Charlotte Oelschlägel, aka Charlotte Hayward (August 14, 1898 – November 14, 1984) was a German professional skater. For most of her life, she used only her first name as her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

. She invented and first performed the

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

elements death spiral and Charlotte spiral, which is named after her.

Personal life

Charlotte Oelschlägel was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. As well as being a figure skater, she was also a musician. At age seven, she was on stage with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

. She played the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. When she was 10 years old, she had nervous and growing problems. Medications did not help. She was advised to do figure skating to treat her medical problems. She was married to Curt Neumann, also a figure skater. She died in a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

in Berlin on November 14, 1984.

Career

Oelschlägel initially skated with her brother Fritz. Later, she was coached by Paul Münder. She was known professionally by her first name. In 1910, Oelschlägel began appearing in ice ballets in Berlin. In 1915, she became the first performer to star in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

ice show An ice show is an entertainment production which is primarily performed by ice skaters. The major ice shows were founded between 1936 and 1943, when professional figure skaters began to appear in shows, in hotels, at fairs, and "at any place a ...

, appearing in Hip-Hip-Hooray! at the

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater operated from 1905 to 1939 ...

. She was also the first skater to star in a

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

, the American drama film '' The Frozen Warning'' (1916), which figure skating historian James R. Hines calls "the first motion picture to include figure skating". According to figure skater writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, Oelschlägel "brought skating into the conventions of specularized femininity that characterized early-twentieth-century popular entertainment". In the 1920s, Oelschlägel and Neumann developed the death spiral and the move named for her, the Charlotte spiral (also called the "fadeout"), "a back spiral with the upper body leaning toward the skating foot and the free leg lifted to almost 180 degrees".Kestnbaum, p. 103 These moves advanced the development of the use of flexibility in figure skating which, as Kestnbaum states, "generally favor a female rather than a male physique". In 1929, she appeared for the last time in a United States show in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. In 1939, her professional figure skating career ended due to the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Her passport was confiscated by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. After the war, she worked as a coach at the club Grunewalder TC. She retired in 1976. She was inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

in 1985.World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame Members
/ref> She has been called "figure skating's first major theatrical star".

References

* Pirouette, 1995, numbers 5 and 6

External links

* * German figure skaters Figure skaters from Berlin 1898 births 1984 deaths 20th-century German sportsmen 20th-century German women German figure skating coaches {{Germany-figure-skating-bio-stub