Karl Schelenz (or Carl Schelenz, born 6 February 1890 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

; died 7 February 1956) was a German

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He is famous as the "father" of modern

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

Life

Schelenz worked as a sports teacher in

and in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

. As an author, he wrote books on the modern sport of

. In 1917 he, Erich Konigh, and Max Heiser published the first modern set of rules for handball on 29 October in

, which is seen as the date of birth of the sport. Schelenz modified the rules in 1919. In 1916 and in 1917, he was the German champion 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 gr ...

. He was third in the German championship in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. Schelenz was a member of the German sport team Berliner Turner-Verein von 1850 e. V. in Berlin.

Best marks

High jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

: 1.80 m, on 27 June 1920 in Stettin and on 4 July 1921 in Berlin *

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 gr ...

: 7.23 m, on 24 July 1921 in Berlin *

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

: 14.07 m, on 28 July 1921 in Hamburg *

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

: 39.22 m, on 29 May 1921 in Cologne

Works by Schelenz

* ''Das Handballspiel: Bearb. f. Theorie u. Praxis'' 1922 Deutsche Sportbehörde für Leichtathletik, Munich (as Carl Schelenz) * ''Deutschlands Olympiakämpfer 1928 in Wort u. Bild'' 1928 W. Limpert, Dresden (as Carl Schelenz) together with Karl Scharping * ''Lehrbuch des Handballspiels: Technik ; Taktik'' 1943 Limpert, Berlin (as Karl Schelenz) * ''Handball: Training und Leistung'' 1949 Antäus-Verlag, Lübeck (as Karl Schelenz)

External links

Welt des Sports: Geschichte des Handballspiels (German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schelenz, Karl German national athletics champions German male long jumpers German male high jumpers German male triple jumpers German male discus throwers German handball coaches Athletes from Berlin 1890 births 1956 deaths German schoolteachers