Hermann Linkenbach (8 April 1889 – 30 June 1959) was a German military riding instructor and career army officer. He is best known for competing in the
1928 Summer Olympics and for having surrendered the city of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
to the Allies in World War II.
Born in
Barmen (now part of
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
), Linkenbach entered the military in 1909. During World War I he served as a
Fahnenjunker
''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was establi ...
in various capacities including staff officer and intelligence. After the war he spent time in mounted units and as an instructor at the cavalry school in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
; he was an instructor there during the 1928 Olympics. Linkenbach on the horse ''Gimpel'' was part of the German
dressage team which won the gold medal in the team dressage event after finishing sixth in the
individual dressage competition. At age 17, ''Gimpel'' was also part of the 1936 German Olympic equestrian team, which again won the team gold. From 1936 to 1943 Linkenbach commanded a military remount school in
Großenhain
Großenhain (also written as Grossenhain; hsb, Wulki Hojn) is a Große Kreisstadt (German for major district town) in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. It was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne"
History
...
, and in 1941 he was promoted to
Generalmajor. In April 1945 he was put in command of Trieste, which he surrendered on May 2 to New Zealander troops.
He was imprisoned until June 1947.
Linkenbach attended the 1948 London Olympics and wrote an account of the equestrian events, ''Olympische Reiterkämpfe London 1948'' (Düsseldorf: Sankt Georg Kunstverlag, 1948).
[https://www.klinebooks.com/pages/books/34706/hermann-linkenbach/olympische-reiterkampfe-london-1948 Description of book on Kline Books site]
Linkenbach died in
Stade in 1959.
References
External links
Hermann Linkenbach at databaseOlympics.com
1889 births
1959 deaths
Military personnel from Wuppertal
German dressage riders
Olympic equestrians for Germany
German male equestrians
Equestrians at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Germany
Olympic medalists in equestrian
Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Wuppertal
{{Germany-equestrian-bio-stub