Alfred Schwarzmann

Alfred Schwarzmann

Alfred Schwarzmann
Born (1912-03-22)22 March 1912
Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria
Died 11 March 2000(2000-03-11) (aged 87)
Goslar, Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Rank Major of the Reserves
Unit 8./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other work Gymnast
Teacher
Alfred Schwarzmann
— Gymnast —

Schwarzmann at the 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Country represented West Germany West Germany
Former countries represented German Empire German Empire Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Club Heeressportschule Wünsdorf, Zossen;
TV 1860 Fürth, Fürth[1]
Medal record
Olympic Games
Berlin 1936 Individual all-around
Berlin 1936 Team all-around
Berlin 1936 Vault
Berlin 1936 Horizontal bar
Berlin 1936 Parallel bars
Helsinki 1952 Horizontal bar

Karl Alfred Markus Schwarzmann (22 March 1912 – 11 March 2000) was a German Olympic gymnast and Fallschirmjäger during World War II. He won three gold and two bronze medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and another silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. As a Fallschirmjäger he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[1]

Biography

Alfred Schwarzmann joined the 13th Company of the Nuremberg Infantry Regiment on 1 April 1935 after signing up for a twelve-year period of service. He was promoted to Unteroffizier on 1 May 1935 and was a member of the Gymnastics team preparing for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won three gold and two bronze medals.[1]

Schwarzmann served as an army sports instructor at the Army Sport School in Wünsdorf. From there he went to II. Battalion, 1st Parachute Regiment in Stendal on 1 January 1939 and later to Braunschweig. On 11 March 1940 he was promoted to Oberleutnant and on 1 April became commander of a machine gun platoon in the 8th Company of the 1st Parachute Regiment.

On 10 May 1940 Schwarzmann and his company parachuted into the Netherlands and took a key bridge at Moerdijk. This his unit held until relief forces arrived. In the first hour of the fighting Schwarzmann was badly wounded when a bullet pierced a lung. He was treated for his wounds in Dordrecht after the Dutch capitulation.[1]

Alfred Schwarzmann received both Iron Crosses on 25 May 1940 and four days later the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[Note 1] It is very likely that Schwarzmann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for propaganda purposes only, for he had not distinguished himself during the brief period that he was involved in the fighting. As a matter of fact, he was (within his company) the only platoon-commander not achieving the given objectives. When he seemed to succumb to his lung wound, after a strong wound fever caught him, he was quickly awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Amazingly he managed to beat the fever and fully recover after a long treatment. Notwithstanding his own knowledge of the cheaply earned awards, he didn't hesitate to flash his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross all the time, which caused him to be rejected by many of his comrades during, but particularly after the war.

In the Battle of Crete Schwarzmann saw action in the Heraklion area. Promoted to Hauptmann on 27 June 1942, he led the 3rd Parachute Regiment's 8th Company and was later made company commander. From 1941 to 1942 he fought in Russia on the Eastern Front.

On 15 March 1943 he became commander of the headquarters of the 7th Air Division. Afterwards he held the same position with the 1st Parachute Division.

Schwarzmann was forced to enter the Luftwaffe hospital in Munich on 4 March 1944 because of his old wound. On 20 April 1945 he was promoted to Major. Schwarzmann was held prisoner of war by the British from 9 May to 29 October 1945.

Schwarzmann (middle) in 1951

Aged 40, Schwarzmann competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a silver medal on the horizontal bar. His team finished fourth. In 2008 he was inducted into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

His daughter is the former and first Bundestrainerin (national head coach) in Equestrian vaulting, international referee and renowned coach Helma Schwarzmann.[1] She is one of the most successful coaches worldwide, having won more than 30 World Championship titles in her career.

Quotes

The Swiss gymnast, Jack Günthard, winner of the Gold medal Horizontal bar at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics about Alfred Schwarzmann: "The victory should have belonged to Alfred – but he was a German" (Der Sieg hätte eigentlich Alfred gebührt – aber er war eben Deutscher.)

Awards

Notes

  1. ↑ Kurowski and Fellgiebel present contradicting dates for the Knight's Cross
  2. ↑ According to Scherzer on 29 May 1940.[4]

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knights of the Wehrmacht Knight's Cross Holders of the Fallschirmjäger. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military. ISBN 978-0-88740-749-9. 
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
  • Thomas, Franz; Wegmann, Günter (1986). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Teil II: Fallschirmjäger [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part II: Paratroopers] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-1461-8. 
  • Williamson, Gordon; Bujeiro, Ramiro (2004). Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves Recipients 1939–40. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-641-6. 

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.