Alfred Schwarzmann

Alfred Schwarzmann
— Gymnast —
Schwarzmann at the 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Country represented	West Germany
Former countries represented	German Empire Nazi Germany
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Club	Heeressportschule Wünsdorf, Zossen; TV 1860 Fürth, Fürth[1]
Medal record Olympic Games Representing Germany 1936 Berlin Individual all-around 1936 Berlin Team all-around 1936 Berlin Vault 1936 Berlin Horizontal bar 1936 Berlin Parallel bars Representing Germany 1952 Helsinki Horizontal bar

Alfred Schwarzmann
Born	22 March 1912 Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria
Died	11 March 2000 (aged 87) Goslar, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Major of the Reserves
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Netherlands Battle of Crete Eastern Front
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Karl Alfred Markus Schwarzmann (22 March 1912 – 11 March 2000) was a German Olympic gymnast and member of airborne troops during World War II. He won three gold and two bronze medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and another silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. As a Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.^[1]

Career

Alfred Schwarzmann joined the 13th Company of the Nuremberg Infantry Regiment on 1 April 1935 after signing up for a twelve-year period of service. He was promoted to Unteroffizier on 1 May 1935 and was a member of the Gymnastics team preparing for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won three gold and two bronze medals.^[1] Schwarzmann served as an army sports instructor at the Army Sport School in Wünsdorf. He went on to serve in the 1st Parachute Regiment.

On 10 May 1940 Schwarzmann and his company parachuted into the Netherlands and took a key bridge at Moerdijk. In the first hour of the fighting Schwarzmann was badly wounded when a bullet pierced a lung. He was treated for his wounds in Dordrecht after the Dutch capitulation.^[1] In the Battle of Crete Schwarzmann saw action in the Heraklion area. From 1941 to 1942 he fought on the Eastern Front. In March 1943 he became commander of the headquarters of the 7th Air Division. Afterwards he held the same position with the 1st Parachute Division. He surrendered on 9 May 1945.

Aged 40, Schwarzmann competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a silver medal on the horizontal bar. In 2008 he was inducted into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame.^[1]

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd Class & 1st Class (25 May 1940)^[2]
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black (29 May 1940)^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 May 1940 as Oberleutnant and Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 8./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1^[3]

References

Citations

1. "Alfred Schwarzmann". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
2. Thomas & Wegmann 1986, p. 284.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 696.

Bibliography

• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Thomas, Franz; Wegmann, Günter (1986). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Teil II: Fallschirmjäger [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part II: Paratroopers] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-1461-8.

External links

• Alfred Schwarzmann
• Alfred Schwarzmann @ the Hall of Fame des deutschen Sports