Gottlieb Polak

Gottlieb Polak (13 January 1883 in

Kladruby nad Labem Kladruby nad Labem is a municipality and village in Pardubice District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. It is known as the home of the Kladruber horse breed. The village with the surrounding landscape is ...

– 5 July 1942 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was Chief Rider and Riding Master of the

Spanish Riding School The Spanish Riding School () is an Austrian institution based in Vienna, dedicated to the preservation of classical dressage and the training of Lipizzaner horses, whose performances in the Hofburg are also a tourist attraction. The leading hor ...

during the 1930s, serving until his death in 1942. Polak was a multitalented individual who played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

as well as being an extremely talented rider, described as having a gift for working with

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s that occurs only rarely throughout history. Polak was born in

. He was the son of an employee (''Hofgestütsbeamter'') of the Kladrub Court stud, and developed a great fondness for horses from an early age. When he was a young man, his love for horses was so great that he dropped out of the Music Academy in Prague after a year and in 1900 became a pupil at the Kladruber Stables. In 1902, he entered the Imperial "Marstall" in Vienna. After military service with the 11th Lancers in

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

from 1904 to 1907, he was transferred, in 1908, to the Campaign Riding School (''Hofstallungen'') in Vienna, where he served

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassination in Sarajevo was the ...

as one of his many duties. In his twenties, Polak showed extraordinary riding talent. In 1917, he was admitted to the Spanish Riding School as a student (''Reitskolar''). In 1920 he was promoted to the rank of Rider (''Bereiter''), then in 1927 to Chief Rider (''Oberbereiter'') and in 1941, replacing Wenzel Zrust, to First Chief Rider (''Erster Oberbereiter''). His work was further recognized by the school with his promotion to Riding Master (''Reitmeister''). He was the first person to serve in this newly created position. Polak's outstanding

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

skills were honored with the award of the German Riding Badge in Gold and the Swedish

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

. His most famous student was

Alois Podhajsky Alois Podhajsky (24 February 1898 – 23 May 1973) was an Austrian soldier and equestrian, riding instructor and Olympic medal-winner in dressage. He was the director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria and competed at the 193 ...

, who later became Director of the school. Podhajsky trained at the Riding School before he participated in

Dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

at the

1936 Olympic Games 1936 Olympics may refer to: *The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany *The 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin, Germany {{Short pages monitor