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Hans von Tschammer und Osten

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Hans von Tschammer und Osten
Reich Sports Leader
In office
19 July 1933 – 25 March 1943
LeaderAdolf Hitler
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byArno Breitmeyer
Personal details
Born(1887-10-25)25 October 1887
Dresden,Kingdom of Saxony,Germany
Died25 March 1943(1943-03-25)(aged 55)
Berlin,Germany
Cause of deathPneumonia
Political partyNazi Party
SpouseSophie Margarethe von Zimmermann
Military service
AllegianceGerman Empire
Weimar Republic
Branch/serviceRoyal Saxon Army
Reichswehr
Years of service1914–1920
RankHauptmann
Unit6th Royal Saxon Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsIron Cross,1st and 2nd class

Hans von Tschammer und Osten(25 October 1887 – 25 March 1943) was a German sport official,SAleader and a member of theReichstagfor theNazi PartyofNazi Germany.He was married to Sophie Margarethe von Carlowitz.

Hans von Tschammer und Osten led the German Sports OfficeDeutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen(DRA) "German Reich Commission for Physical Exercise" after theNazi seizure of powerin 1933. In July the same year Hans von Tschammer was granted the title ofReichssportführer,"Reich Sports Leader", and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his control. He re-established the organization he led, transforming it into the Sports governing body of theThird Reich,Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen(DRL) "Sports League of the German Reich". In December 1938 it was renamedNationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen"National-Socialist Sports League of the German Reich". Von Tschammer held the high-profile post ofReichssportführeruntil his death in 1943.

The name of today'sDFB-Pokal,Deutscher Fußball-Bund-Pokal"German Football-Federation Cup", first contested in the 1934-35 season during von Tschammer's tenure asReichssportführer,was known asHans von Tschammer und Osten-Pokal( "Tschammerpokal" ) until it was last played in Nazi Germany in 1943. Many other innovative improvements regarding the organization of sports events that von Tschammer's formidable Reich Sports Organ introduced, like theOlympic torch relay,are still in use today.

Early life

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Hans von Tschammer und Osten andWilhelm Frickat theDeutsches Turn- und Sportfestin 1938.

Hans von Tschammer und Osten was born in a family oflanded gentry.After receiving a traditional upper-class education he went to fight at the front as an officer with the 6th Royal Saxon Infantry Regiment in theFirst World War.He was severely wounded in October 1914, resulting in the permanent paralysis of his right hand. He continued to serve in staff positions throughout the war, earning theIron Cross,1st and 2nd class. Leaving theReichswehrin 1920 with the rank ofHauptmann,he returned to civilian life and became the agricultural manager on his ancestral estate. From 1923 to 1926 von Tschammer became the leader in Saxony of theYoung German Order,one of the largestparamilitarygroups in theWeimar Republic.[1]

Nazi Party career

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In 1929 he joined theNazi Partyand became a member of the Party's paramilitary organization, theSA,with the rank of SA-Standartenführer.In March 1932 he took over the leadership of the SA-Gruppe Mitte(Center Group) headquartered inDessauand was promoted to SA-Gruppenführer.[2]At theJuly 1932 German federal election,von Tschammer und Osten won a seat as a member of the GermanReichstagfrom electoral constituency 10 (Magdeburg). He would remain aReichstagdeputy until his death.[3]

AfterAdolf Hitler's accession to power, von Tschammer was namedReichskommissar für Turnen und Sport(Reich Commissioner for Gym and Sports) of the German Sports OfficeDeutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen(DRA) in April 1933. Although he had been a relatively unknown figure in German sports, von Tschammer saw as his goal the use of sports"to improve the morale and productivity of German workers."Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities.[4]

Von Tschammer disbanded the DRA, branded as a "bourgeoisentity ", on 5 May 1933 (officially 10 May). He was then elevated toReichssportführeron 19 July and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his control. In January 1934, he was named the head of theSportamt(Sports Office) ofStrength Through Joy,the Nazi recreational organization. He replaced the DRA with a Nazi-oriented organization, theDeutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen(DRL) on 27 July 1934, to serve as the official sports governing body of Nazi Germany.

Von Tschammer was an active and able promoter of sports in Nazi Germany. He instituted the present-day German Football-Federation Cup. He also commissioned the publication ofSport und Staat(Sports and State), a massive four-volumeNazi propagandareport on the organized sports activities in the Third Reich.Sport und Staatwas made by Arno Breitmeyer and Hitler's personal photographerHeinrich Hoffmann.This lavishly illustrated work had many pictures and information about the various Nazi organizations, i.e.SA,NSKK,Bund Deutscher Mädel,Hitler Jugend,etc. Printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds, a branch of the DRL, only volume one and two of a planned series of four volumes were published.[5]

The aims of the promotion of sports in the Third Reich included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of a wider national purpose. This was in line with the ideals ofFriedrich Ludwig Jahn,the "Father of physical exercises", who connected the steeling of one's own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified, strong Germany.[6]A more controversial aim was the demonstration ofAryan physical superiority.[7]Under von Tschammer's leadership, German Jewish athletes were systematically hindered by being denied adequate facilities and the opportunity to compete.[8] Hans von Tschammer und Osten enjoyed the Nazi sports festivals in which he took a keen interest as organizer. He appears often as a spectator in a white suit during the massive displays of Nazi pageantry.[9]

On 17 August 1936, von Tschammer was appointed to thePrussian State Councilby PrussianMinister PresidentHermann Göring.[10]The 1936Summer OlympicsinBerlinwere held during von Tschammer's tenure asReichssportführerand President of the German Olympic Committee. He played a major role in the structure and organization of the Olympic Games together withCarl Diem,who was the former secretary of the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA).[11]Von Tschammer entrusted the organization of theFourth Winter OlympicsinGarmisch-PartenkirchentoKarl Ritter von Halt,whom he named President of the Committee for the organization of the games. Von Tschammer would be later blamed by historians for enforcing a ban on non-Aryansin Germany's Olympic team, a fact that was condemned internationally as a violation of the Olympic ethical code.[12]But it is doubtful that he was the only one of the NSRL leaders behind that decision.

Despite his major role in the Olympics and in the world of sports of his time, von Tschammer never became a member of theInternational Olympic Committee(IOC), a post he craved. In 1937 Karl Ritter von Halt was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the IOC instead of him. In January 1937, he was made head of the Sports and Physical Exercise Department in theReich Ministry of the Interiorand, in 1938, he was given the rank ofState Secretarythere.[13]The same year he was promoted to SA-Obergruppenführer.However, von Tschammer's influence began rapidly eroding, as war preparations diminished the influence of sports in Nazi Germany in favour ofmilitarism.

Von Tschammer would never see the end of the organization he had led for so long, nor Germany's defeat inWorld War II,for he died frompneumoniainBerlinin 1943.[14]The assets he left behind were negligible for a man of his position.[15]Von Tschammer was succeeded asReichssportführerbyArno Breitmeyer.

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^Zentner, Christian; Bedürftig, Friedemann, eds. (1997) [1991].The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich.New York: Da Capo Press. p. 970.ISBN978-0-306-80793-0.
  2. ^Wistrich, Robert (1982).Who’s Who in Nazi Germany.Macmillan Publishing Co. p. 322.ISBN0-02-630600-X.
  3. ^Tschammer und Osten in the Reichstag Database
  4. ^Bruce Campbell,The SA Generals and the Rise of Nazism
  5. ^'Sport und Staat
  6. ^Turnverein Riesel, HistoryArchived24 July 2011 at theWayback Machine
  7. ^Liz JewittHow successful was Nazi propaganda.
  8. ^Wistrich, Robert (1982).Who’s Who in Nazi Germany.Macmillan Publishing Co. p. 323.ISBN0-02-630600-X.
  9. ^Filmography:Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker(1938)
  10. ^Article 14: Völkische Beobachter 18 August 1936
  11. ^"Der" politische Sturm "um Carl Diem als Leiter der Sporthochschule Köln".Archived fromthe originalon 14 June 2011.Retrieved4 November2008.
  12. ^"The History Place; Triumph of Hitler".Archived fromthe originalon 11 September 2012.Retrieved6 November2008.
  13. ^Article 15: Berliner Börsen-Zeitung 22 December 1936 and Article 26: Frankfurter Zeitung 27 March 1943
  14. ^Hitler's Olympics: The Story of the 1936 Nazi Games
  15. ^Dieter Steinhöfer,Hans von Tschammer und Osten; Reichssportführer im Dritten Reich
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