The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Saarland was founded in the spring of 1950 in the ''

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate (german: Saarprotektorat ; french: Protectorat de la Sarre) officially Saarland (french: Sarre) was a French protectorate separated from Germany; which was later opposed by the Soviet Union, one side occupying Germany like ...

'', which existed from 1947 to 1956 ( German state of

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

since), a region of

Western Germany The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...

that was occupied in 1945 by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. As a separate team, Saar took part in its sole Olympic Games at the 1952 Summer Olympics before being allowed to rejoin the German team in 1956. Thirty-six competitors, 31 men and five women, took part in 32 events in nine sports.

History

Just as after

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 ...

, Saarland had initially been disallowed from uniting with the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and remained under military occupation for several years after the end of the war. After World War II, the Saarland was not allowed to become part of the

Federal Republic of 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 between ...

after its founding in May 1949. The annexation of Saar by France, however, was prohibited by the other Allies and Points 2 and 3 of the

Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic Charter, outlined the aims of the United States and ...

. As the local population did not want to join France, separate international organizations were founded, including the Saarland football team, and in 1950 a

NOC A network on a chip or network-on-chip (NoC or )This article uses the convention that "NoC" is pronounced . Therefore, it uses the convention "a" for the indefinite article corresponding to NoC ("a NoC"). Other sources may pronounce it as an ...

, in German called ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee des Saarlandes''. Saar was first eligible to send athletes to the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

, but did not do so due to a lack of competitive athletes in winter sports. Having a recorded history of over 500 years of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

mining, the Saarland did donate a miner's safety lamp in which the flame of the torch relay of the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

could be carried safely aboard airplanes. At the opening ceremony of the

, 41 athletes from the Saarland marched. The team was listed in the official report with a total of 44 men and 6 women athletes and with 71 competitors, 16 officials, 11 spectators for a total of 98. The team won no medals and was ranked a joint 44th among a total of 69 teams. Following a referendum in October 1955 that overwhelmingly rejected the

Saar statute The Saar Statute was a Franco-West German agreement signed in 1954 which resulted from lengthy diplomatic negotiations between France and West Germany. It helped to pave the way for a more modern Europe following post World War II tensions and geo ...

proposing Saar independence as a "European territory", the people of Saar indirectly resulted in favor of accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. The subsequent

Saar Treaty The Saar Treaty, or Treaty of Luxembourg ( German: ''Vertrag von Luxemburg'', French: ''accords de Luxembourg'') is an agreement between West Germany and France concerning the return of the Saar Protectorate to West Germany. The treaty was signed ...

of October 1956 allowed the Saarland to rejoin Germany effective as of 1 January 1957. No separate Saarland teams were sent to the 1956 Olympic Games, as a

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

comprising athletes of all three German states took part for the first and only time. The ''Olympic Committee of the Saarland'' formally dissolved in February 1957 as its members, like other separate institutions of the Saarland, became part of their German counterparts.

Notable competitors

Therese Zenz Theresia Maria “Therese” Zenz (15 October 1932 – 22 October 2019) was a Saar-born German sprint canoer. She took part in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won three silver medals for the United Team of Germany in 1956 and 1960. At ...

(born 15 October 1932 in

Merzig Merzig (, french: Mercy, ''Moselle Franconian:'' ''Meerzisch''/''Miërzësch'') is a town in Saarland, Germany. It is the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, with about 30,000 inhabitants in 17 municipalities on 108 km². It is situated o ...

), a local champion, finished 9th in the

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

race at the 1952 Olympics, held on the open

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, a new experience for the 19-year-old athlete from a

landlocked country A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basin, endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked list of states with limited recogni ...

. She became

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

in the K-1 500 m event. Competing for Germany in 1956, Zenz won a silver medal and won an additional two silvers in 1960. Zenz went on to coach gold medalists

Roswitha Esser Roswitha Esser (; born 18 January 1941 in Bad Godesberg) is a West German sprint canoeist who competed from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals in the K-2 500 m event (1964, ...

and

Annemarie Zimmermann Annemarie Zimmermann (; born 10 June 1940 in Lendersdorf) is a West German sprint canoer who competed in the 1960s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals in the K-2 500 m event, earning them in 1964 and 1968. Zimmermann a ...

at the 1964 Olympics.

Medal tables

Medals by Games

Athletics

;Men ;Field events ;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events

Boxing

;Men

Canoeing

;Men ;Women

Fencing

Five fencers, all men, represented Saar in 1952. ; Men's foil * Karl Bach *

Ernst Rau Ernst Rau (4 January 1927 – 2 May 2012) was a German fencer who competed for Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He fenced in the individual and team foil and sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of ...

Günther Knödler Ernst Günther Jakob Knödler (10 January 1925 – 3 August 1996) was a German fencer in the individual and team foil and sabre events for Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Saarland was founded in ...

; Men's team foil *

, Walter Brödel, Karl Bach,

; Men's sabre *

* Karl Bach *

; Men's team sabre * Karl Bach,

Willi Rössler Willi Kurt Rössler (12 February 1924 – 2 October 2007) was a German fencer who competed for Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He fenced in the team sabre event. See also * Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics The National Olympic Committee ...

, Walter Brödel

Gymnastics

Rowing

Saar had seven male rowers participate in three out of seven

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

events in 1952. ;Men

Shooting

Two shooters represented Saar in 1952. ;Men

Swimming

;Men

Wrestling

;Men's Greco-Roman

References

External links

* * * * Helsinki 1952 Official Olympic Repor
olympic-museum.de
* Helsinki 1952 Official Olympic Repor
la84foundation.org
{{Nations at the 1952 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1952 Summer Olympics Saar at the Olympics Saar at the Summer Olympics by year 1952 in Saar