Friedrich Adolf "Fritz" Traun (29 March 1876 – 11 July 1908) was a German athlete and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Born into a wealthy family, he participated in the 1896 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in men's doubles. He committed suicide after being accused of fathering a child out of wedlock.

Biography

Traun was born the son of a wealthy family from Hamburg in 1876. His father, Heinrich Traun (1838–1909), owned a natural rubber manufacturing company and later became senator at Hamburg from 1901 to 1908. In 1885, Fritz began studying chemistry at

Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

. In autumn of the same year, he participated in a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

competition between athletes from Berlin and Hamburg and won the race over a distance of half a mile. In 1896 Traun competed at the first modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Traun placed third in his preliminary heat of the 800 metres and did not advance to the final. He also participated in the tennis tournament. In the singles competition, Traun was defeated in the first round by

John Pius Boland John Mary Pius Boland (16 September 1870 – 17 March 1958) was an Irish Nationalist politician, and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliam ...

of Great Britain and Ireland, the eventual gold medallist. This put Traun in a six-way tie for eighth place in the field of thirteen men. For the doubles tournament, Traun and Boland partnered. They defeated the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

brothers Aristidis and Konstantinos Akratopoulos in the first round and had a bye for the semifinals. In the final, the pair defeated Greek-Egyptian Dimitrios Kasdaglis and

Demetrios Petrokokkinos Demetrios Stephen Petrokokkinos ( el, Δημήτριος Πετροκόκκινος, 17 April 1878 in Ilford (registered at birth in England as Demetrius Stephen Petrocochino) – 10 May 1942 in Cape Town) was a Greek tennis player. He ...

of Greece to give Traun his own gold medal. In 1897, Traun took part in a track-and-field competition at

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and was the first German to reach a length of over 6 meters in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

In 1899, Traun finished his studies with the degree of a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

. His thesis received the best possible mark, summa cum laude. After working as a scientist at the

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for two years, he decided to enter his father's company. In 1902, Traun made a business trip to the United States in order to visit the company's branch on Long Island. The following winter, he fell ill of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. Upon recommendation of Carl Schurz, Traun spent the spring of 1903 in a hotel at

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, before returning to Germany. As he did not fully recover from his illness, he mostly spent the following years at health spas in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

such as St. Moritz and Davos. In addition, he began to work as a sports journalist and tournament organizer. In 1906, he was the director of the German Tennis Championships at Hamburg, and its referee in 1907. In the same year, he met ''Friedel Preetorius'' (1884–1938), the daughter of the wealthy entrepreneur Wilhelm Preetorius from

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, during the

Kiel Week The Kiel Week (german: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in Europe, and also one of the largest Volksfeste in Germany, attracting ...

. The following March, both married at Hamburg, and in their honeymoon they drove as far as Algiers in Friedrich's car. After their return, the couple lived at the exclusive Park Hôtel Teufelsbrücke at Hamburg. On the morning of 11 July 1908, a young lady entered the hotel and claimed that she was also married to Traun and even had children by him. After meeting with Traun, he shot himself in the bathroom of his apartment. Neither the lady's identity nor the validity of her claim is known today. However, it seems very likely that she told the truth and Traun, facing a major social scandal at that time, killed himself. Friedrich's father Heinrich Traun adopted Friedel Preetorius who was already pregnant and gave birth to her daughter ''Lieselotte'' in February 1909. She later married Ludwig Strecker, owner of ''B. Schott's Söhne'' (today Schott Music). Friedrich Traun was buried in the family's grave at the

Ohlsdorf Cemetery Ohlsdorf Cemetery (german: Ohlsdorfer Friedhof or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemete ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Traun, Friedrich 1876 births 1908 suicides Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Tennis players at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century male tennis players Olympic athletes of Germany Olympic tennis players of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany German male sprinters German male tennis players Athletes from Hamburg Olympic medalists in tennis Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Suicides by firearm in Germany People from Wandsbek