Germany competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
The Germans were the third most successful nation in terms of both gold medals (6 plus 1 as part of a mixed team) and total medals (13). Gymnastics was the sport in which Germany excelled. The German team had 19 athletes. The Germans had 75 entries in 26 events (of which 48 entries were in the 8 gymnastics events), taking 13 medals.
Medalists
The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded.
Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.
{|class="wikitable sortable" style=font-size:95%
|-
!Medal
!Name
!Sport
!Event
!Date
|-
|
| || Gymnastics
| Men's horizontal bar
|
|-
|
| || Gymnastics
| Men's parallel bars
|
|-
|
| , Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow,<br />Georg Hilmar, Fritz Hofmann, Fritz Manteuffel,<br />Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft,<br />Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner
| Gymnastics
| Men's team parallel bars
|
|-
|
| , Alfred Flatow, Gustav Flatow,<br />Georg Hilmar, Fritz Hofmann, Fritz Manteuffel,<br />Karl Neukirch, Richard Röstel, Gustav Schuft,<br />Carl Schuhmann, Hermann Weingärtner
| Gymnastics
| Men's team horizontal bar
|
|-
|
|
| Gymnastics
| Men's vault
|
|-
|'
|'
|Tennis
|Men's doubles
|'
|-
|
|
| Wrestling
| Men's Greco-Roman
|
|-
|
| || Athletics
| Men's 100 m
|
|-
|
| || Cycling
| Men's road race
|
|-
|
| || Gymnastics
| Men's horizontal bar
|
|-
|
|
| Gymnastics
| Men's pommel horse
|
|-
|
|
| Gymnastics
| Men's rings
|
|-
|
| || Gymnastics
| Men's rope climbing
|
|-
|
| || Gymnastics
| Men's vault
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; float:right;"
|-
!colspan=5|Medals by sport
|-
!Sport
|bgcolor=F7F6A8|
|bgcolor=DCE5E5|
|bgcolor=FFDAB9|
!Total
|-
|Gymnastics
|bgcolor=F7F6A8|5
|bgcolor=DCE5E5|3
|bgcolor=FFDAB9|2
|10
|-
|Wrestling
|bgcolor=F7F6A8|1
|bgcolor=DCE5E5|0
|bgcolor=FFDAB9|0
|1
|-
|Athletics
|bgcolor=F7F6A8|0
|bgcolor=DCE5E5|1
|bgcolor=FFDAB9|0
|1
|-
|Cycling
|bgcolor=F7F6A8|0
|bgcolor=DCE5E5|1
|bgcolor=FFDAB9|0
|1
|-
!Total
!style=background:gold|6
!style=background:silver|5
!style=background:#c96|2
!13
|}
Multiple medalists
The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Name
! Medal
! Sport
! Event
|-
| || <br /><br /><br /> ||Gymnastics<br />Wrestling || Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar<br />Men's vault<br />Men's Greco-Roman
|-
| || <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> ||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar<br />Men's horizontal bar<br />Men's pommel horse<br />Men's rings<br />Men's vault
|-
| || <br /><br /><br /> ||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar<br />Men's parallel bars<br />Men's horizontal bar
|-
| || <br /><br /><br /> ||Gymnastics<br />Athletics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar<br />100 m<br />Men's rope climbing
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|-
| || <br />||Gymnastics|| Men's team parallel bars<br />Men's team horizontal bar
|}
Competitors
| width=78% align=left valign=top |
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center
|-
! width=180|Sport
! width=55|Men
! width=55|Women
! width=55|Total
|-
| align=left|Athletics
| 5 || 0 || 5
|-
| align=left|Cycling
| 3 || 0 || 3
|-
| align=left|Gymnastics
| 11 || 0 || 11
|-
| align=left|Tennis
| 1 || 0 || 1
|-
| align=left|Weightlifting
| 1 || 0 || 1
|-
| align=left|Wrestling
| 1 || 0 || 1
|-
! Total || 19 || 0 || 19
|}
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:85%;float:right;text-align:center
|-
!colspan=6|Medals by day
|-
!Day
!Date
| bgcolor=F7F6A8|
| bgcolor=DCE5E5|
| bgcolor=FFDAB9|
!Total
|-
|1
|6 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
|0
|- style="text-align:center"
|2
|7 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
|0
|- style="text-align:center"
|3
|8 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
|0
|- style="text-align:center"
|4
|9 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |4
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |3
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |1
|8
|- style="text-align:center"
|5
|10 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |1
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |1
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |1
|3
|- style="text-align:center"
|6
|11 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |1
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
| 1
|- style="text-align:center"
|7
|12 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |1
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
|1
|- style="text-align:center"
|8
|13 April
| bgcolor=F7F6A8 |0
| bgcolor=DCE5E5 |0
| bgcolor=FFDAB9 |0
|0
|-
!colspan=2|Total
! style="background:gold" |6
! style="background:silver" |5
! style="background:#c96" |2
!13
|}
Athletics
Hofmann's silver medal in the 100 metres was the only medal earned by the German athletes, though they finished 4th or 5th an additional 4 times. Alfred Flatow was entered in the 100 metres but did not start.
Track & road events<br/>
{| class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan=2|Heat
!colspan=2|Final
|-style=font-size:95%
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=4|100 m
|Unknown
|4
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|12.6
|2 Q
|12.2
|
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|13.5
|3
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=3|400 m
|Unknown
|3−4
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|58.6
|2 Q
|56.7
|4
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=3|800 m
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|2:13.4
|3
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Carl Galle
|align=left|1500 m
|colspan=2
|4:39.0
|4
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=3|110 m hurdles
|Unknown
|3−4
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|Did not advance
|-
|align=left|Carl Galle
|align=left|Marathon
|colspan=2
|colspan=2|
|}
Field events
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan=2|Final
|-style=font-size:95%
!Distance
!Position
|-
|align=left|Conrad Böcker
|align=left rowspan=10|High jump
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Gustav Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Galle
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|1.55
|5
|-
|align=left|Fritz Manteuffel
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Gustav Schuft
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=10|Pole vault
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Gustav Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Galle
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Manteuffel
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Karl Neukirch
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Hermann Weingärtner
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Kurt Doerry
|align=left rowspan=7|Long jump
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Galle
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|5.70
|8
|-
|align=left|Hermann Weingärtner
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|align=left rowspan=4|Triple jump
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|Unknown
|6−7
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|Unknown
|5
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Conrad Böcker
|align=left rowspan=5|Shot put
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Alfred Flatow
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Hofmann
|10.00
|5−7
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|Unknown
|5−7
|-
|align=left|Hermann Weingärtner
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|align=left|Discus throw
|colspan=2|
|}
Cycling
Track
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center
|-
!Athlete
!Event
!Time / Distance
!Rank
|-
|align=left|Theodor Leupold
|align=left rowspan=2|Men's time trial
|27.0
|5
|-
|align=left|Joseph Rosemeyer
|27.2
|8
|-
|align=left|Joseph Rosemeyer
|align=left|Men's sprint
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Rosemeyer
|align=left|10 km
|Unknown
|4
|-
|align=left|Bernard Knubel
|align=left rowspan=4|100 km
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Theodor Leupold
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Rosemeyer
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Welzenbacher
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Welzenbacher
|align=left|Men's 12 hour race
|colspan=2|
|}
Road
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center
|-
!Athlete
!Event
!Time
!Rank
|-
|align=left|August von Gödrich
|align=left rowspan=6|Men's road race
|3:42:18
|
|-
|align=left|Bernard Knubel
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Theodor Leupold
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Fritz Manteuffel
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Rosemeyer
|colspan=2|
|-
|align=left|Joseph Welzenbacher
|colspan=2|
|}
Gymnastics
Germany dominated the gymnastics program, taking 5 of the 8 gold medals and medalling in each event.
thumb|right|300px|German team at parallel bars
thumb|right|300px|German team on horizontal bars
;Team
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Athlete
!Event
!Result
!Rank
|-
|Conrad Böcker<br />Alfred Flatow<br />Gustav Flatow<br />Georg Hilmar<br />Fritz Hofmann<br />Fritz Manteuffel<br />Karl Neukirch<br />Richard Röstel<br />Gustav Schuft<br />Carl Schuhmann<br />Hermann Weingärtner
|Men's team parallel bars
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Conrad Böcker<br />Alfred Flatow<br />Gustav Flatow<br />Georg Hilmar<br />Fritz Hofmann<br />Fritz Manteuffel<br />Karl Neukirch<br />Richard Röstel<br />Gustav Schuft<br />Carl Schuhmann<br />Hermann Weingärtner
|Men's team horizontal bar
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|}
;Individual
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! Athlete
!Event
!Result
!Rank
|-
|Conrad Böcker
|rowspan=10|Men's vault
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Alfred Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Gustav Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Georg Hilmar
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Fritz Manteuffel
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Karl Neukirch
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Richard Röstel
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Gustav Schuft
|align="center"| Unknown
|4−15
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Hermann Weingärtner
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Conrad Böcker
|rowspan=10|Men's pommel horse
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Alfred Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Gustav Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Georg Hilmar
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Fritz Manteuffel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Karl Neukirch
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Richard Röstel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Gustav Schuft
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Hermann Weingärtner
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Conrad Böcker
|rowspan=5|Men's rings
|align="center"| Unknown
|6−8
|-
|Alfred Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|6−8
|-
|Gustav Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|6−8
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|align="center"| Unknown
|5
|-
|Hermann Weingärtner
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Conrad Böcker
|rowspan=10|Men's horizontal bar
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Alfred Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Gustav Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Georg Hilmar
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Fritz Manteuffel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Karl Neukirch
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Richard Röstel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Gustav Schuft
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−15
|-
|Hermann Weingärtner
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Conrad Böcker
|rowspan=10|Men's parallel bars
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Alfred Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|
|-
|Gustav Flatow
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Georg Hilmar
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Fritz Manteuffel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Karl Neukirch
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Richard Röstel
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Gustav Schuft
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Hermann Weingärtner
|align="center"| Unknown
|3−18
|-
|Fritz Hofmann
|Men's rope climbing
|12.5
|
|}
Tennis
Traun was defeated by Boland in the first round of the singles tournament. The two entered the doubles tournament as a pair, winning the gold medal in that competition as part of a mixed team; that medal is not counted for Germany.
{|class=wikitable style=font-size:90%;text-align:center
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!First round
!Quarterfinals
!Semifinals
!colspan=2|Final
|-style=font-size:95%
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Rank
|-
|align=left|Friedrich Traun
|align=left|Singles
|<br />L 0–6, 6–2, 2–6
|colspan=3|Did not advance
|=8
|-
|align=left|<br />
|align=left|Doubles
|
| W
|
|<br /> W 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
|
|}
Weightlifting
Schuhmann's lift was equal to that of the bronze medallist, but lifting form was used as a tie-breaker in the event.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
!Athlete
!Event
!Weight
!Rank
|-
|Carl Schuhmann
|Two hand lift
|align="center"|90.0
|align="center"|4
|}
Wrestling
Schuhmann first faced Launceston Elliot, the one-handed lift weightlifting champion, defeating him fairly easily. He received a bye in the semifinals, to face Georgios Tsitas in the final match. That contest took two days, after it had been postponed on account of darkness 40 minutes into the first day. Schuhmann quickly won on the second morning.
{|class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!Quarterfinal
!Semifinal
!colspan=2|Final
|-
!Opposition<br>Result
!Opposition<br>Result
!Opposition<br>Result
!Rank
|-
|align=left|Carl Schuhmann
|align=left|Men's Greco-Roman
|<br>W
|
|<br>W
|
|}
References
- (Digitally available at [http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1896/1896.pdf] )
- (Excerpt available at [http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/Mallon/1896.pdf] )