Alfred Schwarzmann (22 March 1912 – 11 March 2000) was a German Olympic gymnast. He won three gold and two bronze medals at the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

and another silver medal at 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 ...

. During

World War II 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 opposing ...

, Schwarzmann served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Career

Alfred Schwarzmann joined the 13th Company of the

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Infantry Regiment on 1 April 1935 after signing up for a twelve-year period of service. He was promoted to

Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name to ...

on 1 May 1935 and was a member of the

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

team preparing for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won three gold and two bronze medals. On 10 May 1940 Schwarzmann and his company parachuted into the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and took a key bridge at Moerdijk. In the first hour of the fighting Schwarzmann was badly wounded when a bullet pierced a lung. He was treated for his wounds in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

after the Dutch capitulation. Aged 40, Schwarzmann competed at the

in all artistic gymnastics events and won a silver medal on the horizontal bar. In 2008 he was inducted into the

Germany's Sports Hall of Fame The Germany's Sports Hall of Fame (german: Hall of Fame des deutschen Sports) is the national sports hall of fame in Germany, initiated 2006. The inductions are made by Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe, Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund and Verband De ...

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

2nd Class & 1st Class (25 May 1940) * Wound Badge (1939) in Black (29 May 1940) * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 May 1940 as '' Oberleutnant'' and platoon leader in the 8./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 *

Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered the institution of a service awar ...

4th Class * Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge

References

Bibliography

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External links

Alfred Schwarzmann

Alfred Schwarzmann @ the Hall of Fame des deutschen Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarzmann, Alfred 1912 births 2000 deaths Sportspeople from Fürth People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1936 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fallschirmjäger of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German Army soldiers of World War II 20th-century German people Military personnel from Bavaria