single gymnastic contest organized by the French, behind dozens of Frenchmen which occupied the first 18 places and thus won all 3 medals. In contrast, the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens had seen 8 contests, with Germans scoring 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze.

The anticipated 1916 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were to have been held in Germany's capital, Berlin. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, organization continued, as no one foresaw the war dragging on for four years. Eventually, though, the games were canceled.

[edit] 1920 - 1948

1928-1932
1928-1932

After World War I, the German Empire became a republic informally known as Weimar Republic, a change which was reflected in a new flag of Germany that in fact was older than the former one, dating back to early 19th century democratic movements. In the Paris Peace Conference, the outbreak of the war was blamed on Germany and other Central Powers allies. These nations, which by now had new governments, were banned from the 1920 Summer Olympics. While all other banned nations were invited again for the 1924 Summer Olympics, held for the second time in Pierre de Coubertin's home town of Paris, the ban on Germany was not lifted until 1925. This was likely related to French Occupation of the Ruhr and the Rheinland between 1923 and 1925.

After 16 years of absence, a new generation of German athletes returned in the 1928 Summer Olympics, scoring 2nd overall in a convincing comeback. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, fewer than half the number of participants from the 1928 Games appeared in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Winning only 3 Gold, the German team was ranked as low as 9th, even though they were joint 2nd in Silver medals, with 12.

1936
1936

Already in spring of 1931 it had been decided that the 1936 Summer Olympics were to be held in Berlin, 20 years later than planned. From 1933 onwards, Germany became known as Nazi Germany, the change being marked also by the use of the Nazi party flag. In the games, the 348 German athletes not only outnumbered the 310 Americans, but outscored them for the first time in the medal count in which Germany ranked first. Also, German gymnasts Konrad Frey and Alfred Schwarzmann won the most medals, with 6 and 5 in total, of which 3 each were Gold, while American Jesse Owens had scored 4 Gold. Leni Riefenstahl documented the games in the film Olympia.

The 1940 Summer Olympics as well as the 1944 Summer Olympics had to be canceled due to World War II. For the 1948 Summer Olympics, with the war in recent memory, Germany and Japan were not invited.

[edit] Separate German teams 1952 - 1988

1952-1956since 1972
1952-1956
since 1972

A United Team of Germany with athletes from two states appeared three times at the Olympic games from 1956 to 1964. The IOC currently does not attribute these results to Germany (GER), but lists them separately as "Equipe Unifiée Allemande" (EUA).

Before that, in the 1952 games, only athletes from the Western part of Germany took part, representing the Federal Republic of Germany (GER), which as the only independent democratic state, covering the largest part of Germany, claimed Exclusive mandate to represent all of Germany. In the 1952 Summer games, also German athletes from the Saarland (SAA) took part. They had to field a separate team as the French-occupied state could join the democratic Federal Republic of Germany only after 1955.

West Germany used the code GER at the Games from 1968 to 1976, although their athletes' participation at these Games is now coded under FRG by the IOC. The code FRG was first used in 1980.

Athletes from the Soviet-occupied German Democratic Republic (GDR) appeared in a separate team after the United Team effort was discontinued. In five events, from 1968 to 1980 and in 1988, they represented the GDR rather successfully before the East German states joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, and the GDR ceased to exist.

Since 1990, the enlarged Federal Republic of Germany is simply called Germany (GER). The six participations in 1952, 1968 to 1976, 1984 to 1988 are still listed by the IOC under FRG, though, and not attributed to GER.

In the 1980s, each of the two states participated once in the multinational boycotts of Summer games. Many western countries including the Federal Republic of Germany boycotted the Moscow games in 1980 due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In turn, communist bloc states including the GDR boycotted Los Angeles in 1984. Thus, only one German team was present in each of these two events.

[edit] FRG (West Germany)

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), often called West Germany, was founded in 1949 as the largest of the three German states formed under occupation after the division of Germany following World War II. The West German NOC continued the tradition of the German NOC that had joined the IOC in 1895, and continued to represent the Germany that was enlarged after the Saar protectorate (SAA) joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956, and after the states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) had joined in the process of German reunification in 1990.

German teams competed in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games designated as GER and SAA. In Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964, German athletes competed as United Team of Germany (EUA), but the two states sent independent teams designated as West and East Germany after that for five Games between 1968 and 1988 until the separate East German state ceased to exist.

[edit] United Team of Germany 1956-1964

1960-1968
1960-1968

After three German states had been founded in Germany under occupation after World War II, athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) competed together as the United Team of Germany (EUA for French: Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne, German: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympics.

Prior to that, German athletes from West Germany and the French-occupied Saarland took part in the 1952 Summer Olympics organized in different teams designated as GER and SAA. The Saarland joined the Federal Republic after 1955, while the East German authorities, which had not taken part in 1952, agreed in 1956 to let their athletes compete in a united team that used the black-red-gold tricolour Flag of Germany, but with additional Olympic rings in white placed upon the red middle stripe as East German politicians were eager not to compete under the traditional plain German flag used both by West Germany and even themselves. Only in 1959, the GDR added socialist symbols to create a distinct Flag of East Germany. As the use of the Deutschlandlied, dating back to 1841 and 1797, of the recently created East German anthem, or of possible combinations was also rejected, Beethoven's melody to Schiller's Ode an die Freude (Ode to Joy) was played for winning German athletes as a compromise in lieu of a national anthem.

During the Games of 1956, 1960 and 1964 the traditional abbrevation GER for Germany was used, or rather the equivalents in the language of the host country. In Innsbruck in 1964, the Austrians just used the International license plate codes, D for Deutschland (Germany), or F for France. The IOC code currently uses EUA (from the official French-language IOC designation, Equipe Unifiée Allemande) and applies this in hindsight for the United German Team. No reasoning is given, it may be done to allow for the political circumstances during the German divide between 1949 and 1990, and the involvement of two National Olympic Committees rather than only one.

Despite initially calling for a "united Germany" in the East German anthem, the socialist East German government intensified their separation in Germany, with the erection of the Berlin Wall in August of 1961 obstructing travel within Germany even more. The travel of GDR athletes, e.g. to contests and training sites in the Alps, was limited due to fear of Republikflucht.

As a result of this development, German athletes started in the 1968 Winter Olympics as separate West and East teams, while still using the compromise flag and Beethoven anthem in that year. The French organizers used the codes ALL (Allemagne, Germany) and ADE (Allemagne de'Est, East Germany), which roughly correspond to the IOC codes GER and GDR.


1968-1988
1968-1988

The separation was completed at the 1972 Summer Olympics with the use of separate flags and anthems. It continued until the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist after 1989, with their states joining the Federal Republic of Germany in the process of German Reunification in 1990.

[edit] Medal tables

[edit] Medals by Games

Main article: All-time Olympic Games medal count
Games Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank Team
1896 Athens 6 5 2 13 3rd Germany Germany
1900 Paris 4 2 2 8 7th Germany Germany
1904 St. Louis 4 4 5 13 2nd Germany Germany
1908 London 3 5 5 13 5th Germany Germany
1912 Stockholm 5 13 7 25 6th Germany Germany
1920 Antwerp – – – – – not invited
1924 Paris – – – – – not invited
1928 Amsterdam 10 7 14 31 2nd Germany Germany
1932 Los Angeles 3 12 5 20 9th Germany Germany
1936 Berlin (host nation) 33 26 30 89 1st Germany Germany
1948 London – – – – – not invited
1952 Helsinki 0 7 17 24 28th Germany Germany
0 0 0 0 – Saar Saar
1956 Melbourne/Stockholm 6 13 7 26 7th Germany Germany (EUA)
1960 Rome 12 19 11 42 4th Germany Germany (EUA)
1964 Tokyo 10 22 18 50 4th Germany Germany (EUA)
1968 Mexico City 5 11 10 26 8th West Germany West Germany
9 9 7 25 5th East Germany East Germany
1972 Munich (host nation) 13 11 16 40 4th West Germany West Germany
20 23 23 66 3rd East Germany East Germany
1976 Montreal 10 12 17 39 4th West Germany West Germany
40 25 25 90 2nd East Germany East Germany
1980 Moscow boycotted – Flag of West Germany West Germany
47 37 42 126 2nd East Germany East Germany
1984 Los Angeles 17 19 23 59 3rd West Germany West Germany
boycotted – Flag of the German Democratic Republic East Germany
1988 Seoul 11 14 15 40 5th West Germany West Germany
37 35 30 102 2nd East Germany East Germany
1992 Barcelona 33 21 28 82 3rd Germany Germany
1996 Atlanta 20 18 27 65 3rd Germany Germany
2000 Sydney 13 17 26 56 5th Germany Germany
2004 Athens 13 16 20 49 6th Germany Germany
Total (GER) 147 153 188 488
Total (GDR) 153 129 127 409
Total (FRG) 56 67 81 204
Total (EUA) 28 54 36 118
Total 384 403 432 1219

[edit] Medals by sport (as GER)

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Canoeing 22 12 13 47
Rowing 19 11 13 43
Equestrian 18 9 10 37
Athletics 15 20 33 68
Gymnastics 13 7 12 32
Swimming 11 18 28 57
Cycling 11 9 13 33
Shooting 7 7 2 16
Weightlifting 5 7 7 19
Wrestling 4 11 8 23
Boxing 4 9 9 22
Fencing 3 6 8 17
Sailing 3 4 3 10
Diving 2 7 9 18
Tennis 2 5 2 9
Field hockey 2 2 2 6
Judo 2 0 10 12
Water polo 1 2 0 3
Handball 1 1 0 2
Modern pentathlon 1 0 1 2
Archery 0 1 1 2
Table tennis 0 1 1 2
Rugby 0 1 0 1
Taekwondo 0 1 0 1
Triathlon 0 1 0 1
Football 0 0 2 2
Volleyball 0 0 1 1
Total 146 152 188 486

These totals do not include the one gold and one silver medal won by Germany in figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Medals by sport (GDR)

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics 38 36 35 109
Swimming 38 32 22 92
Rowing 33 7 8 48
Canoeing 14 7 9 30
Gymnastics 6 13 17 36
Cycling 6 6 4 16
Boxing 5 2 6 13
Shooting 3 8 5 16
Wrestling 2 3 2 7
Diving 2 2 3 7
Sailing 2 2 2 6
Weightlifting 1 4 6 11
Judo 1 2 6 9
Football 1 1 1 3
Handball 1 1 1 3
Volleyball 0 2 0 2
Fencing 0 1 0 1
Total 153 129 127 409

[edit] Medals by sport (as FRG)

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics 12 14 17 43
Equestrian 11 5 9 25
Fencing 7 8 1 16
Cycling 4 5 5 14
Rowing 4 4 6 14
Shooting 4 4 3 11
Swimming 3 5 14 22
Canoeing 2 6 3 11
Sailing 2 2 3 7
Weightlifting 2 2 3 7
Wrestling 1 4 4 9
Judo 1 4 3 8
Field hockey 1 3 0 4
Boxing 1 0 5 6
Tennis 1 0 1 2
Handball 0 1 0 1
Gymnastics 0 0 2 2
Football 0 0 1 1
Water polo 0 0 1 1
Total 56 67 81 204

[edit] Medals by sport (as EUA)

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Equestrian 5 5 4 14
Athletics 4 18 8 30
Canoeing 4 5 2 11
Rowing 4 4 1 9
Diving 3 1 0 4
Swimming 1 5 6 12
Wrestling 1 5 3 9
Cycling 1 4 2 7
Boxing 1 3 2 6
Fencing 1 1 2 4
Gymnastics 1 1 1 3
Sailing 1 1 1 3
Shooting 1 0 1 2
Judo 0 1 1 2
Field hockey 0 0 1 1
Football 0 0 1 1
Total 28 54 36 118

[edit] External links


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