Erich Zeller (13 January 1920 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– 6 November 2001 in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

) was a German

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

and figure skating coach. Erich Zeller as a skater represented the club Rot-Weiß-

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and became 1942 German champion. He studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. In 1942 he was forced to enter the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. His figure skating career was destroyed by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1945 Erich Zeller participated in ice shows. In 1956 his coaching career began. His first pupil was

Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (born 28 January 1942) is a German former pair skater, actor, and Schlager singer. Career Bäumler became famous in pair skating with his skating partner Marika Kilius. Between 1958 and 1964, they won the German nation ...

. Erich Zeller became the most successful coach in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Among his other students were

Marika Kilius Marika Kilius (; born 24 March 1943) is a German former pair skater. With Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, she is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion, and a six-time European champion. Earlier in her career, she competed with Fra ...

, Dagmar Lurz and

Norbert Schramm Norbert Schramm (born April 7, 1960) is a German former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time European champion, a two-time World silver medalist, and a three-time German national champion. Skating career Schramm began skating at age six ...

. From 1970 to 1985 he was national coach of West Germany for figure skating (Eiskunstlauf-Bundestrainer). He also was once president of the world coach association. Erich Zeller wrote figure skating books: * ''Meine kleine Eiskunstlaufschule'' (''My Little Figure-Skating-School''), published 1969 * ''Eiskunstlauf für Fortgeschrittene'' (''Figure Skating For Advanced Skaters''), published 1982

References

*various issues of the figure skating magazine ''Pirouette'' * various issues of the figure skating magazine ''Eissportmagzin'' * various issues of the magazine ''Eis- und Rollsport''

Competitive highlights

Single skating

1920 births 2001 deaths German male single skaters German figure skating coaches Sportspeople from Augsburg German military personnel of World War II {{Germany-figure-skating-bio-stub