Maxi Herber (8 October 1920 – 20 October 2006) was a German

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

who competed in

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

and

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport conteste ...

. She remains the youngest figure skating Olympic champion (at the age of 15 years and 128 days) from when she won gold in pair skating together with Ernst Baier at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

. Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Herber was also an accomplished single skater, winning the German nationals three times, from 1933 to 1935. She skated for the Münchner EV (Munich EV) club. Skating with Baier, she won seven national titles, five European titles, and four World titles, in addition to their Olympic gold. Herber later sold her Olympic gold medal and donated the money to survivors of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. The pair performed several side-by-side jumps, including side-by-side Axel jumps at the 1934 Championships, likely the first side-by-side Axels competed by a pair at an ISU championship. They also developed a 'Baier lift', which was similar to a twist lift but lacking a release of Herber into the air. Herber and Baier married after their skating career ended in 1940. They had three children. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they skated in ice shows; they created their own, which was later sold to Holiday on Ice. In 1964 they were divorced. She worked as a coach, then supported by public welfare and the "Deutsche Sporthilfe" (German Sport help organisation), she moved to Oberau near

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Some years later Herber and Baier remarried, but they divorced again. Herber suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. In 2000, she moved to the Lenzheim retirement home in

, where she held an exhibition of her

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

paintings. She died in 2006 at age 86.

Results

(ladies singles) (pairs with Ernst Baier)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herber, Maxi 1920 births 2006 deaths German female pair skaters German female single skaters Figure skaters at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Germany Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Figure skaters from Munich 20th-century German sportswomen