Bernard Knubel

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Bernard Wilhelm Knubel (born November 13, 1872 in Münster , † April 14, 1957 ) was a German racing cyclist who competed in the first modern summer Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 .

family

Bernard Knubel was born in Münster as one of nine children of a railroad worker. After school, he took an apprenticeship as a sculptor with the locally known artist Wilhelm Bolte , but was unable to pursue this profession for long for health reasons. Bernard Knubel's family was enthusiastic about cycling, as were his two brothers Johannes , who later became a sculptor in Düsseldorf, and Anton , who first ran a bicycle shop in Münster, later became a pioneer in aviation and had a fatal crash in 1915.

Sports career

Six weeks before the start of the Games, the German Sub-Committee issued a public call for participation in the Olympic Games in Athens , to which athletes should report. Knubel received the final decision four days before departure and was one of the 21 German athletes who traveled to Athens. He had to pay some of the travel expenses himself, and he only arrived at his destination one day before the start of the competition. He started the 100-kilometer race in the Velodrome Neo Faliro , but had to give up after about half the distance due to calf cramps. In recognition of his participation in the games, he received a bronze medal. Knubel was registered for other races, but he did not start.

After the sport

After his return from Athens, Bernard Knubel took over his brother Anton's bicycle business and got married. He almost completely gave up cycling. In later years Knubel suffered from almost complete deafness.

The range of Knubel's business was gradually expanded to include motorcycles and later cars. The Knubel car dealership was the first in Münster and from 1907 had the general agency of the Adlerwerke , later the general agency of Volkswagen for Münster and the Münsterland . The company is still family-owned today (as of 2019).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ When the wheels learned to turn  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on lwl.org (PDF; 506 kB)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.lwl.org  
  2. ↑ a b Bernd Haunfelder: Bernard Knubel motor vehicles. A chronicle. Münster 1995, p. 12.
  3. ↑ a b Michael Schulte: Münster's most successful Olympians. In: Westfälische Nachrichten of August 9, 2012
  4. ^ Karl Lennartz , Walter Teutenberg: The German Olympic team from 1896. Cologne 1992, p. 7.
  5. ^ Knubel - the automotive trading group for VW, Audi and Porsche in the Münsterland. In: knubel.de. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Knubel, Bernard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knubel, Bernard Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German racing cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster
DATE OF DEATH April 14, 1957
Place of death Muenster