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See Also: Germany at the Winter Olympics Athletes from Germany (GER) have appeared in only 22 of the 25 editions of the ''' Summer Olympic Games ''' as they were not invited to three events after the World Wars, in 1920, 1924 and 1948. Germany hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin , and the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich . The nation appeared 12 times as a single country (IOC code GER), before World War II and again after German Reunification in 1990. Three times, from 1956 to 1964, German athletes from the separate states in West and East competed as a United Team Of Germany , which is currently listed by the IOC as EUA, not GER. Due to partition under occupation that resulted in three post-war German states, German athletes took part seven times for the contemporary states they lived in, in 1952, and from 1968 to 1988. The all-time results of German athletes are thus divided among the designations GER, EUA, FRG, GDR and also SAA (which only took part in the 1952 Summer games and won no medal). TIMELINE OF GERMANY AT THE SUMMER OLYMPICS 1896 - 1912 Germany entered all Olympic Games starting in 1896, even though the relations between the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the French Third Republic where Pierre De Coubertin revived Olympic games and held the 1900 Summer Olympics , were strained following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The overall medals ranks varied from 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th to 7th. The worst result, 7th overall, occurred in Paris in 1900. The German gymnasts were judged no better than 53rd in The Single Gymnastic Contest organized by the French, behind dozens of Frenchmen which occupied the first 18 places and thus won all 3 medals. In contrast, the Gymnastics At The 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens had seen 8 contests, with Germans scoring 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze. The anticipated 1916 Summer Olympics , which were to be officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were to have been held in Germany's capital, Berlin . At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, organization continued, as no one foresaw the war dragging on for four years. Eventually, though, the games were canceled. 1920 - 1948 After World War I, the German Empire became a republic informally known as Weimar Republic , a change which was reflected in a new Flag Of Germany that in fact was older than the former one, dating back to early 19th century democratic movements. In the Paris Peace Conference , the outbreak of the war was blamed on Germany and other Central Powers allies. These nations, which by now had new governments, were banned from the 1920 Summer Olympics . While all other banned nations were invited again for the 1924 Summer Olympics , held for the second time in Pierre De Coubertin 's home town of Paris, the ban on Germany was not lifted until 1925. This was likely related to French Occupation Of The Ruhr and the Rheinland between 1923 and 1925. After 16 years of absence, a new generation of German athletes returned in the 1928 Summer Olympics , scoring 2nd overall in a convincing comeback. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, fewer than half the number of participants from the 1928 Games appeared in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Winning only 3 Gold, the German team was ranked as low as 9th, even though they were joint 2nd in Silver medals, with 12. Already in spring of 1931 it had been decided that the 1936 Summer Olympics were to be held in Berlin, 20 years later than planned. From 1933 onwards, Germany became known as Nazi Germany , the change being marked also by the use of the Nazi party flag. In the games, the 348 German athletes not only outnumbered the 310 Americans, but outscored them for the first time in the medal count in which Germany ranked first. Also, German gymnasts Konrad Frey and Alfred Schwarzmann won the most medals, with 6 and 5 in total, of which 3 each were Gold, while American Jesse Owens had scored 4 Gold. Leni Riefenstahl documented the games in the film '' Olympia ''. The 1940 Summer Olympics as well as the 1944 Summer Olympics had to be canceled due to World War II . For the 1948 Summer Olympics , with the war in recent memory, Germany and Japan were not invited. SEPARATE GERMAN TEAMS 1952 - 1988 A United Team Of Germany with athletes from two states appeared three times at the Olympic games from 1958 to 1964. The IOC currently does not attribute these results to Germany (GER), but lists them separately for a "Equipe Unifie Allemande" (EUA). Before that, in the 1952 games, only athletes from the Western part of Germany took part, representing the Federal Republic Of Germany (FRG), which as the only independent democratic state, covering the largest part of Germany, claimed Exclusive Mandate to represent all of Germany. In the 1952 Summer games, also German athletes from the Saarland (SAA) took part. They had to field a separate team as the French-occupied state could join the democratic Federal Republic of Germany only after 1955. Athletes from the the Soviet-occupied German Democratic Republic (GDR) appeared in a separate team after the United Team effort was discontinued. In five events, from 1968 to 1980 and in 1988, they represented the GDR rather successfully before the East German states joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, and the GDR ceased to exist. Since 1990, the enlarged Federal Republic of Germany is simply called Germany (GER). The six participations in 1952, 1968 to 1976, 1984 to 1988 are still listed by the IOC under FRG, though, and not attributed to GER. In the 1980s, each of the two states participated once in the multinational boycotts of Summer games. Many western countries including the Federal Republic of Germany boycotted the Moscow games in 1980 due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In turn, communist bloc states including the GDR boycotted Los Angeles in 1984. Thus, only one German team was present in each of these tow events. FRG (West Germany) The Federal Republic Of Germany (FRG), often called ''' West Germany ''', was founded in 1949 as the largest of the three German states formed under occupation after the division of Germany following World War II . The West German NOC continued the tradition of the German NOC that had joined the IOC in 1895, and continued to represent the Germany that was enlarged after the Saar Protectorate (SAA) joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956, and after the states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( East Germany ) had joined in the process of German Reunification in 1990. German teams competed in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games designated as FRG and SAA. In Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964, German athletes competed as United Team Of Germany (EUA), but the two states sent independent teams designated as FRG and GDR after that for five Games between 1968 and 1988 until the separate East German state ceased to exist. United Team of Germany 1956-1964 After three German states had been founded in Germany under occupation after World War II , athletes from the Federal Republic Of Germany (FRG, West Germany ) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany ) competed together as the United Team of Germany (EUA for , ) in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympics . Prior to that, German athletes from West Germany and the French-occupied Saarland took part in the 1952 Summer Olympics organized in different teams designated as FRG and SAA. The Saarland joined the Federal Republic after 1955, while the East German authorities, which had not taken part in 1952, agreed in 1956 to let their athletes compete in a united team that used the black-red-gold Tricolour Flag Of Germany , but with additional Olympic Rings in white placed upon the red middle stripe as East German politicians were eager not to compete under the traditional plain German flag used both by West Germany and even themselves. Only in 1959, the GDR added socialist symbols to create a distinct Flag Of East Germany . As the use of the Deutschlandlied , dating back to 1841 and 1797, of the recently created East German anthem, or of possible combinations was also rejected, Beethoven's melody to Schiller's Ode an die Freude ( Ode To Joy ) was played for winning German athletes as a compromise in lieu of a National Anthem . During the Games of 1956, 1960 and 1964 the traditional abbrevation GER for Germany was used. At a later point, the IOC Code '''EUA''' (from the official French-language IOC designation, ''Equipe Unifiée Allemande'') was applied in hindsight for the United German Team to allow for the political circumstances during the German divide between 1949 and 1990, and the involvement of two National Olympic Committee s rather than only one. Despite initially calling for a "united Germany" in the East German Anthem , the socialist East German government intensified their separation in Germany, with the erection of the Berlin Wall in August of 1961 severely obstructing travel within Germany. The travel of athletes, e.g. to contests and training sites in the Alps, was limited due to fear of Republikflucht . As a result of this development, German athletes started in the 1968 Winter Olympics as separate West and East teams (using the IOC codes FRG and GDR, respectively), while still using the compromise flag and Beethoven anthem in that year. The separation was completed in 1972 with the use of separate flags and anthems. It continued until the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist after 1989, with their states joining the Federal Republic of Germany in the process of German Reunification in 1990. ALLTIME MEDAL COUNT See Also: Total Olympics medal count ATHLETICS CYCLING DIVING Germany first appeared in diving in 1904, the debut appearance of the sport. FENCING Germany first appeared in fencing in 1900, the second appearance of the sport. FIGURE SKATING Germany competed in the first Olympic figure skating competitions. GYMNASTICS HOCKEY Germany competed in the first Olympic field hockey tournament. ROWING RUGBY Germany took a silver medal in the first Olympic rugby competition, in 1900. SAILING SHOOTING SWIMMING TENNIS Friedrich Traun was defeated by British player John Pius Boland in the first round of the singles tournament, then paired with him as part of a Mixed Team to win the gold medal in the doubles tournament in 1896. That medal was not counted for Germany. WATER POLO WEIGHTLIFTING WRESTLING EXTERNAL LINKS |
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