United Team of Germany at the
1956 Winter Olympics
"Olympic" Flag of Germany,
defaced with white Olympic rings,
used 1960, 1964 (and 1968 by separated teams)
IOC codeEUA
NOCUnited Team of Germany
in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Competitors63 (52 men, 11 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearerAndreas Ostler (bobsleigh)
Medals
Ranked 9th
Gold
1
Silver
0
Bronze
1
Total
2
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Germany (1928–1936, 1952, 1992–)
 East Germany (1968–1988)
 West Germany (1968–1988)

Germany was represented at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy by a United Team of Germany of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) and, for the first time, also from the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) which had not joined in 1952.

The results were rather disappointing as only 2 medals were scored against the emerging competition. Rosa "Ossi" Reichert won gold at the women's giant slalom, and Harry Glaß took bronze in the K90 individual jump.

Medalists

Medal Name Nationality Sport Event Date
 Gold Ossi Reichert West Germany Alpine skiing Women's giant slalom January 27
 Bronze Harry Glaß East Germany Ski jumping Men's normal hill February 5

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Men
Athlete Event Race 1 Race 2 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Pepi Schwaiger Downhill 3:22.2 20
Karl Zillibiller 3:21.6 19
Sepp Behr 3:07.7 12
Hans Peter Lanig 2:59.8 5
Beni Obermüller Giant Slalom 3:42.9 48
Pepi Schwaiger 3:23.5 26
Sepp Behr 3:11.4 8
Hans Peter Lanig 3:08.6 7
Rochus Wagner Slalom 1:48.7 32 2:28.7 (+0:05) 42 4:17.4 34
Karl Zillibiller 1:36.6 26 2:23.6 34 4:00.2 25
Sepp Behr 1:33.3 15 DSQ – DSQ –
Beni Obermüller 1:32.3 10 1:55.2 10 3:27.5 9
Women
Athlete Event Race 1 Race 2 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Mirl Buchner Downhill DNF –
Sonja Sperl 1:57.8 32
Hannelore Glaser-Franke 1:54.7 29
Ossi Reichert 1:52.3 20
Mirl Buchner Giant Slalom 2:05.0 27
Hannelore Glaser-Franke 2:02.7 19
Marianne Seltsam 2:01.4 12
Ossi Reichert 1:56.5 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Marianne Seltsam Slalom DSQ – – – DSQ –
Ossi Reichert 1:07.8 24 DSQ – DSQ –
Hannelore Glaser-Franke 1:01.8 19 1:02.9 17 2:04.7 14
Mirl Buchner 1:01.7 18 1:16.8 28 2:18.5 21

Bobsleigh

Main article: Bobsleigh at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Sled Athletes Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
GER-1 Hans Rösch
Lorenz Nieberl 		Two-man 1:26.92 14 1:24.08 6 1:25.21 9 1:25.13 6 5:41.34 9
GER-2 Andreas Ostler
Hans Hohenester 		Two-man 1:24.63 4 1:24.89 10 1:25.07 8 1:25.54 8 5:40.13 8
Sled Athletes Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
GER-1 Hans Rösch
Michael Pössinger
Lorenz Nieberl
Sylvester Wackerle 		Four-man 1:18.61 6 1:19.04 8 1:19.43 7 1:20.94 13 5:18.02 6
GER-2 Franz Schelle
Jakob Nirschl
Hans Henn
Edmund Koller 		Four-man 1:19.03 9 1:18.84 7 1:19.31 6 1:21.32 15 5:18.50 8

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Men
Event Athlete Race
Time Rank
15 km Helmut Hagg 56:50 46
Rudi Kopp 54:31 31
Siegfried Weiß 54:29 29
Kuno Werner 54:18 27
30 km Werner Moring 2'00:55 40
Erich Lindenlaub 1'58:30 33
Hermann Möchel 1'56:34 30
50 km Werner Moring 3'20:32 20
Men's 4 × 10 km relay
Athletes Race
Time Rank
Kuno Werner
Siegfried Weiß
Rudi Kopp
Hermann Möchel 		2'26:37 10
Women
Event Athlete Race
Time Rank
10 km Rita Czech-Blasl 43:51 29
Elfriede Spiegelhauer-Uhlig 43:15 26
Else Amann 42:22 20
Sonnhilde Hausschild-Kallus 42:22 20
Women's 3 x 5 km relay
Athletes Race
Time Rank
Elfriede Spiegelhauer-Uhlig
Else Amann
Sonnhilde Hausschild-Kallus 		1'15:33 7

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Men
Athlete CF FS Points Places Rank
Tilo Gutzeit 10 11 141.08 90 10
Women
Athlete CF FS Points Places Rank
Rosel Pettinger 11 6 152.04 101 10
Pairs
Athletes Points Places Rank
Marika Kilius
Franz Ningel 		10.98 35.5 4

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Group A

Top two teams advanced to Medal Round.

Rank Team Pld W L T GF GA Pts
1  Canada 3 3 0 0 30 1 6
2  Germany 3 1 1 1 9 6 3
3  Italy 3 0 1 2 5 7 2
4  Austria 3 0 2 1 2 32 1

Games for 1st-6th places

Rank Team Pld W L T GF GA Pts
1  Soviet Union 5 5 0 0 25 5 10
2  United States 5 4 1 0 26 12 8
3  Canada 5 3 2 0 23 11 6
4  Sweden 5 1 3 1 10 17 3
5  Czechoslovakia 5 1 4 0 20 30 2
6  Germany 5 0 4 1 6 35 1
Contestants
Ulli Jansen
Alfred Hoffmann
Toni Biersack
Bruno Guttowski
Martin Beck
Paul Ambros
Karl Bierschel
Kurt Sepp
Markus Egen
Ernst Trautwein
Rudolf Pittrich
Hans Huber
Arthur Endress
Reiner Kossmann
Hans Rampf
Martin Zach
Günther Jochems

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Events:

Athlete Event Ski Jumping Cross-country Total
Distance 1 Distance 2 Points Rank Time Points Rank Points Rank
Helmut Böck Individual 66.0 66.5 190.0 24 59:13 228.700 11 418.700 19
Gerhard Glaß 72.0 72.5 203.5 9 1'04:17 209.100 30 412.600 24
Herbert Leonhardt 62.0 62.0 177.0 32 1'01:34 219.600 23 396.600 28
Heinz Hauser 71.0 67.5 195.0 20 1'00:43 222.900 17 417.900 21

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Jump 1 Jump 2 Total
Distance Points Rank Distance Points Rank Points Rank
Sepp Kleisl Normal hill 73.0 95.0 29 71.0 94.0 26 189.0 26
Werner Lesser 77.5 105.0 10 77.5 105.0 8 210.0 8
Max Bolkart 80.0 111.5 3 81.5 111.0 4 222.5 4
Harry Glaß 83.5 115.0 1 80.5 109.5 7 224.5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Men
Event Athlete Race
Time Rank
500 m Helmut Kuhnert 44.0 34
1500 m Hans Keller 2:18.1 35
5000 m Hans Keller 8:24.5 30
Helmut Kuhnert 8:04.8 9
10,000 m Hans Keller 17:27.7 21
Helmut Kuhnert 17:04.6 10

References

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