Germany at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Germany at the
1896 Summer Olympics
Germany at the; 1896 Summer Olympics
	Flag of the German Empire
IOC code	GER
NOC	German Olympic Sports Confederation
Website	www.dosb.de (in German, English, and French)
in Athens, Greece ; April 6–15, 1896
Competitors	19 in 6 sports and 24 events
Medals ; Ranked 3rd	Gold6Silver5Bronze2Total13
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1896 ; 1900 ; 1904 ; 1908 ; 1912 ; 1920–1924; 1928 ; 1932 ; 1936 ; 1948; 1952 ; 1956–1988; 1992 ; 1996 ; 2000 ; 2004 ; 2008 ; 2012 ; 2016 ; 2020 ; 2024 ;
Other related appearances
	1906 Intercalated Games; –––– Saar (1952); United Team of Germany (1956–1964); East Germany (1968–1988); West Germany (1968–1988)

Last updated September 13, 2025

Germany competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Germans were the third most successful nation in terms of both gold medals (6 plus 1 as part of a mixed team) and total medals (13). Gymnastics was the sport in which Germany excelled. The German team had 19 athletes. The Germans had 75 entries in 26 events (of which 48 entries were in the 8 gymnastics events), taking 13 medals.

Medalists

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded. Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Gold	Alfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's parallel bars	April 10
Gold	Conrad Böcker , Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow, Georg Hilmar, Fritz Hofmann, Fritz Manteuffel, Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft, Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars	April 9
Gold	Conrad Böcker , Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow, Georg Hilmar, Fritz Hofmann, Fritz Manteuffel, Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft, Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's team horizontal bar	April 9
Gold	Carl Schuhmann	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9
Gold	Friedrich Traun	Tennis	Men's doubles	April 9
Gold	Carl Schuhmann	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman	April 11
Silver	Fritz Hofmann	Athletics	Men's 100 m	April 10
Silver	August von Gödrich	Cycling	Men's road race	April 12
Silver	Alfred Flatow	Gymnastics	Men's horizontal bar	April 9
Silver	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's pommel horse	April 9
Silver	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's rings	April 9
Bronze	Fritz Hofmann	Gymnastics	Men's rope climbing	April 10
Bronze	Hermann Weingärtner	Gymnastics	Men's vault	April 9

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Gymnastics	5	3	2	10
Wrestling	1	0	0	1
Athletics	0	1	0	1
Cycling	0	1	0	1
Total	6	5	2	13

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Name	Medal	Sport	Event
Carl Schuhmann	Gold Gold Gold Gold	Gymnastics Wrestling	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar Men's vault Men's Greco-Roman
Hermann Weingärtner	Gold Gold Gold Silver Silver Bronze	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar Men's horizontal bar Men's pommel horse Men's rings Men's vault
Alfred Flatow	Gold Gold Gold Silver	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar Men's parallel bars Men's horizontal bar
Fritz Hofmann	Gold Gold Silver Bronze	Gymnastics Athletics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar 100 m Men's rope climbing
Conrad Böcker	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Gustav Flatow	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Georg Hillmar	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Fritz Manteuffel	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Karl Neukirch	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Richard Röstel	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar
Gustav Schuft	Gold Gold	Gymnastics	Men's team parallel bars Men's team horizontal bar

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Sport	Men	Total
Athletics	5	5
Cycling	3	3
Gymnastics	11	11
Tennis	1	1
Weightlifting	1	1
Wrestling	1	1
Total	19^[1]	19

Medals by day
Day	Date				Total
1	6 April	0	0	0	0
2	7 April	0	0	0	0
3	8 April	0	0	0	0
4	9 April	4	3	1	8
5	10 April	1	1	1	3
6	11 April	1	0	0	1
7	12 April	0	1	0	1
8	13 April	0	0	0	0
Total		6	5	2	13

Athletics

Hofmann's silver medal in the 100 metres was the only medal earned by the German athletes, though they finished 4th or 5th an additional 4 times. Alfred Flatow was entered in the 100 metres but did not start.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Kurt Doerry	100 m	Unknown	4	Did not advance
Alfred Flatow		DNS		Did not advance
Fritz Hofmann		12.6	2 Q	12.2
Friedrich Traun		13.5	3	Did not advance
Kurt Doerry	400 m	Unknown	3−4	Did not advance
Fritz Hofmann		58.6	2 Q	56.7	4
Friedrich Traun		DNS		Did not advance
Kurt Doerry	800 m	DNS		Did not advance
Fritz Hofmann		DNS		Did not advance
Friedrich Traun		2:13.4	3	Did not advance
Carl Galle	1500 m	—		4:39.0	4
Kurt Doerry	110 m hurdles	Unknown	3−4	Did not advance
Fritz Hofmann		DNS		Did not advance
Friedrich Traun		DNS		Did not advance
Carl Galle	Marathon	—		DNS

Field events

Athlete	Event	Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position
Conrad Böcker	High jump	DNS
Kurt Doerry		DNS
Alfred Flatow		DNS
Gustav Flatow		DNS
Carl Galle		DNS
Fritz Hofmann		1.55	5
Fritz Manteuffel		DNS
Gustav Schuft		DNS
Carl Schuhmann		DNS
Friedrich Traun		DNS
Kurt Doerry	Pole vault	DNS
Alfred Flatow		DNS
Gustav Flatow		DNS
Carl Galle		DNS
Fritz Hofmann		DNS
Fritz Manteuffel		DNS
Karl Neukirch		DNS
Carl Schuhmann		DNS
Friedrich Traun		DNS
Hermann Weingärtner		DNS
Kurt Doerry	Long jump	DNS
Alfred Flatow		DNS
Carl Galle		DNS
Fritz Hofmann		DNS
Friedrich Traun		DNS
Carl Schuhmann		5.70	8
Hermann Weingärtner		DNS
Alfred Flatow	Triple jump	DNS
Fritz Hofmann		Unknown	6−7
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	5
Friedrich Traun		DNS
Conrad Böcker	Shot put	DNS
Alfred Flatow		DNS
Fritz Hofmann		10.00	5−7
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	5−7
Hermann Weingärtner		DNS
Carl Schuhmann	Discus throw	DNS

Cycling

Track

Athlete	Event	Time / Distance	Rank
Theodor Leupold	Men's time trial	27.0	5
Joseph Rosemeyer	Men's time trial	27.2	8
Joseph Rosemeyer	Men's sprint	DNF
Joseph Rosemeyer	10 km	Unknown	4
Bernard Knubel	100 km	DNF
Theodor Leupold		DNF
Joseph Rosemeyer		DNF
Joseph Welzenbacher		DNF
Joseph Welzenbacher	Men's 12 hour race	DNF

Road

Athlete	Event	Time
August von Gödrich	Men's road race	3:42:18
Bernard Knubel		DNS
Theodor Leupold		DNS
Fritz Manteuffel		DNS
Joseph Rosemeyer		DNS
Joseph Welzenbacher		DNS

Gymnastics

Germany dominated the gymnastics program, taking 5 of the 8 gold medals and medalling in each event.

Team

Athlete	Event	Result	Rank
Conrad Böcker Alfred Flatow Gustav Flatow Georg Hilmar Fritz Hofmann Fritz Manteuffel Karl Neukirch Richard Röstel Gustav Schuft Carl Schuhmann Hermann Weingärtner	Men's team parallel bars	Unknown
Conrad Böcker Alfred Flatow Gustav Flatow Georg Hilmar Fritz Hofmann Fritz Manteuffel Karl Neukirch Richard Röstel Gustav Schuft Carl Schuhmann Hermann Weingärtner	Men's team horizontal bar	Unknown

Individual

Athlete	Event	Result	Rank
Conrad Böcker	Men's vault	Unknown	4−15
Alfred Flatow		Unknown	4−15
Gustav Flatow		Unknown	4−15
Georg Hilmar		Unknown	4−15
Fritz Manteuffel		Unknown	4−15
Karl Neukirch		Unknown	4−15
Richard Röstel		Unknown	4−15
Gustav Schuft		Unknown	4−15
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown
Hermann Weingärtner		Unknown
Conrad Böcker	Men's pommel horse	Unknown	3−15
Alfred Flatow		Unknown	3−15
Gustav Flatow		Unknown	3−15
Georg Hilmar		Unknown	3−15
Fritz Manteuffel		Unknown	3−15
Karl Neukirch		Unknown	3−15
Richard Röstel		Unknown	3−15
Gustav Schuft		Unknown	3−15
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	3−15
Hermann Weingärtner		Unknown
Conrad Böcker	Men's rings	Unknown	6−8
Alfred Flatow		Unknown	6−8
Gustav Flatow		Unknown	6−8
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	5
Hermann Weingärtner		Unknown
Conrad Böcker	Men's horizontal bar	Unknown	3−15
Alfred Flatow		Unknown
Gustav Flatow		Unknown	3−15
Georg Hilmar		Unknown	3−15
Fritz Manteuffel		Unknown	3−15
Karl Neukirch		Unknown	3−15
Richard Röstel		Unknown	3−15
Gustav Schuft		Unknown	3−15
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	3−15
Hermann Weingärtner		Unknown
Conrad Böcker	Men's parallel bars	Unknown	3−18
Alfred Flatow		Unknown
Gustav Flatow		Unknown	3−18
Georg Hilmar		Unknown	3−18
Fritz Manteuffel		Unknown	3−18
Karl Neukirch		Unknown	3−18
Richard Röstel		Unknown	3−18
Gustav Schuft		Unknown	3−18
Carl Schuhmann		Unknown	3−18
Hermann Weingärtner		Unknown	3−18
Fritz Hofmann	Men's rope climbing	12.5

Tennis

Traun was defeated by Boland in the first round of the singles tournament. The two entered the doubles tournament as a pair, winning the gold medal in that competition as part of a mixed team; that medal is not counted for Germany.

Athlete	Event	First round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Friedrich Traun	Singles	Boland (GBR) L 0–6, 6–2, 2–6	Did not advance			=8
Friedrich Traun (GER) John Boland (GBR)	Doubles	—	Akratopoulos / Akratopoulos (GRE)W	Bye	Kasdaglis / Petrokokkinos (GRE) W 5-7, 6-4, 6-1

Weightlifting

Schuhmann's lift was equal to that of the bronze medallist, but lifting form was used as a tie-breaker in the event.

Athlete	Event	Weight	Rank
Carl Schuhmann	Two hand lift	90.0	4

Wrestling

Schuhmann first faced Launceston Elliot, the one-handed lift weightlifting champion, defeating him fairly easily. He received a bye in the semifinals, to face Georgios Tsitas in the final match. That contest took two days, after it had been postponed on account of darkness 40 minutes into the first day. Schuhmann quickly won on the second morning.

Athlete	Event	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Carl Schuhmann	Men's Greco-Roman	Elliot (GBR) W	Bye	Tsitas (GRE) W

References

↑ Fritz Hofmann competed in athletics and gymnastics while Carl Schuhmann competed in athletics, gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling, and Friedrich Traun competed in athletics and tennis
↑ Butler, Maynard. The Olympic Games. In Mallon & Widlund, pp. 37–41.
↑ Ekkehard zur Megede : The history of Olympic athletics. Volume 1: 1896-1936. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970.
↑ "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary . Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.

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[Hoffman-1] Fritz Hofmann competed in athletics and gymnastics while Carl Schuhmann competed in athletics, gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling, and Friedrich Traun competed in athletics and tennis

[Butler-2] Butler, Maynard. The Olympic Games. In Mallon & Widlund, pp. 37–41.

[Megede-3] Ekkehard zur Megede : The history of Olympic athletics. Volume 1: 1896-1936. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970.

[Olympedia100m-4] "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

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