Fritz Schilgen (8 September 1906 – 12 September 2005) was a German

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

and the final torchbearer of the first Olympic torch relay at the 1936 Summer Games.

Biography

Schilgen was born in 1906 in

Kronberg im Taunus Kronberg im Taunus is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was ab ...

, near

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, the second son of the principal of the Kronberger high school. After the

First World War 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 ...

, he began his career as a middle- and long-distance runner. He studied

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Darmstadt University of Technology Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse a ...

; in his career as an engineer he developed 35 patents. Schilgen finished in third place in the German Championships in 1929, 1931, and 1933 in the 1500-metre run, representing the sports club

ASC Darmstadt ASC may refer to: Educational institutions * Anglican Schools Commission, Australia * Andres Soriano Colleges of Bislig, located in Surigao del Sur, Philippines * Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia Organizations Australia * Australian Singing ...

. He also won the silver medal in the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the 1928 World University Games, and the bronze medal in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

run at those games in 1930– in a stadium having a telecommunications system Schilgen himself had designed. On 21 March 1936, he married Ursula Gerlach. They had five children: Walter, Regine, Sibylle, Michael and Horst. Schilgen was chosen by the organizers of the relay as a "symbol of German sporting youth" and for his beautiful and graceful running style, as determined by the aesthetics commission. His dramatic lighting of the flame in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

is captured in ''

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

'', a

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...

film about the Games by

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

, who also helped devise the torch relay and select Schilgen as final torchbearer. Schilgen himself did not compete in the Olympics. Schilgen's involvement in the Olympics continued after the 1936 Games. After the

Second World War 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 ...

he was a consultant to the Olympic Committee. He helped to plan the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. At the age of 90, Schilgen participated as a torchbearer again before the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. The 1996 Games celebrated the centennial of the modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, and Schilgen had the honor of lighting the cauldron in Berlin's Olympic Stadium once again. Schilgen died in Kronberg in 2005 at the age of 99.

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schilgen, Fritz 1906 births 2005 deaths German male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic athletes of Germany German electrical engineers Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni People from Kronberg im Taunus Sportspeople from Darmstadt (region) Engineers from Hesse

Biography

See also

References