Baron Gerhard Rudolf Viktor von Hessert (August 18, 1906 – September 22, 1994) was a German

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der who competed in the early 1930s.

Early life

Von Hessert was born in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

, the youngest of four siblings, to Friedrich von Hessert and Viktoria von Herff. Most of his childhood was spent in constant movement due to the nature of his father's mining business. Both sides of the family had political ties in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. His paternal uncle was first district attorney in

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

and his maternal grandfather was a member of the privy council. His paternal great-grandfather Dr. Franz Ferdinand von Hessert was

royal physician Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

Ludwig I en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

and a

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

pioneer. He conducted in the early 1800s the first cowpox inoculation trials in

after Edward Jenner's vaccination advancements in England. He attended Darmstadt University and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1929 after making the journey aboard the RMS Franconia.

1932 Winter Olympics

Gerhard von Hessert and his team finished seventh and last in the four-man event at the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

. Germany was conferred overall the bronze medal, same as in the 1928 Games. The event was won by the United States.

Personal life

He married Cornelia Fitch Baekeland, granddaughter of Leo Baekeland, the inventor of

Bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...

, in 1939. His wife had a minor role as an actress in the 1944 Rita Hayworth classic '' Cover Girl''. Baron von Hessert died in 1994.

References

External links

1932 bobsleigh four-man results (todor66.com)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hessert, Gerhard 1906 births 1994 deaths German male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Germany Bobsledders at the 1932 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Freiburg im Breisgau