Alfred Rhode
Alfred Rhode (born August 16, 1896 in Steinwalde, Wehlau / East Prussia ; † September 13, 1978 in Dreieich - Sprendlingen ; actually Alfred Werner Carl Rhode ) is considered the father of German judo .
Life
The son of a forester volunteered in the First World War and was seriously injured on his right knee by shrapnel as a sergeant. After the war he worked as a police officer in Berlin, then was transferred to Frankfurt am Main , where he founded the First German Jiu-Jitsu Club on October 10, 1922 . V. (later renamed "1. Deutscher Judo-Club eV" - 1. DJC -), which is the first and oldest German and after the Budokwai in London the second oldest European judo club to this day in Frankfurt am Main exists. After training as a police sports teacher at the Prussian Police School for Physical Exercise, in 1923 he became a member of the Reich Association of German Gymnastics, Sports and Gymnastics Teachers in Frankfurt (1923) and took over the sports training of his colleagues on his return to Frankfurt. In 1927 he resigned from the police force and founded a sports school in which judo was primarily taught alongside other sports.
On the occasion of the 1st Judo Summer School , which he initiated and directed, the German Judo Ring was founded on August 11, 1932 as a sports association for German judoka. Alfred Rhode became the first chairman of the new sports association. Under his leadership, a European Judo Union was formed for the first time in 1932 , which in 1934 organized an international judo championship (European Judo Championship) in the Kristallpalast in Dresden . From 1934 on, Alfred Rhode accompanied the transfer of the German judoka to the National Socialist Reich Association for Physical Exercise (NSRL) under the umbrella of heavy athletics . For reasons of racial ideology, the NSRL developed a very ambivalent attitude towards judo and the Far Eastern traditions anchored in the Kōdōkan . Alfred Rhode, who with the events of the judo summer school was more on the side of the Kodokan supporters, participated in the development and introduction of an independent German set of rules . In doing so, he unintentionally initiated the dissolution of the European Judo Union , which was just beginning and which was re-established in 1948 under Gunji Koizumi's leadership after the Second World War .
In September 1939 he went to war a second time. In 1947 he returned from two years of Soviet captivity. This had affected him physically, because he weighed only 45 kilograms and 175 centimeters tall. His son Rolf characterizes him as a helpful and understanding person.
Act
Rhode contributed to the popularization of judo in Germany in several ways. The holder of the eighth Dan founded the "German Judo Ring" (1932), the forerunner of today's German Judo Association (DJB) , and chaired it, was a pioneer of the European Judo Union and in 1952 created the German Dan College (DDK ), whose first president he was from 1952 to 1967. He also developed the “Judo Summer School”, a judo course lasting several days, which is still offered today, and organized competitions. The premiere of the summer school, at which internationally renowned judoka act as trainers, took place in Frankfurt's Waldstadion. The East Prussian not only taught, but also supplied the growing judo community with their sports equipment - the judogi and the budo belt ( DanRho ). From this his sporting goods business developed in the thirties, in which the judo mats ( Rhode Tatami ) were also sold. Its history extends to the present. More as a patron than as a sponsor, “Sport Rhode” has supported West German Budo for decades. After the bankruptcy of his company Sport Rhode , Rhode Tatami and DanRho became brands in the Kwon company in 1997 .
Rhode was the first Dan bearer in Germany. He was the first European to be awarded the eighth dan. Ex-EJU President André Ertel presented him with the first ever gold medal of honor for his services to the sport of judo. At the Sprendlinger judo club, which he also founded, Rhode gave training once a week until he was 81.
literature
- Herbert Velte: Alfred Rhode - a life for the sport of judo . Sensei Verlag 1997, ISBN 3-923473-56-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ The place in the area of today's Pravdinsk Raion (Kaliningrad Oblast) no longer exists
- ↑ Comkurs communication
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rhode, Alfred |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rhode, Alfred Werner Carl (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German judoka |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 16, 1896 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Steinwalde, Wehlau district, East Prussia |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 13, 1978 |
| Place of death | Dreieich - Sprendlingen |