Einer Ulrich (; 6 May 1896 – 28 February 1969) was a Danish

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who represented Denmark in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. He competed in the

singles event A singles event is an activity or program made available specifically to the romantically unattached, often with the underlying or explicit purpose of fostering dating or relationships among attendees. A singles event with a cocktail party-type a ...

at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

, reaching the second round in which he lost to

Henk Timmer Hendrik Timmer (born 3 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Timmer was born in Hierden, Harderwijk, Gelderland. He spent his fi ...

. With compatriot Erik Tegner he competed in the men's doubles event and reached the third round.

Early life and family

Einer was born in 1896 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

to Ellen Margrethe (née Wiegell) and Aage Louis Francis Ulrich. He graduated in 1915 from the Schneekloths school. Then he was drafted into the

Jydske Dragonregiment ( Fortune Favours the Brave) , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Danmarks Blå Dragoner'' (Denmark's Blue Dragoons) , mascot = , anniversaries = Formation (1 November 1679) The Rytterfægtning by Rosengarten (12 Oktober 1813) Battle of ...

and was mobilized during

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 ...

and was promoted to officer rank.

Tennis career

He competed in the

1926 Wimbledon Championships The 1926 Wimbledon Championships, also known as the ''Jubilee Championships'', took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 21 June until 3 Ju ...

and reached the fourth round in the singles event in which he lost to

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the "The Four Musketeers (tennis), Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra wa ...

. In the doubles and mixed doubles event he was eliminated in the second round. His second and final participation was at the 1929 Wimbledon Championships in which he reached the second round in all three events. He was a 28-times national champion of Denmark, five of which were consecutive singles victories. He played for the

74 times.

Football career

Ulrich started playing football at

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on F ...

and later in

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub or KB is a Danish sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played since 1883. The club hosted, in 1921, on ...

. After retiring, he served as a football referee for 25 more years.

Personal life

Ulrich got involved in the advertising industry when he established his own company ''Einer Ulrich Advertising'' in 1941 followed by ''Ulrich and Parrilds Advertising'', which he sold to American

James Walter Thompson James Walter Thompson (October 28, 1847 – October 16, 1928) was the founder of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and a pioneer of many advertising techniques. Biography He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on October 28, 1847. In ...

where he remained as a co-director of the Danish department until his death. In the meantime he kept in touch with tennis as a chairman of the Hellerup Idræts Klub from 1938 and secretary of the Danish Lawn Tennis Association from 1929 and its president from 1964. He was also the editor-in-chief for the magazine ''Tennis''. For a short time he was appointed the Denmark Davis Cup team captain. In 1967 the Einer Ulrich foundation was formed, a project which goal was to help young tennis players. Ulrich married three times and had four children: a daughter named Kirsten from his first marriage with Karen Rigmor Larsen, a son (outside marriage with Tyra Liser) named Arne Erlandsen (1917 - 1988) and two sons with his second wife Ulla Meyer, also a tennis player and Danish champion. Their sons, Jørgen Ulrich and Torben Ulrich, became tennis players as well and were

representatives. He married the third time to Rigmor Alvilda Landgreen. Einer Ulrich was also the grandfather of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

drummer

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...

, Torben's son.

During World War II

After the

Nazi occupation of Denmark The German invasion of Denmark (german: Operation Weserübung – Süd), was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway (german: Weserübung Nord, 9 April – 10 ...

in 1940 the family decided to stay in the country despite the Jewish origin of Ulrich's then-wife Ulla. The turning point was the year 1943 when they were informed of the Nazis' intent to "purge" the Danish protectorate as well. This rumor was strengthened by the

deportation of the Danish police During World War II, the Danish government chose to cooperate with the Nazi occupation force. Even though this applied to the Danish police as well, many were reluctant to cooperate. As a result, a large number of members of the Danish police for ...

in 1943. In October the same year to prevent being arrested Einer used his ties to the Swedish King

King Gustav V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

, a recurring sparring and doubles tennis partner of his, to send his wife and two sons to Sweden in secret. His family along with a group of other Jewish refugees were transported on a fishing boat by human traffickers across the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...

strait when they were caught on the sea by the Germans. Shots were fired, the passengers jumped into the water and scattered. They were pulled aboard by the Nazis and taken into custody in Elsinore and then to a local camp. Einer made his way there and cleared up the situation with the German authorities and convince them to free his family. About six weeks later they decided to give the escape a second chance and this time they made it to Sweden with the help of probably-bribed customs officers. Einer joined them some time later with the help of another Davis Cup tennis player, Marcus Wallenberg Jr. of Sweden. After the war they moved back to Denmark.

Footnotes

Works cited

Primary

Secondary

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulrich, Einer 1896 births 1969 deaths Association footballers not categorized by position 20th-century Danish military personnel Danish footballers Danish football referees Danish male tennis players Danish military officers Olympic tennis players of Denmark Refugees in Sweden Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers from Copenhagen