Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Saar at the
1952 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Saar protectorate
IOC codeSAA
NOCNational Olympic Committee of the Saarland
in Helsinki
Competitors36 in 9 sports
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
    Other related appearances
     Germany (1896–1936, 1952, 1992–)
     United Team of Germany (1956–1964)
     West Germany (1968–1988)

    The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Saarland[1] was founded in the spring of 1950 in the Saar Protectorate, which existed from 1947 to 1956, a region of Western Germany that was occupied in 1945 by France. As a separate team, Saar took part in its sole Olympic Games at the 1952 Summer Olympics before being allowed to rejoin the German team in 1956. Thirty-six competitors, 31 men and five women, took part in 32 events in nine sports.[2]

    History

    Just as after World War I, Saarland had initially been disallowed from uniting with the Weimar Republic and remained under military occupation for several years after the end of the war. After World War II, the Saarland was not allowed to become part of the Federal Republic of Germany after its founding in May 1949. The annexation of Saar by France, however, was prohibited by the other Allies and Points 2 and 3 of the Atlantic Charter.

    As the local population did not want to join France, separate international organizations were founded, including the Saarland football team, and in 1950 a NOC, in German called Nationales Olympisches Komitee des Saarlandes.[3]

    Saar was first eligible to send athletes to the 1952 Winter Olympics, but did not do so due to a lack of competitive athletes in winter sports. Having a recorded history of over 500 years of coal mining, the Saarland did donate a miner's safety lamp[4][5] in which the flame of the torch relay of the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki could be carried safely aboard airplanes.

    At the opening ceremony of the 1952 Summer Olympics, 41 athletes from the Saarland marched.[6][7][8] The team was listed in the official report with a total of 44 men and 6 women athletes [9] and with 71 competitors, 16 officials, 11 spectators for a total of 98.[10] The team won no medals and was ranked a joint 44th among a total of 69 teams.

    Following a referendum in October 1955 that overwhelmingly rejected the Saar statute proposing Saar independence as a "European territory", the people of Saar indirectly resulted in favor of accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. The subsequent Saar Treaty of October 1956 allowed the Saarland to rejoin Germany effective as of 1 January 1957.

    No separate Saarland teams were sent to the 1956 Olympic Games, as a United Team of Germany comprising athletes of all three German states took part for the first and only time. The Olympic Committee of the Saarland [11] formally dissolved in February 1957 as its members, like other separate institutions of the Saarland, became part of their German counterparts.

    Notable competitors

    Therese Zenz[12] (born 15 October 1932 in Merzig), a local champion, finished 9th in the canoe race at the 1952 Olympics, held on the open Baltic Sea, a new experience for the 19-year-old athlete from a landlocked country. She became world champion in 1954 in the K-1 500 m event. Competing for Germany in 1956, Zenz won a silver medal[13] and won an additional two silvers in 1960. Zenz went on to coach gold medalists Roswitha Esser and Annemarie Zimmermann at the 1964 Olympics.

    Medal tables

    Medals by Games

    Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
    1952 Helsinki 0 0 0 0
    Total 0 0 0 0

    Athletics

    Main article: Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    Men
    Field events
    Athlete Event Qualification Final
    Distance Position Distance Position
    Toni Breder Long jump 6.88 19 did not advance
    Willi Burgard Triple jump 13.86 29 did not advance
    Women
    Track & road events
    Athlete Event Heat Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
    Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
    Hilda Antes 80 m hurdles 12.0 4 did not advance
    Hilda Antes
    Inge Eckel
    Ursel Finger
    Inge Glashörster     		4 × 100 m relay 49.0 5 did not advance
    Field events
    Athlete Event Qualification Final
    Distance Position Distance Position
    Ursel Finger Long jump 5.27 25 did not advance

    Boxing

    Main article: Boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    Men
    Athlete Event 1 Round 2 Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
    Opposition
    Result     		Opposition
    Result     		Opposition
    Result     		Opposition
    Result     		Opposition
    Result     		Rank
    Helmut Hofmann Flyweight  Han Soo-An (KOR)
    L TKO 1R     		did not advance
    Kurt Schirra Featherweight  Luis Aranguren (VEN)
    W 2:1     		 János Erdei (HUN)
    L 0:3     		did not advance
    Willi Rammo Light Middleweight  Josef Hamberger (AUT)
    L 0:3     		did not advance

    Canoeing

    Main article: Canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    Men
    Athlete Event Heats Final
    Time Rank Time Rank
    Heinrich Heß
    Kurt Zimmer     		K-2 1000 m 4:01.4 4 did not advance
    K-2 10000 m — 48:05.6 12
    Women
    Athlete Event Heats Final
    Time Rank Time Rank
    Therese Zenz K-1 500 m 2:26.9 3 Q 2:27.9 9

    Fencing

    Main article: Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

    Five fencers, all men, represented Saar in 1952.

    Men's foil
    Men's team foil
    Men's sabre
    Men's team sabre

    Gymnastics

    Main article: Gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

    Rowing

    Main article: Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

    Saar had seven male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1952.[14]

    Men
    Athlete Event Heats Repechage Semifinal Repechage Final
    Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
    Günther Schütt Single sculls 7:58.4 3 R 7:38.4 1 Q BYE 7:42.9 2 did not advance
    Klaus Hahn
    Herbert Kesel     		Coxless pair 8:09.5 3 R DNF did not advance
    Werner Biel
    Hans Krause-Wichmann
    Achim Krause-Wichmann
    Hanns Peters     		Coxless four 6:40.8 1 Q BYE 7:10.4 3 R 6:47.2 2 did not advance

    Shooting

    Main article: Shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics

    Two shooters represented Saar in 1952.

    Men
    Athlete Event Final
    Score Rank
    Hans Eschenbrenner 50 m rifle, prone 384 52
    Ludwig Gräf 50 m rifle, three positions 1089 38
    50 m rifle, prone 391 40

    Swimming

    Main article: Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    Men
    Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
    Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
    Georg Mascetti 400 metre freestroke 5:31.2 7 did not advance

    Wrestling

    Main article: Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    Men's Greco-Roman
    Athlete Event Elimination pool Final round
    Round 1
    Result     		Round 2
    Result     		Round 3
    Result     		Round 4
    Result     		Round 5
    Result     		Final round
    Result     		Rank
    Werner Zimmer −52 kg  Heini Weber (GER)
    L F 3:29     		 Leo Honkala (FIN)
    L F 6:41     		did not advance 14
    Norbert Kohler −57 kg  Oswaldo Johnston (GUA)
    W F 7:05     		 Ferdinand Schmitz (GER)
    L F 2:55     		 Hubert Persson (SWE)
    L 0–3     		did not advance 10
    Erich Schmidt −67 kg  Kamal Hussain (EGY)
    L 0–3     		 Georgios Petmezas (GRE)
    W 2–1     		 Jan Cools (BEL)
    W 3–0     		did not advance 10

    References

    1. ^ 14–17 May 1950: The Olympic Committee of the Federal Republic of West Germany is provisionally accepted at the 45th IOC Session in Copenhagen after a supporting letter from the High Commissioner in the FRG, Sir Hugh Robertson, is read out by Lord David Burghley. A decision as to the participation of the Germans at the 1952 Games is to be made later. At this session the foundation of the NOC for the Saarland is recognized founded in spring 1950. - Journal of Olympic History, FOUNDATION DATES OF THE GERMAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, by a Working Group of the Karl Diem Archive, Köln, Walter Borgers, Karl Lennartz, Dietrich R. Quanz, Walter Teutenberg [1]
    2. ^ "Saar at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
    3. ^ 1950–1957 Nationales Olympisches Komitee des Saarlandes, in Nationales Olympisches Komitee (NOK) für Deutschland - Geschichte, Struktur, Aufgaben und Arbeitsweise uni-leipzig.de Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
    4. ^ Official Report, p. 103
    5. ^ The Flame travelled by air in a miner's lamp presented for the purpose by the National Olympic Committee of the Saar, photo aboard airplane, Official report p. 208
    6. ^ Olympische Spiele 1896-1996, Ein deutsches Politikum. Agenda Verlag Münster, 1996.
    7. ^ Official Report, p. 221
    8. ^ Official Report, p. 236, photos of teams presenting signs in Finnish: RUOTSI (Sweden), SAAR (Saarland), SAKSA (Germany), SINGAPORE
    9. ^ Official Report, p. 98
    10. ^ Official Report, p. 192
    11. ^ 1950 February 1957: Formal disbanding of the Olympic Committee of the Saarland., in Nationales Olympisches Komitee (NOK) für Deutschland - Geschichte, Struktur, Aufgaben und Arbeitsweise uni-leipzig.de Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
    12. ^ Volker Bernardi u.a.: Olympische Geschichte des Saarlandes.Gollenstein Verlag, Blieskastel 2004, ISBN 3-935731-54-X.
    13. ^ An All-German Team starts at the Games of the XVIth Olympiad in 1956 in Melbourne... Therese Zenz, from the Saarland, is part of the German team and wins a silver medal in kayak singles - Journal of Olympic History, FOUNDATION DATES OF THE GERMAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE [2]
    14. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Saar Rowing at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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