Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Saar at the Olympic Games
Flag of the Saar protectorate – Flag bearers IOC code   SAA
At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki
Competitors	36 in 9 sports
Medals	Gold 0	Silver 0	Bronze 0	Total 0
Olympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1952
Other related appearances
• Germany (1896-1936, 1992-) • Federal Republic of Germany (1952, 1968-1988) • Unified Team of Germany (1956-1964)

A NOC of the Saarland^[1] was founded in spring of 1950 in the Saar protectorate which existed from 1947 to 1956 (German state of Saarland since), a region of Western Germany that was (again) occupied in 1945 by France. As a separate team, they only took part in the 1952 Summer Olympics before being allowed to rejoin the German team for the summer games of 1956. 36 competitors, 31 men and 5 women, took part in 32 events in 9 sports.^[2]

History

Like after World War I, after World War II the Saarland was not allowed to become part of the Federal Republic of Germany which was founded in May 1949. On the other hand, annexation by France was prohibited by the other Allies and the Atlantic charter's points 2 and 3.

As the local population did not want to join France, separate international organisations were founded, like the Saarland football team, and in 1950 a NOC, in German called Nationales Olympisches Komitee des Saarlandes.^[3]

The region, in which the Dollberg with 695 m is the highest mountain, did not send athletes to Oslo for the 1952 Winter Olympics due to a lack of competitive athletes in winter sports. Having a recorded history of over 500 years of coal mining, the Saarland, donated a miner's safety lamp^[4][5] in which the flame of the torch relay of the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki could be carried safely aboard airplanes. At the opening ceremony, 36^[6] or as reported by the Chefs de Mission on the preceding evening, 41^[7] athletes from the Saarland marched in ahead^[8] of the team of Germany, which is called "Saksa" in the Finnish language. The team, which is listed in the official report with a maximum strength of 44 men and 6 women ^[9] and with 71 competitors, 16 officials, 11 spectators for a total of 98^[10] did not win a medal and was ranked joint 44th among a total of 69 teams.

Following a referendum in October 1955 that rejected the Saar statute proposing independence as European territory, thus voting indirectly in favor of access to the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saar treaty of October 1956 allowed the Saarland to rejoin Germany with effect of 1 January 1957.

Even though theoretically possible, no separate Saarland teams were sent to the 1956 games, as a United Team of Germany comprising athletes of all three German states took part for the first and only time. Thus 1952 was the first and only Olympic appearance of the Saarland as a separate German team. The Olympic Committee of the Saarland ^[11] formally dissolved itself in February 1957 as its members, like other separate institutions of the Saarland, became part of their German counterparts.

Notable competitors

Therese Zenz^[12] (born 15 October 1932 in Merzig), a local champion, finished 9th in the canoe race at the 1952 Olympics, held on the open Baltic Sea, a new experience for the 19 year old athlete from a landlocked country (as long as separated from Germany). She became world champion in 1954 in the K-1 500 m event, making history for the Saarland and her home town of Mettlach. Allowed to enter for Germany in 1956, she went on to win a silver medal^[13] and in 1960 even two silver medals, after being beaten in photo finishes by Soviets. In 1964, she coached the gold medalists Roswitha Esser and Annemarie Zimmermann, a team that defended their gold in 1968.

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Flyweight

• Helmut Hofmann

1. First round - Lost to  Han Soo-An (KOR) (TKO 1R)

Featherweight

• Kurt Schirra

1. First round - Defeated  Luis Aranguren (VEN) (2 - 1)
2. Second round - Lost to  János Erdei (HUN) (0 - 3)

Light-middleweight

• Willi Rammo

1. First round - Lost to  Josef Hamberger (AUT) (0 - 3)

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Five fencers, all men, represented Saar in 1952.

Men's foil

• Karl Bach
• Ernst Rau
• Günther Knödler

Men's team foil

• Ernst Rau, Walter Brödel, Karl Bach, Günther Knödler

Men's sabre

• Ernst Rau
• Karl Bach
• Günther Knödler

Men's team sabre

• Karl Bach, Willi Rössler, Ernst Rau, Günther Knödler, Walter Brödel

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics

References

1. ^ 14–17 May 1950: The Olympic Committee of the Federal Republic of West Germany is provisionally accepted at the 45th IOC Session in Copenhagen after a supporting letter from the High Commissioner in the FRG, Sir Hugh Robertson, is read out by Lord David Burghley. A decision as to the participation of the Germans at the 1952 Games is to be made later. At this session the foundation of the NOC for the Saarland is recognized founded in spring 1950. - Journal of Olympic History, FOUNDATION DATES OF THE GERMAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, by a Working Group of the Karl Diem Archive, Köln, Walter Borgers, Karl Lennartz, Dietrich R. Quanz, Walter Teutenberg [1]
2. ^ "Saar at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". sports-reference.com. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/SAA/summer/1952/. Retrieved 2010-09-26. 
3. ^ 1950–1957 Nationales Olympisches Komitee des Saarlandes, in Nationales Olympisches Komitee (NOK) für Deutschland - Geschichte, Struktur, Aufgaben und Arbeitsweise uni-leipzig.de
4. ^ Official Report, p. 103
5. ^ The Flame travelled by air in a miner's lamp presented for the purpose by the National Olympic Committee of the Saar, photo aboard airplane, Official report p. 208
6. ^ Olympische Spiele 1896-1996, Ein deutsches Politikum. Agenda Verlag Münster, 1996.
7. ^ Official Report, p. 221
8. ^ Official Report, p. 236, photos of teams presenting signs in Finnish language: RUOTSI (Sweden), SAAR (Saarland), SAKSA (Germany), SINGAPORE
9. ^ Official Report, p. 98
10. ^ Official Report, p. 192
11. ^ 1950 February 1957: Formal disbanding of the Olympic Committee of the Saarland., in Nationales Olympisches Komitee (NOK) für Deutschland - Geschichte, Struktur, Aufgaben und Arbeitsweise uni-leipzig.de
12. ^ Volker Bernardi u.a.: Olympische Geschichte des Saarlandes.Gollenstein Verlag, Blieskastel 2004, ISBN 3-935-731-54-X.
13. ^ An All-German Team starts at the Games of the XVIth Olympiad in 1956 in Melbourne... Therese Zenz, from the Saarland, is part of the German team and wins a silver medal in kayak singles - Journal of Olympic History, FOUNDATION DATES OF THE GERMAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE [2]

External links

• Helsinki 1952 Official Olympic Report olympic-museum.de
• Helsinki 1952 Official Olympic Report la84foundation.org