The Rüsselsheimer Ruder-Klub 08 (Rüsselsheim rowing club 08), also known by its abbreviation RRK 08, is a sports club based in the German city of

Rüsselsheim am Main Rüsselsheim am Main (, ) is the largest city in the Groß-Gerau district in the Rhein-Main region of Germany. It is one of seven special status cities (implementing several functions that counties normally provide) in Hessen and is located on t ...

. Originally a rowing club, the main sport has been hockey since the late 1960s. The other sport offered is tennis.

History

The rowing club was founded in 1908. The first boat was a gig four, a German row boat type mostly used for training purposes. By 1919, i.e. just after World War I, the club had 182 members. A number of notable events occurred in 1925: the club house was built, women's rowing commences, and members start playing hockey during the winter months. First founded in 1910 and re-founded in 1919, a second rowing club existed in Rüsselsheim: Rudergesellschaft Undine Rüsselsheim (RGUR). Both local rowing clubs stagnated during the 1930s; first due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and then due to sport becoming secondary in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. In 1938, the two clubs first formed a combined

rowing eight An eight, abbreviated as an 8+, is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox". Each of the eight rowers has one oar. The rowers ...

and this led to the amalgamation of the two clubs in 1942, adopting the name of the older club. At the end of World War II, the club house was confiscated by the American Army and the club dissolved, as were all sports clubs in

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

. The club was re-founded in April 1946. This was followed by a period where club rowers would often win the German rowing championships; to date 28 national titles have been won. The next notable year was 1952: the American forces released the club's boat house, and the city built two hockey fields that gave this sport a boost. In 1968, the club's men's team won the national hockey championship. Since 1968, hockey is the dominant sport at RRK 08. The other sport offered by the club is tennis.

Notable individuals

Hockey

Britta Becker Britta Christiane Becker-Kerner ( Becker, born 11 May 1973 in Rüsselsheim) is a German former field hockey midfield player. Becker made her debut in the German women's field hockey team in 1991 and was one of the youngest members in the Olymp ...

( 1992 Olympic silver medallist) *

Tanja Dickenscheid Tanja Roswitha Dickenscheid (born 17 June 1969 in Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz) is a former field hockey player from Germany, who was a member of the national squad that won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She competed in t ...

( 1992 Olympic silver medallist) * Christian Domke ( 2003 Indoor Hockey World Cup world champion) * Oliver Domke (1996 and 2000 Olympic competitor) * Tobias Frank (double Olympic silver medallist – 1984 and 1988) * Mandy Haase (

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

gold medallist) * Eva Hagenbäumer ( 1992 Olympic silver medallist) * Denise Klecker (

gold medallist) * Peter Kraus ( 1972 Olympic gold medallist) * Silke Müller (

gold medallist) * Susanne Müller ( 1992 Olympic silver medallist) * Christopher Reitz ( 1992 Olympic gold medallist) * Fritz Schmidt ( 1972 Olympic gold medallist) * Rainer Seifert ( 1972 Olympic gold medallist) * Bianca Weiß ( 1992 Olympic silver medallist)

Rowing

* Georg von Opel (1912–1971) seven times German champion, sports administrator, member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

, son of Carl von Opel

References

{{Men's Feldhockey Bundesliga RRK 08 Multi-sport clubs in Germany Field hockey clubs in Germany Rowing clubs in Germany Field hockey clubs established in 1925 Sport in Darmstadt (region)