Saar at the 1952 Summer Olympics

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Saarland[1] was founded in the 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 occupied in 1945 by France. As a separate team, Saar took part in its sole Olympic Games at the 1952 Summer Olympics before being allowed to rejoin the German team in 1956. Thirty-six competitors, 31 men and five women, took part in 32 events in nine sports.[2]

Saar at the
1952 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Saar protectorate
IOC codeSAA
NOCNational Olympic Committee of the Saarland
in Helsinki
Competitors36 in 9 sports
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Germany (1896–1936, 1952, 1992–)
 United Team of Germany (1956–1964)
 West Germany (1968–1988)

History

Just as after World War I, Saarland had initially been disallowed from uniting with the Weimar Republic and remained under military occupation for several years after the end of the war. After World War II, the Saarland was not allowed to become part of the Federal Republic of Germany after its founding in May 1949. The annexation of Saar by France, however, was prohibited by the other Allies and Points 2 and 3 of the Atlantic Charter.

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

Saar was first eligible to send athletes to the 1952 Winter Olympics, but did not do so due to a lack of competitive athletes in winter sports. Having a recorded history of over 500 years of coal mining, the Saarland did donate 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 of the 1952 Summer Olympics, 41[6][7][8] athletes from the Saarland marched. The team was listed in the official report with a total of 44 men and 6 women athletes [9] and with 71 competitors, 16 officials, 11 spectators for a total of 98.[10] The team won no medals and was ranked a joint 44th among a total of 69 teams.

Following a referendum in October 1955 that overwhelmingly rejected the Saar statute proposing Saar independence as a "European territory", the people of Saar indirectly resulted in favor of accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. The subsequent Saar Treaty of October 1956 allowed the Saarland to rejoin Germany effective as of 1 January 1957.

No separate Saarland teams were sent to the 1956 Olympic Games, as a United Team of Germany comprising athletes of all three German states took part for the first and only time. The Olympic Committee of the Saarland [11] formally dissolved 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. She became world champion in 1954 in the K-1 500 m event. Competing for Germany in 1956, Zenz won a silver medal[13] and won an additional two silvers in 1960. Zenz went on to coach gold medalists Roswitha Esser and Annemarie Zimmermann at the 1964 Olympics.

Medal tables

Medals by Games
Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
1952 Helsinki0000
Total0000

Athletics
Main article: Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Men
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Toni Breder Long jump 6.88 19 did not advance
Willi Burgard Triple jump 13.86 29 did not advance
Women
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Hilda Antes 80 m hurdles 12.0 4 did not advance
Hilda Antes
Inge Eckel
Ursel Finger
Inge Glashörster		 4 × 100 m relay 49.0 5 did not advance
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Ursel Finger Long jump 5.27 25 did not advance

Boxing
Main article: Boxing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Men
Athlete Event 1 Round 2 Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Rank
Helmut Hofmann Flyweight  Han Soo-An (KOR)
L TKO 1R		 did not advance
Kurt Schirra Featherweight  Luis Aranguren (VEN)
W 2:1		  János Erdei (HUN)
L 0:3		 did not advance
Willi Rammo Light Middleweight  Josef Hamberger (AUT)
L 0:3		 did not advance

Canoeing
Main article: Canoeing at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Men
Athlete Event Heats Final
Time Rank Time Rank
Heinrich Heß
Kurt Zimmer		 K-2 1000 m 4:01.4 4 did not advance
K-2 10000 m — 48:05.6 12
Women
Athlete Event Heats Final
Time Rank Time Rank
Therese Zenz K-1 500 m 2:26.9 3 Q 2:27.9 9

Fencing
Main article: Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Five fencers, all men, represented Saar in 1952.

Men's foil
Men's team foil
Men's sabre
Men's team sabre

Gymnastics
Main article: Gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Rowing
Main article: Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Saar had seven male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1952.[14]

Men
Athlete Event Heats Repechage Semifinal Repechage Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Günther Schütt Single sculls 7:58.4 3 R 7:38.4 1 Q BYE 7:42.9 2 did not advance
Klaus Hahn
Herbert Kesel		 Coxless pair 8:09.5 3 R DNF did not advance
Werner Biel
Hans Krause-Wichmann
Achim Krause-Wichmann
Hanns Peters		 Coxless four 6:40.8 1 Q BYE 7:10.4 3 R 6:47.2 2 did not advance

Shooting
Main article: Shooting at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Two shooters represented Saar in 1952.

Men
Athlete Event Final
Score Rank
Hans Eschenbrenner 50 m rifle, prone 384 52
Ludwig Gräf 50 m rifle, three positions 1089 38
50 m rifle, prone 391 40

Swimming
Main article: Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Men
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Georg Mascetti 400 metre freestroke 5:31.2 7 did not advance

Wrestling
Main article: Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Men's Greco-Roman
Athlete Event Elimination pool Final round
Round 1
Result		 Round 2
Result		 Round 3
Result		 Round 4
Result		 Round 5
Result		 Final round
Result		 Rank
Werner Zimmer −52 kg  Heini Weber (GER)
L F 3:29		  Leo Honkala (FIN)
L F 6:41		 did not advance 14
Norbert Kohler −57 kg  Oswaldo Johnston (GUA)
W F 7:05		  Ferdinand Schmitz (GER)
L F 2:55		  Hubert Persson (SWE)
L 0–3		 did not advance 10
Erich Schmidt −67 kg  Kamal Hussain (EGY)
L 0–3		  Georgios Petmezas (GRE)
W 2-1		  Jan Cools (BEL)
W 3-0		 did not advance 10

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
  2. "Saar at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. 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 Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
  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 Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Volker Bernardi u.a.: Olympische Geschichte des Saarlandes.Gollenstein Verlag, Blieskastel 2004, ISBN 3-935731-54-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
  14. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Saar Rowing at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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