Sports Physician - Athlete 1908

1908

German Max Danz (1908-2000) was a member of gymnastics club TG Kassel in the 1920s and later moved to Hessen Kassel. In that period he was also one of the best 400 and 800m runners in Germany. At the 1930 Universiade he finished third in the 800m after having won three German titles. In 1932 he competed in the 800 metres at the Olympics in Los Angeles, but he had to pay for the trip himself. However, an Achilles tendon rupture caused him to forfeit. His sport career ended in 1934. He studied Medicine at the Universities of Berlin and Marburg where he graduated in 1937. He specialized in internal medicine and accepted a position in Berlin. During World War II he was summoned by the Wehrmacht and ended up imprisoned. In 1945 he returned from captivity and set up a private practice in Kassel. The following year he organized the first post-war German athletics championships. He is one of the founding members of the German Olympic Committee and the Deutscher Sport Bund. From 1952 to 1976 he was Chief of Mission of the West German Olympic Teams.

1908

Dutch bobsledder Sam Dunlop (1908-1977) won the silver medal in the two-man event at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He graduated from the University of Leiden and specialized in Medical Microbiology. He worked at the Red Cross hospital Westeinde in The Hague, but in 1975 he became director and bacteriologist at the Bacteriological Regional Laboratory in Goes. He died of lung cancer two years after his appointment.

1908

Dutch rower Godfried Röell (1908-1934) competed in the coxless pairs, together with Pieter Roelofsen (1908-1966),  at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Roëll and Roelofsen won the European title in 1931. He graduated as a medical doctor but at the age of 25 he died in a motorcycle accident.

1908

Gustav Schürger (1908-1969) (on the photo left) was part of the German waterpolo team which won the silver medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He played six matches including the final.  In 1934 his team also won the silver medal at the European Championships. He collected 32 caps. He played for Bayer 07 Nürnberg. After graduating, he established himself as a general practitioner in Nürnberg. During a bombardment at the front during World War II, as a field physician he was so severely injured that he remained blind. After the war he continued his general practice with the help of an asistent until his youngest son Walter (on the photo right) took over the practice in 1966.