Gerhard Häge (also known as Haege; 1928/29–1970) was a West German rower. Together with Thomas Schneider, he won the first European medal for the once dominant rowing nation after the Second World War.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1928 or 1929 | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 1970 (age 41) Spain | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Ruderverein "Neptun" in Konstanz | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Häge was born in 1928 or 1929.[1] Rowing trainer Ludwig Marquardt discovered the young rower from Ulm and got him to join the Ruderverein "Neptun" in Konstanz.[1] For the 1954 rowing season, Marquardt looked for another rower to form a double scull boat with Häge and found Schneider from the Rudergesellschaft Gießen.[2] The scullers won a regatta in Hanover, a three-nation contest in Klagenfurt, and then the German national championships in Hanover.[2][3] This qualified them for the 1954 European Rowing Championships, held shortly later in Amsterdam, where they won gold in the double sculls.[4] This was the first medal for Germany after the war and was thus the reason for much celebration for the once dominant rowing nation.[1] In December 1954, Häge and Schneider received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports award, from the nation's president Theodor Heuss.[1][2]
At the 1955 German national championships in Berlin, Schneider and Häge were beaten by Manfred Rulffs and Klaus von Fersen.[4]
Häge later married Margret, another rower from his club, and they had four daughters. On a holiday in Spain in 1970, a tyre of their car blew out and they fell off a bridge. Häge died in the crash, but his wife and their four daughters survived.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Rindt, Claudia (2004). "Als Neptuns "Ehrenjungfrauen" die Ruder hochhielten" (PDF). Südkurier (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "1949 bis 1984" (in German). RV "Neptun" Konstanz. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Deutsches Meisterschaftsrudern: Doppelzweier – Männer (Plätze 1–3)" (in German). Rüsselsheimer Ruder-Klub 08. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ a b Heckert, Karlheinz. "Rudern – Europameisterschaften (Herren – Doppelzweier)" (in German). Sport Komplett. Retrieved 14 March 2018.