Heinz Henschel (27 January 1920 – 21 October 2006) was a German

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player, sports administrator, and banker. He played for 24 seasons and won two German championships as a member of the

Berliner Schlittschuhclub Berliner Schlittschuhclub, also known as Berliner SC or BSchC, is an ice hockey club based in Berlin, Germany. They currently play in the Landesliga, the fifth and lowest tier in their region. The ice hockey section was founded in 1908. The club ...

. He later became a banker involved in sports and entertainment. He was the founder of multiple sporting associations and served as president of the German Ice Sport Federation. He was the leader of German delegations at

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

and a member of the

German Olympic Sports Confederation The German Olympic Sports Confederation (german: Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund or DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates ...

. His career was recognized by induction into both the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

and the

German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, also called Eishockeymuseum in German, was founded in 1988 and is located in Augsburg. The hall honors individuals who have contributed to ice hockey in Germany, and displays memorabilia depicting contributions of ...

Early life

Henschel was born 27 January 1920 in Berlin, Germany. He attended the gymnasium in

Lankwitz Lankwitz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Berlin. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Steglitz. History The locality was first mentioned in 1239 with the name of ''Lankowi ...

, began playing ice hockey at age nine, then organized a student team at the school by age ten.

Career

Henschel played the

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

position in his ice hockey career, which lasted 24 seasons from 1932 to 1956 and included two national championships as a member of the

. Other clubs he played for included Berliner EV 1898, LTTC Red-White Berlin, Prussia Berlin, and SC Brandenburg. Henschel also had a career as a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

er. He was forced to close his bank in

Steglitz Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is a Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . Steglitz was also a borough from 1920 to 2000. It contained the ...

due to investment losses in the

Berlin Sportpalast Berlin Sportpalast (; built 1910, demolished 1973) was a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Schöneberg section of Berlin, Germany. Depending on the type of event and seating configuration, the Sportpalast could hold up to 14,000 people a ...

. He was unable to revive his former home arena as a profitable entertainment venue, and had amassed debt due to borrowing more than a half million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

s in a five-year lease. Henschel later turned his efforts towards hockey diplomacy and sports administration. He attended the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships and was successful in negotiating the return of the German Ice Hockey Association into the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

(IIHF) membership, and also the

Germany men's national ice hockey team The German men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Germany and is controlled by the German Ice Hockey Federation. It first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. Whe ...

's participation in future

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

. He later negotiated the entry of the

German Ice Hockey Federation The German Ice Hockey Federation (), commonly abbreviated as DEB, is the governing federation of German ice hockey associations. It was established on 16 June 1963 in Krefeld. Until 1990 it served only the old Federal Republic of Germany and West ...

into the IIHF to represent

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 ...

. Henschel helped establish several associations to oversee sports in Berlin and in Germany. He was involved in setting up the Berlin Ice Sport Federation, the Berlin Regional Sport Federation, the German Ice Sport Federation, and the

. He served as president of the German Ice Sport Federation from 1963 to 1988, was president of the German Ice Sports Federation from 1992 and 1994, and also served as an executive member of the German Sports Federation (GSF). As a member of the GSF, he was a founder of the German Ice Hockey Museum. Henschel was the chief organizer of the

1983 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in West Germany from 16 April to 2 May. The games were played in Munich, Dortmund and Düsseldorf. Eight teams took part, with each playing each other once. The four best teams then play each o ...

hosted by West Germany. In 2003, he organized the 20th anniversary of the game between the West German team and East German team at the 1983 championships at the

Westfalenhallen Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surroun ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

. Regarding the event, he said that "the game is intended to express the memory and joy that today we all belong to one federation and after the match we will spend a cozy evening together". Henschel was the leader of the German delegations at eight

, and the national team at 27 Ice Hockey World Championships. As a member of the

, he acted as

Chef de Mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

for

West Germany at the 1984 Winter Olympics West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The German Ice Skating Union president Wolf-Dieter Montag served as the head of mission for West Germany. Medalists Alpine skiing ;Men ...

Later life and honors

Henschel was inducted into the

in 2003, in the builder category, and was also inducted into

. He was made an honorary member of the German Ice Hockey Federation, the German Ice Sport Federation, and the Berlin Ice Sport Association. Henschel died on 21 October 2006 in Berlin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henschel, Heinz 1920 births 2006 deaths 20th-century German businesspeople Businesspeople from Berlin German bankers German ice hockey executives German ice hockey forwards German sports executives and administrators Germany men's national ice hockey team executives Ice hockey people from Berlin IIHF Hall of Fame inductees People from Lichterfelde (Berlin)