East German Figure Skating Championships

For championships held after 1990, see German Figure Skating Championships.

East German Figure Skating Championships
Logo of the Ice Skating Association of East Germany
Status	Defunct
Genre	National championships
Frequency	Annual
Country	East Germany
Years active	1949–90
Organized by	Ice Skating Association of East Germany

The East German Figure Skating Championships (German : DDR Eiskunstlauf Meisterschaften) were an annual figure skating competition organized by the German Ice Skating Association (German : Deutscher Eislauf Verband) to crown the national champions of East Germany. The first championships held after the partition of Germany took place in 1949 in Oberhof. They were held regularly between 1949 and 1990, at which point East Germany was reunited with West Germany.

Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior, junior, and novice levels, although not every discipline was held every year due to a lack of participants. Jan Hoffmann holds the record for winning the most East German Championship titles in men's singles (with eight), while Gabriele Seyfert holds the record in women's singles (with ten). The record in pair skating is held by Heinz-Ulrich Walther (with six), although those were not all won with the same partner. Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger hold the record in ice dance (with seven).

History

Following the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945 and its defeat in World War II, Germany was divided between the Western Bloc led by the United States and the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union. Two separate German countries emerged: the Federal Republic of Germany (German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland), also known as West Germany; and the German Democratic Republic (German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also known as East Germany. ^[1]

The first figure skating championships held in the east after the division of Germany took place in 1949 in Oberhof and was called the East Zone Championship (German : Ostzonenmeisterschaft). The East German Figure Skating Championships (German : DDR Eiskunstlauf Meisterschaften) were held annually from 1949 to 1990, except for 1957. Ice dance was added as an event in 1954. ^[2] During this same time period, separate figure skating championships were held in West Germany; those results are considered part of the German Figure Skating Championships.

The dissolution of East Germany occurred on 3 October 1990, leading to its reintegration into the Federal Republic of Germany to form present-day Germany. ^[3] Following the reunification of Germany, East German skaters began competing at the German Championships, and many former East German skaters became champions of the newly reunified Germany, including Mirko Eichhorn, Alexander König, René Lohse, Axel Rauschenbach, Peggy Schwarz, Ingo Steuer, Kati Winkler, and Ronny Winkler. ^[4]

Senior medalists

From left to right: Katarina Witt, eight-time East German champion in women's singles; Günter Zöller, five-time East German champion in men's singles; Margit Senf and Peter Göbel, four-time East German champions in pair skating; and Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger, seven-time East German champions in ice dance

Men's singles

Men's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1949	Oberhof	No men's competitors			[2]
1950	Schierke	Helmuth Sirineck [a]	No other competitors
1951	East Berlin	Horst Kuhrüber	Heinz Kuhrüber	No other competitors
1952		Kurt Weilert	Horst Kuhrüber	Heinz Kuhrüber
1953	Oberhof	Horst Kuhrüber	Heinz Kuhrüber	Wolfgang Hartung
1954	East Berlin	Heinz Kuhrüber	Horst Kuhrüber	No other competitors
1955	Geising		Wolfgang Hartung
1956	Rostock	No men's competitors
1957	No competition held
1958	East Berlin	Bodo Bockenauer	Michael Flebbe	No other competitors
1959	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1960
1961	Dresden
1962	East Berlin		Ralph Borghard
1963	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Ralph Borghard	Günter Zöller
1964	East Berlin
1965		Günter Zöller	No other competitors
1966	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Ralph Borghard	Günter Zöller	Rolf Österreich
1967		Günter Zöller	Reinhard Mirmseker	Klaus Purrücker
1968	East Berlin		Rolf Österreich	Ralf Richter
1969	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Jan Hoffmann
1970	East Berlin
1971	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Jan Hoffmann	Ralf Richter	Bernd Wunderlich
1972	East Berlin		Bernd Wunderlich	Michael Glaubitz
1973	Dresden
1974	East Berlin		Michael Glaubitz	Bernd Wunderlich
1975	Dresden	Bernd Wunderlich	Hermann Schulz	No other competitors	[5]
1976	East Berlin	Jan Hoffmann	Mario Liebers	Falko Kirsten	[2]
1977	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1978				Torsten Ohlow
1979	East Berlin			Hermann Schulz
1980	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1981		Hermann Schulz	Ralf Lewandowski	Alexander König
1982		No men's competitors
1983	East Berlin	Falko Kirsten	Nils Köpp	Alexander König
1984	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Alexander König	Nils Köpp
1985	East Berlin		Nils Köpp	Ralf Lewandowski
1986	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1987	East Berlin			No other competitors
1988	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Michael Huth	Rico Krahnert	Mirko Eichhorn
1989	East Berlin	Mirko Eichhorn	Ronny Winkler	Rico Krahnert
1990	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Ronny Winkler	Mirko Eichhorn	Thomas Dörner

1. While Helmuth Sirineck was the only men's competitor at the 1950 East German Championships, he did not achieve the minimum required score to named the East German Champion. ^[2]

Women's singles

Women's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1949	Oberhof	Gudrun Olbricht	Brigitte Schellhorn	Gerda Siepert	[2]
1950	Schierke	Brigitte Schellhorn	Gunhild Poltin	No other competitors
1951	East Berlin	Gunhild Poltin	Brigitte Schellhorn	Inge Kabisch
1952		Inge Kabisch	Renate Brettschneider	Jutta Seyfert
1953	Oberhof		Annemarie Klöpsch
1954	East Berlin		Jutta Seyfert	Brigitte Schellhorn
1955	Geising			Christa Schulze
1956	Rostock	Marie-Luise Dostmann	Helga Böttger	Hannelore Leuner
1957	No competition held
1958	East Berlin	Renate Nobis	Irene Müller	Hella Rathje
1959	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Monika Ziemke	Hella Rathje	Irene Müller
1960		Heidemarie Steiner		Monika Ziemke
1961	Dresden	Gabriele Seyfert	Monika Ziemke	Heidemarie Steiner
1962	East Berlin		Heidemarie Steiner	Brigitte Klewer
1963	Karl-Marx-Stadt			Marianne Mirmseker
1964	East Berlin		Marianne Mirmseker	Beate Richter
1965			Beate Richter	Jutta Will
1966	Karl-Marx-Stadt			Martina Clausner
1967
1968	East Berlin		Martina Clausner	Kerstin Stolfig
1969	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Sonja Morgenstern	Christine Errath
1970	East Berlin
1971	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Sonja Morgenstern	Christine Errath	Simone Gräfe
1972	East Berlin			Steffi Knoll
1973	Dresden			Anett Pötzsch
1974	East Berlin	Christine Errath	Anett Pötzsch	Marion Weber	[6]
1975	Dresden			Steffi Knoll	[5]
1976	East Berlin	Anett Pötzsch	Marion Weber	Karin Enke	[2]
1977	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1978			Carola Weißenberg	Marion Weber
1979	East Berlin			Katarina Witt
1980	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Katarina Witt	Carola Weißenberg
1981		Katarina Witt	Carola Paul	Karin Hendschke
1982			Janina Wirth	Carola Paul
1983	East Berlin			Karin Hendschke
1984	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Simone Koch	Constanze Gensel
1985	East Berlin		Constanze Gensel	Simone Koch
1986	Karl-Marx-Stadt
1987	East Berlin		Inga Gauter
1988	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Simone Koch	Evelyn Großmann
1989	East Berlin	Evelyn Großmann	Simone Lang	Simone Koch
1990	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Tanja Krienke	Cathrin Degler	Claudia Wagler

Pairs

Pairs event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1949	Oberhof	Jutta Seyfert Irene Salzmann	No other competitors		[2]
1950	Schierke	Carla Listing Walter Bärtling	Vera Lampe Horst Kuhrüber	No other competitors
1951	East Berlin	Vera Lampe Horst Kuhrüber	Carla Listing Walter Bärtling
1952			No other competitors
1953	Oberhof	No pairs competitors
1954	East Berlin	Vera Lampe-Kuhrüber Horst Kuhrüber	Ingelore Gotsch Heinz Kuhrüber	No other competitors
1955	Geising		Marie-Luise Dostmann Hans-Jürgen Kutschebauch
1956	Rostock	No pairs competitors
1957	No competition held
1958	East Berlin	Irene Müller Bodo Bockenauer	Fräulein Huhn Herr Henker	No other competitors
1959	Karl-Marx-Stadt		No other competitors
1960		Margit Senf Peter Göbel	Irene Müller Hans-Georg Dallmer	Brigitte Wokoeck Heinz-Ulrich Walther
1961	Dresden			Renate Rößler Klaus Wasserfuhr
1962	East Berlin	Brigitte Wokoeck Heinz-Ulrich Walther
1963	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Margit Senf Peter Göbel		Brigitte Wokoeck Heinz-Ulrich Walther
1964	East Berlin	Brigitte Wokoeck Heinz-Ulrich Walther		Margit Senf Peter Göbel
1965		Irene Müller Hans-Georg Dallmer	Renate Rößler Klaus Wasserfuhr	Brigitte Weise Michael Brychczy
1966	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Heidemarie Steiner Heinz-Ulrich Walther	Brigitte Weise Michael Brychczy	Renate Rößler Klaus Wasserfuhr
1967
1968	East Berlin	Irene Müller Hans-Georg Dallmer	Heidemarie Steiner Heinz-Ulrich Walther	Brigitte Weise Michael Brychczy
1969	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Heidemarie Steiner Heinz-Ulrich Walther	Manuela Groß Uwe Kagelmann	Beatrice von Brück Reinhard Mirmseker
1970	East Berlin			Annette Kansy Axel Salzmann
1971	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Manuela Groß Uwe Kagelmann	Annette Kansy Axel Salzmann	Marlies Radunsky Rolf Österreich
1972	East Berlin
1973	Dresden	Romy Kermer Rolf Österreich	Sylvia Konzak Veit Kempe	Antje Heck Tassilo Thierbach
1974	East Berlin	Manuela Groß Uwe Kagelmann	Romy Kermer Rolf Österreich	Katja Schubert Knut Schubert
1975	Dresden	Romy Kermer Rolf Österreich	Manuela Groß Uwe Kagelmann	Kerstin Stolfig Veit Kempe	[5]
1976	East Berlin			Sabine Baeß Tassilo Thierbach	[2]
1977	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Manuela Mager Uwe Bewersdorf	Kerstin Stolfig Veit Kempe
1978			Sabine Baeß Tassilo Thierbach	Kerstin Stolfig Veit Kempe
1979	East Berlin	Sabine Baeß Tassilo Thierbach	Kerstin Stolfig Veit Kempe	Cornelia Haufe Kersten Bellmann
1980	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Manuela Mager Uwe Bewersdorf	Kerstin Stolfig Veit Kempe
1981		Birgit Lorenz Knut Schubert	Katharina Barta Tobias Schröter	Gesine Bosdorf Jens Preußner
1982		Sabine Baeß Tassilo Thierbach	Birgit Lorenz Knut Schubert
1983	East Berlin			Babette Preußler Torsten Ohlow
1984	Karl-Marx-Stadt			Babette Preußler Tobias Schröter
1985	East Berlin	Birgit Lorenz Knut Schubert	Manuela Landgraf Ingo Steuer	Peggy Seidel Ralf Seifert
1986	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Katrin Kanitz Tobias Schröter	Birgit Lorenz Knut Schubert
1987	East Berlin		Antje Schramm Jens Müller	Peggy Schwarz Alexander König
1988	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Peggy Schwarz Alexander König	Mandy Wötzel Axel Rauschenbach	No other competitors
1989	East Berlin	Mandy Wötzel Axel Rauschenbach	Angela Caspary Marno Kreft	Ines Müller Ingo Steuer
1990	Karl-Marx-Stadt

Ice dance

Kati Winkler and René Lohse originally trained in single skating, but switched to ice dance after an injury prevented Winkler from executing the necessary jumps. In an interview, Lohse stated: "It was a hard time, because for 18 years, there was no ice dancing in East Germany and we were the first who started it again." ^[7]

Ice dance event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1949–53	No ice dance competitions until 1954				[2]
1954	East Berlin	Ingelore Gotsch Heinz Kuhrüber	Therese Geidel Heinz Lindner	Vera Lampe-Kuhrüber Horst Kuhrüber
1955	Geising	Therese Geidel Heinz Lindner	Ingelore Gotsch Heinz Kuhrüber	No other competitors
1956	Rostock		No other competitors
1957	East Berlin	No competition held
1958–63	No ice dance competitors
1964	East Berlin	Annerose Baier Eberhard Rüger	Monika Ziemke Jochen Bode	Eva Marie Reuter Bernd Egert
1965
1966	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Norma Allwelt Michael Schmidt	Steffi Böhme Bernd Egert
1967
1968	East Berlin		Steffi Böhme Bernd Egert	Norma Allwelt Michael Schmidt
1969	Karl-Marx-Stadt		Norma Allwelt Michael Schmidt	Sylke Müller Peter Müller
1970	East Berlin		Sylke Müller Peter Müller	No other competitors
1971–89	No ice dance competitors
1990	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Kati Winkler René Lohse	No other competitors

Records

From left to right: Jan Hoffmann won nine East German Championship titles in men's singles; Gabriele Seyfert won ten East German Championship titles in women's singles; Heinz-Ulrich Walther won six East German Championship titles in pair skating, two of which were with Brigitte Wockoeck; and Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger won seven East German Championship titles in ice dance.

Records

Discipline	Most championship titles
	Skater(s)	No.	Years	Ref.
Men's singles	Jan Hoffmann	9	1971–74; 1976–80	[2]
Women's singles	Gabriele Seyfert	10	1961–70	[8]
Pairs	Heinz-Ulrich Walther [a]	6	1962; 1964; 1966–67; 1969–70	[2]
Ice dance	Annerose Baier Eberhard Rüger	7	1964–70	[9]

1. Heinz-Ulrich Walther won two championship titles while partnered with Brigitte Wokoeck (1962, 1964) and four with Heidemarie Steiner (1966–67, 1969–70).

References

1. Knowles, Chris (29 January 2014). "Germany 1945–1949: A case study in post-conflict reconstruction". History & Policy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
2. "DDR Eiskunstlauf Meisterschaften" [East German Figure Skating Championships]. Sport-record.de (in German). Archived from the original on 24 February 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
3. "Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands" [Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic on the Establishment of German Unity]. Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz) (in German). 31 August 1990. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
4. "Deutsche Meisterschaften 1891–2000 – Gold Medalists". The Figure Skating Corner. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
5. "Alle drei Meistertitel an Dynamo-Eiskunstläufer" [All three championship titles go to Dynamo figure skaters]. Neues Deutschland (in German). 22 December 1974. p. 1.
6. Bird, Dennis L. (March 1974). "Foreign Ice" (PDF). Skating . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2025. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
7. Mittan, Barry (15 March 2003). "Germany's Winkler and Lohse Continue to Excel". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
8. "Gabriele Seyfert". Sports-Reference.com . Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
9. "Eiskunstlauf-Stars aus Chemnitz/Karl-Marx-Stadt" [Figure Skating Stars from Chemnitz/Karl-Marx-Stadt]. Schlossberg Museum (in German). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

External links

• The Deutscher Eissport-Verband and the Berlin Wall at Skate Guard