Ringerhalle_Hermann_Fischer_Namensschild_tom

Hermann Fischer (18 January 1912 in Asch,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now

Aš Aš (; ) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Aš consists of nine municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Aš (11, ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) – 23 November 1984 in

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) was a German athlete and Communist resistance fighter against

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

Life

His parents, a round knitter and his wife, moved from Asch to

Apolda Apolda () is a town in central Thuringia, Germany, the capital of the Weimarer Land district. It is situated in the center of the triangle Weimar–Jena–Naumburg near the river Ilm, c. east by north from Weimar. Apolda station lies on the Ha ...

in 1914, where he attended the

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

. His early recognizable tendency to woodwork made him take on the profession of a carpenter. Already as a youth, he worked as a wrestler in the Apolda sports clubs "Blau-Gold" and "Olympia". During the period of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, he joined the

Rote Hilfe The Rote Hilfe ("Red Aid") was the German affiliate of the International Red Aid. The Rote Hilfe was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany and existed between 1924 and 1936. Its purpose was to provide help to those Communists who had bee ...

, the German branch of the

International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR) was an international social-service organization. MOPR was founded in 1922 by the Communist International to function as an "international political Red Cross", providing ma ...

. When the sports associations were banned in 1933, he secretly continued to train. In the same year, he was imprisoned for several weeks because of political resistance. From 1935 onward, he belonged to the regional resistance group Brümmer-Kleine. In 1936 he was condemned to two years in a House of correction with loss of honor. He spent his time in the " Roter Ochse" of Halle. After his dismissal, he continued to work for the Red Aid, and was arrested again in 1941 and was forced into the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

, where he had to work in the quarry, weighing only 40 kg. After being liberated from the concentration camp, he was recognized as a persecutor of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

(VdN). He joined the KPD and organized the Apolda Criminal Police, and then took over the management of a dispossessed room operator. From 1947 to 1953, he belonged to the wrestling national team of the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

. Since 1951, he worked as a sports and trainer 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 ...

Artern Artern () is a town in the Kyffhäuserkreis district, Thuringia, Germany. The former municipalities Heygendorf and Voigtstedt were merged into Artern in January 2019. Geography Artern is situated at the confluence of the rivers Unstrut and H ...

, and

Leuna Leuna () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle, on the river Saale. The town is known for the ''Leuna works, Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes i ...

, where he trained young recruits for the GDR national wrestling team. His son Lothar also became a successful wrestler, who won a bronze medal for the GDR in

1958 World Wrestling Championships The 1958 World Wrestling Championships, World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship was held in Budapest, Hungary from 24 to 27 July 1958. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary References External linksUWW Database
{{World Wrestling Ch ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In 1968, he and Hans Bachmann were appointed as the chief trainers of the team. In 1970, he had to give up his professional activities because of illness, but he continued to volunteer for sports.

Services

* 1949 in

Zella-Mehlis Zella-Mehlis is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, approximately 5km north of Suhl and 20km east of Meiningen. History Two of Germany's most notable firearm manufactu ...

2nd place at the German championship in the Greco-Roman-style as flyweight.

Honors

* Verdienter Meister des Sports * Ehrennadel des DTSB der DDR in Gold * Ehrennadel des Ringerverbandes der DDR in Gold * Medaille „Kämpfer gegen den Faschismus“ * Verleihung seines Namens am 7. Oktober 1986 an die Trainingshalle der Apoldaer Ringer

References

Literature

* Udo Wohlfeld, Peter Franz: ''Das Netz. Die

Konzentrationslager From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately after Adolf Hit ...

in Thüringen 1933–1937.'' Weimar 2000, . 1912 births 1984 deaths People from Aš German Bohemian people Communist Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany members German male sport wrestlers Buchenwald concentration camp survivors 20th-century German sportsmen {{Germany-martialart-bio-stub