Friedrich Wilhelm "Fieten" Rahe (; 16 April 1888 – 18 February 1949) was a German
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
player.
Biography
Rahe was born at
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
on 16 April 1888 and grew up in the family house in ''Kröpeliner Straße 37''. His grandfather, the entrepreneur ''Friedrich Rehmann'', had founded a company for wholesale trade of food. Rehmann had three daughters of which the eldest, ''Emma'', had married businessman ''Eduard Rahe'', the parents of Friedrich Wilhelm.
His family's wealth made it possible for Rahe to focus on leisure activities like playing tennis or driving expensive cars. At an age of 15, he took part in the German national tennis championships at nearby
Heiligendamm
Heiligendamm () is a German seaside resort founded in 1793.
It is the oldest seaside spa in continental Europe. Heiligendamm is part of the town Bad Doberan in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and historically belongs to Mecklenburg.
The clus ...
but lost his initial match. In 1906, at the
German open championships, he could reach the final but lost to
Josiah Ritchie
Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a tennis player from Great Britain. Major was his first name, not a military title. He was born in Westminster, educated at Brighton College and died in Ashford.
Career
Ritc ...
in straights set, winning only 5 games. Although he would later become finalist at the tournament in 1909 and again in 1922, he was never able to win it. However, he won the German national championships twice, in 1908 and 1913.
Rahe competed at the
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...
in the men's
singles tournament and in the men's
doubles tournament together with
Oscar Kreuzer
Oscar Kreuzer (; 14 June 1887 – 3 May 1968) was a male tennis and rugby player from Germany.
Biography
Kreuzer was born at Frankfurt am Main on 14 June 1887.
He played at the 1908 Summer Olympics and at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockho ...
. He lost in both competitions in the first round. In the Olympic
field hockey tournament he was able to score the only German goal to defeat France to finish in fifth place.
In 1913 he was runner-up at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, losing the men's doubles final together with
Heinrich Kleinschroth
Heinrich Kleinschroth (; 15 March 1890 – 10 January 1979) was an amateur German tennis player who found success in the early 20th century, mainly in doubles competitions.
Tennis career
At the age of 20 he became the Catalan champion by winning ...
in four sets against the defending champions
Herbert Roper Barrett
Herbert Roper Barrett, KC (24 November 1873 – 27 July 1943) was a tennis player from Great Britain.
Biography
Barrett was born on 24 November 1873 in Upton, Essex.
At the London Olympics in 1908 Barrett won a gold medal in the men's ind ...
and
Charles P. Dixon. He reached the semifinals in singles at Wimbledon in 1909 (beating
Gordon Lowe
Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player.
Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...
before losing to Roper Barrett),
and was a quarterfinalist in 1911 and 1912. In 1913, Rahe played in the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
together with Kleinschroth; the German team reached the semifinals before losing to the US. After the
1913 Wimbledon Championships
The 1913 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 23 June until 4 July.2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little ( ...
, Rahe made a trip to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
where he played a couple of exhibition matches.
At the beginning of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Rahe joined the German army and was assigned to the ''Kaiserliches Freiwilliges Automobil-Corps'' at the headquarters of the
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
.
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
Rahe was rewarded the
Iron Cross 1st Class in early 1915. On 11 August 1915, he married ''Erna Kribben'', sister of tennis player
Curt Kribben. Their daughter ''Gisela'' was born in 1917.
In 1916 Rahe came to the German delegation at
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
where he stayed until the end of the war. Afterwards, he opened an art gallery in
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 ...
. He married for a second time, ''Liesel Witte'', the daughter of a chemicals industrialist. After the
International Lawn Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...
had lifted the ban on German players for international tournaments in 1926, Rahe played a match in the 1927 German Davis Cup team.
Rahe's last appearance as a tennis player was at the 1941 German senior championships, where he reached the final but lost to ''Max Hopfenheit''. He died a few years afterwards, in 1949, and was buried in the cemetery ''Alter Friedhof'' at Rostock, which was then in the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
. The family's food company was later nationalized by the ruling
Socialist Unity Party.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahe, Friedrich
1888 births
1949 deaths
German male tennis players
German male field hockey players
Olympic tennis players of Germany
Olympic field hockey players of Germany
Sportspeople from Rostock
Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Field hockey players at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
German Army personnel of World War I