Germany competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 205 competitors, 173 men and 32 women, took part in 123 events in 18 sports.
Germany had not been invited to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain because of their role in World War II, and because their NOC restored in 1947 did not represent a recognized state yet, which was founded in 1949. Germany took part in the 1952 Winter Olympics, with the GDR declining to cooperate and form a United German team as required by the IOC, joining only in 1956 and later. On the other hand, the French-occupied Saar protectorate had to send a separate team, but could join for 1956. As a result, the team for the 1952 Summer Games was de facto representing West Germany.
This event marked the first time, and as of the 2024 Summer Olympics only time, Germany failed to win a gold medal in a Summer Olympics they competed in. As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Germany's 24 medals is the highest number of total medals won at an Olympic Games without winning a gold medal.
Medalists Medal Name Sport Event Helga Klein Ursula Knab Marga Petersen Maria Sander Athletics Women's 4 × 100 m Relay Karl Storch Athletics Men's Hammer Throw Marianne Werner Athletics Women's Shot Put Edgar Basel Boxing Men's Flyweight Otto Rothe Klaus Wagner Willi Büsing Equestrian Team Eventing Alfred Schwarzmann Gymnastics Men's Horizontal Bar Heinz Manchen Helmut Heinhold Helmut Noll Rowing Men's Coxed Pairs Heinz Ulzheimer Athletics Men's 800 m Maria Sander Athletics Women's 80 m Hurdles Herbert Schade Athletics Men's 5000 m Günther Steines Hans Geister Heinz Ulzheimer Karl-Friedrich Haas Athletics Men's 4 × 400 m Relay Werner Lueg Athletics Men's 1500 m Günther Heidemann Boxing Men's Welterweight Michael Scheuer Canoeing Men's K-1 10000 m Egon Drews Wilfried Soltau Canoeing Men's C-2 1000 m Egon Drews Wilfried Soltau Canoeing Men's C-2 10000 m Edi Ziegler Cycling Men's Road Race Werner Potzernheim Cycling Men's Sprint Günther Haase Diving Men's 10 m Platform Heinz Pollay Ida von Nagel Fritz Thiedemann Equestrian Team Dressage Fritz Thiedemann Equestrian Individual Jumping Willi Büsing Equestrian Individual Eventing Theodor Thomsen Erich Natusch Georg Nowka Sailing Dragon Class Herbert Klein Swimming Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Athletics
Boxing
Canoeing
Cycling
Road Competition Men's Individual Road Race (190.4 km) Edi Ziegler — 5:07:47.5 (→ Bronze Medal) Oskar Zeissner — 5:11:18.5 (→ 8th place) Paul Maue — 5:24:44.5 (→ 48th place) Walter Becker — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Track Competition Men's 1000 m Sprint Scratch Race Werner Potzernheim — Bronze Medal
Diving
Men AthleteEventPreliminaryFinalPointsRankPointsRankTotalRankHans Aderhold3 m springboard67.0911 Did not advanceWerner Sobeck66.7512 Did not advanceFritz Geyer10 m platform69.6410 Did not advanceGünther Haase75.413 Q65.903141.31Werner Sobeck64.2720 Did not advance
Equestrian
Fencing
Nine fencers, eight men and one woman, represented Germany in 1952.
Men's foil Norman Casmir Kurt Wahl Julius Eisenecker
Men's team foil Willy Fascher, Kurt Wahl, Norman Casmir, Julius Eisenecker, Siegfried Rossner
Men's épée Erwin Kroggel
Men's sabre Willy Fascher Hans Esser Richard Liebscher
Men's team sabre Siegfried Rossner, Willy Fascher, Hans Esser, Richard Liebscher
Women's foil Lilo Allgayer
Football
Gymnastics
Hockey
Modern pentathlon
Three male pentathletes represented Germany in 1952.
Individual Berthold Slupik Dietloff Kapp Adolf Harder
Team Berthold Slupik Dietloff Kapp Adolf Harder
Rowing
Germany had 21 male rowers participate in five out of seven rowing events in 1952.
Men's double sculls Waldemar Beck Gerhard Füßmann
Men's coxless pair Heinz Renneberg Heinz Eichholz
Men's coxed pair Heinz Manchen Helmut Heinhold Helmut Noll (cox)
Men's coxed four Günter Twiesselmann Klaus Schulze Heinz Beyer Gerd Vogeley Hans Joachim Wiemken (cox)
Men's eight Anton Reinartz Michael Reinartz Roland Freihoff Heinz Zünkler Peter Betz Stefan Reinartz Hans Betz Toni Siebenhaar Hermann Zander (cox)
Sailing
Shooting
Six shooters represented Germany in 1952.
25 m pistol Ludwig Leupold Paul Wehner
50 m pistol Fritz Krempel
50 m rifle, three positions Erich Spörer Albert Sigl
50 m rifle, prone Erich Spörer Albert Sigl
Trap Kurt Schöbel
Swimming
Men Ranks given are within the heat. AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankHeinz-Günther Lehmann1500 m freestyle 19:17.9 2 colspan=2 Did not advanceHerbert Klein200 m breaststroke 2:37.0 1 Q 2:37.0 1 Q 2:35.9
Women Ranks given are within the heat. AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankElisabeth Rechlin100 m freestyle 1:08.5 3 Q 1:08.5 8 Did not advanceVera Schäferkordt 1:10.9 5 Did not advanceElisabeth Rechlin400 m freestyle 5:38.0 4 Did not advanceErna Herbers100 m backstroke 1:23.1 7 colspan=2 Did not advanceGertrud Herrbruck 1:17.8 2 Q colspan=2 1:18.0 6Ursula Happe200 m breaststroke 3:02.7 2 Q 3:03.8 7 Did not advanceElisabeth RechlinVera SchäferkordtKati JansenGisela Jacob-ArendtVera Schäferkordt4 × 100 m freestyle relay 4:42.7 4 Q colspan=2 4:40.3 7
Water polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Men's flyweight Heini Weber
Men's bantamweight Ferdinand Schmitz
Men's featherweight Rolf Ellerbrock
Men's lightweight Heini Nettesheim
Men's welterweight Anton Mackowiak
Men's middleweight Gustav Gocke
Men's light-heavyweight Max Leichter
Men's heavyweight Willi Waltner
References
External links Official Olympic Reports Official Medal table International Olympic Committee results database