Enno Roeder

Enno Roeder
nation	German Democratic Republic
birthday	December 16, 1935
place of birth	Klingenthal
date of death	4th October 2019
Place of death	Chemnitz, Germany
Career
job	Toolmaker photographer
society	SC structure Klingenthal SC Dynamo Klingenthal
National squad	since 1956
End of career	1966
Medal table
National medals 13 × 8 × 9 ×
GDR ski championships bronze 1957 Brotterode 4 × 10 km relay silver 1958 Altenberg 15 km silver 1958 Altenberg 30 km bronze 1958 Altenberg 4 × 10 km relay gold 1959 Lauscha 15 km silver 1959 Lauscha 30 km bronze 1959 Lauscha 4 × 10 km relay gold 1959 Altenberg 50 km silver 1960 Klingenthal 15 km silver 1960 Klingenthal 30 km gold 1960 Klingenthal 4 × 10 km relay silver 1961 Oberhof 15 km gold 1961 Oberhof 30 km gold 1961 Oberhof 4 × 10 km relay gold 1962 Schmiedefeld 15 km bronze 1962 Schmiedefeld 30 km gold 1962 Schmiedefeld 4 × 10 km relay gold 1963 Klingenthal 15 km bronze 1963 Klingenthal 30 km gold 1963 Klingenthal 4 × 10 km relay silver 1964 Oberhof 15 km gold 1964 Oberhof 4 × 10 km relay bronze 1965 Johanngeorgenstadt 30 km silver 1965 Johanngeorgenstadt 4 × 10 km relay bronze 1966 Brotterode 15 km gold 1966 Brotterode 30 km gold 1966 Brotterode 4 × 10 km relay bronze 1967 Klingenthal 15 km bronze 1967 Klingenthal 50 km gold 1967 Klingenthal 4 × 10 km relay

Enno Röder (born December 16, 1935 in Klingenthal ; † October 4, 2019 in Chemnitz ) was a German cross-country skier who started for the GDR national team in the 1950s and 1960s. Röder took part in two Olympic Winter Games and three Nordic World Ski Championships. He was 13 times GDR champion in various cross-country skiing disciplines.

Career

Röder grew up in Klingenthal in the Vogtland region and trained as a toolmaker. In skiing, he initially trained comprehensively in the disciplines of cross-country skiing and ski jumping in his youth, so that he initially started in the two special disciplines as well as in the Nordic combined, a common practice at the time. When in 1955 Klingenthal was chosen as the winter sports location of the Aufbau sports association, Röder initially joined SC Aufbau Klingenthal. For this sports club he also won his first merits in the junior division in 1955. At the GDR youth championships at the end of January 1955, he was in Oberhof over a distance of 10 km in cross-country skiing with the so-called young men GDR champion. However, Röder's achievements did not come close to the achievements of the GDR top runners, although he also competed in international competitions for the GDR. In addition, in 1957 at the latest, a sports club change to SC Dynamo Klingenthal, as Röder had meanwhile become a member of the German border police. Röder won his first GDR championship medal at the 9th GDR ski championships in 1957 in Brotterode, where he won the bronze medal with the cross-country relay of SC Dynamo Klingenthal, consisting of Erich Lindenlaub , Heinz Seidel , Werner Stubenrauch and himself as the final runner. From 1957 to 1967 Röder won at least one medal at every GDR championship and was accordingly one of the most influential cross-country skiers in the GDR at that time. Inside the club he was among the Klingenthal runners, who were always somewhat overshadowed by the Oberhof cross-country skiers around Kuno Werner, the most consistent and strongest athlete of his time. In 1958 Röder came home with three GDR championship medals, he won, two silver and one bronze. This made him the third best cross-country skier in this championship, behind Kuno Werner and Werner Moring . The reward was the nomination for the World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, as the only Klingenthal athlete alongside 4 cross-country skiers from Oberhof. But in Finland things didn't go well for the Vogtlander. In the end it was only used over the 15 km distance, where it took a rather disappointing 55th place.

In the pre-Olympic winter of 1959, Röder won his first individual title at the GDR championships in Altenberg, Saxony. Over 15 km he was able to put old master Cuno Werner and the somewhat surprising silver medalist Werner Haase in their place. Silver came over the 30 km and the bronze medal in the relay decision. After that, Röder was supposed to be one of only 5 winter sports enthusiasts to attend pre-Olympic competitions in Squaw Valley, but political differences thwarted the plan. SED members, 8 of whom were in the planned 14-person delegation, were considered communists by the US State Department and were not allowed to enter the US at the time. The USA indirectly supported the Federal Republic in the flag dispute, as the entry of a West German team or an all-German team in which the GDR athletes could have participated was approved. At the same time, however, a Soviet sports delegation was welcomed in the USA, which finally turned the justification of the US authorities for the entry ban of the GDR delegation into a farce. 5,000 spectators at Altenberger Geisingberg saw Enno Röder become GDR champion over the 50 km long ski distance. This championship decision took place as part of a sports festival in Altenberg, to which Röder and Cuno Werner had registered after being refused entry to Squaw Valley. With the second championship title, Röder was the most successful cross-country skier at the GDR championships in 1959, even ahead of old master Cuno Werner. With that, Röder was finally in the top field of GDR cross-country skiing.

Röder was initially able to demonstrate this level of performance in the 1960 Olympic year. After both NOKs had again agreed on an all-German team, elimination competitions were held in the respective winter sports disciplines. In the Nordic Combined and cross-country skiing, the first event took place in Reit im Winkl at the beginning of January, where Röder emerged as the winner over the 15 km distance. Over the double distance of 30 km Röder was able to assert himself in the field of West German cross-country skiers and took second place behind winner Siegfried Weiß . The Klingenthaler was the best runner of the DSLV and hot contender for an Olympic ticket behind the already seeded Cuno Werner. At the second elimination competitions in Oberhof, Thuringia, Röder was able to take third place over the distance of 15 km, which means that he had already qualified for the all-German Olympic team. Therefore, he no longer competed over the 30 km route. In the final accounts of the domestic German elimination races, Röder was the best athlete ahead of the German Siegfried Weiß according to an agreed points system in which the three best of a total of four runs were used for evaluation. On January 25, 1960, at a meeting of both NOKs in the Newa Hotel in Berlin, the all-German team that traveled to Squaw Valley to the Winter Olympics was officially named. Among them was Enno Röder.

Röder celebrated his Olympic premiere on February 23, 1960 over the 15 km, where he was nominated alongside Werner, Weiß and Haase. In the end he came in 32nd out of 54 runners who had started. After the rather poor performance of Siegfried Weiß over 15 km, the West German runner Haag was nominated for the relay, who together with Werner, Haase and Röder took a rather disappointing 9th place out of 11 relay teams that started. In order to divide the 4 cross-country decisions among the 10 nominated runners as fairly as possible, no runner got more than two starts, so that Röder only started two decisions.

After returning from the United States, the Olympians had to go to the GDR championships in Klingenthal in Vogtland. And in front of a home crowd, the Dynamo relay with Röder as the final runner was able to beat the four Olympian team around Kuno Werner from ASK Oberhof surprisingly clearly. Röder won silver over the individual distances of 15 and 30 km. Participation in the traditional Norwegian ski games on Holmenkollen rounded off the 1960 winter sports season for Röder.

In the mid-season 1961 Röder was able to book two championship titles in the relay and over the 30 km at the GDR championships. In the 1962 world championship year, Röder qualified for the World Cup line-up for Zakopane in elimination races even before the GDR championships. In the GDR championships himself he was champion over 15 km and in the relay, over 30 km it was enough to bronze. Röder drove to the world championships with his club mates Heinz Seidel and Helmut Weidlich as well as the Oberhof army athletes Cuno Werner, Klaus Kretzschmann and Rudolf Dannhauer. With the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and the resulting Düsseldorf resolutions , the focus was on the performance of both German teams. Röder was used over 15 km and in the relay decision. The man from Klingenthal achieved the second-best place for a German runner over the shortest men's distance, with 32nd place, followed by club mate Heinz Seidel in 26th place. The best DSV runner was Walter Demel in 34th place. In the relay comparison, the German DSV relay had the better end with ninth place. More than two minutes later, the GDR relay arrived, with the final runner Enno Röder taking a rather disappointing 13th place. In the evaluation, the GDR cross-country skiers performed rather poorly in the local press, and the SED party organ Neues Deutschland even wrote of a step backwards in development.

In the pre-Olympic winter of 1963, after the resignation of old master Cuno Werner, Röder was in the focus of the experts, as he had developed into one of the most consistent GDR cross-country skiers. At the dress rehearsal in Seefeld, Austria, at the end of January / beginning of February 1963, the result for Röder was mixed. Over the 30 km distance he had to give up after his ski binding broke, on his parade route of 15 km it was only enough for 50th place. So the Klingenthaler still had the GDR championships, at which Röder spoke the oath of sport at the opening. In the competitions, Röder grew up with competition from within the club. Helmut Weidlich, who had already drawn attention to himself in Seefeld, was the first GDR champion over the 30 km, while Röder was able to win the short distance of 15 km again. Both Klingenthal cross-country skiers were also GDR champions again with the relay.

In the Olympic year 1964, the two German Nordic ski associations broke new ground. They avoided internal German elimination competitions and agreed beforehand on a number key. For cross-country skiers, each association was allowed to nominate five skiers. In the elimination competitions within the association, it was enough again for the 28-year-old Röder, who was nominated for Innsbruck together with his club mates Weidlich and Seidel and the Oberhofers Rudolf Dannhauer and Kurt Albrecht .

At the Olympic Games themselves, Röder was used over the 15 km and again in the relay. Over the short distance he finished behind Walter Demel (22nd place) as the second best German runner in 24th place, just under four minutes behind Olympic champion Mäntyranta . In the relay decision, which was occupied by the 3 Klingenthalers Seidel, Weidlich, Röder and the final runner Walter Demel from Zwiesel , the all-German team took a not necessarily expected 7th place just behind France in a field of 15 teams.

The following GDR championships saw an Enno Röder who could only seriously fight for the title over the 15 km. However, he had to admit defeat to club mate Helmut Weidlich on his favorite route. Over twice the distance it was enough for the Klingenthaler only to a 6th place at the start. In the season, Röder won his 10th championship title safely with the other Olympic starters Seidel and Weidlich.

In the intervening year 1965 without a World Cup or Olympic Games, a young Thuringian cross-country skier made a lasting appearance, who later became one of the most successful GDR cross-country skiers: Gerhard Grimmer . At the GDR championships , the highlight of the season in 1965, the Thuringian won the 30 km, took silver over 15 km and, after a long period of abstinence, was able to win the relay championship in Oberhof for the first time. For Röder there was one silver and one bronze each.

In the 1966 world championship year , the GDR championships took place in Brotterode at the end of January . They were also the last chance in a series of qualifying competitions to qualify for the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo . Despite the two up-and-coming talents Gerhard Grimmer from Oberhof and now Gert-Dietmar Klause from Klingenthal, Röder finally managed to take part in a World Cup again. He surprised the professional world in the first championship race with his title win over the 30 km. Over the 15 km he still won bronze and the Klingenthal relay team became East German champions in a very sovereign manner with a two and a half minute lead after the disgrace of last year. Thus, those responsible for the national team could not ignore the now 30-year-old veteran and nominated Röder for Oslo.

At the world championships, Röder was used as before over 15 km and in the relay as well as over 50 km. Over the short distance, however, the Klingenthaler did not get beyond a 46th place in the 69-strong field. The prestigious relay decision was not least about the domestic German competition. Both German relays had nothing to do with the outcome of the competition, but Walter Demel made people sit up and take notice with bronze over the 30 km. In the line-up of Albrecht-Grimmer-Weidlich-Röder, the GDR representation was able to improve place by place during the race. Final runner Enno Röder had to do with Walter Demel, but he was able to keep the lead he had worked out. The GDR relay finally crossed the finish line in ninth place ahead of the West German relay, an important prestige victory for the GDR officials. In the final 50 km ski marathon, Röder took 22nd place, while the young Gerhard Grimmer was able to achieve a surprising 9th place.

After the end of the winter sports season, there were considerable personnel changes in the cross-country skiers of the GDR national team as part of the selection of the squad for the 1968 Winter Olympics . For women, Renate Dannhauer and Elfriede Spiegelhauer stepped down, for men, the Klingenthal triumvirate Enno Röder, Helmut Weidlich and Heinz Seidel let the youngsters take precedence. While Seidel probably no longer took part in major competitions, the old masters Röder and Weidlich wanted to show it again to the youngsters at the GDR championships in 1967 in front of their home crowd in Klingenthal. And the plan worked. While both were GDR champions again with the Klingenthaler relay, Röder was able to win bronze again over the 15 and 50 km. This brought Röder to exactly 30 GDR championship medals.

After his sporting career, the photography enthusiast Röder found a job in his sports club. There, Röder helped set up a research center which, with the help of an analysis technique developed at the DHfK Leipzig, analyzed motion sequences on the ski jump and in the cross-country ski run using photo and then video technology. The job title for the specialists in this research center was called Objectivizer. In order to acquire the necessary knowledge, Röder made up the 10th grade after his sporting career at the adult education center and graduated as a photographer.

As an early retiree, Röder began taking photos for the regional daily newspapers in 1990 and began painting. With his photos he worked as a chronicler for various Klingenthal associations.

Web links

• Appreciation in the free press
• Enno Röder in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neues Deutschland, January 29, 1955, p. 8.
2. ↑ Neues Deutschland from February 20, 1957 p. 6
3. ^ BZ of February 18, 1958, p. 4
4. ↑ Neues Deutschland, March 5, 1958, p. 6
5. ^ ND of February 7, 1959, p. 8
6. ^ ND of February 9, 1959 p. 4
7. ^ ND of February 8, 1959 p. 4
8. ^ ND of February 23, 1959 p. 4
9. ^ ND of January 10, 1960 p. 8
10. ↑ ND of January 12, 1960 p. 6
11. ^ ND of January 17, 1960 p. 8
12. ↑ Neue Zeit of January 26, 1960 p. 6
13. ↑ ND of February 24, 1960 p. 6
14. ^ ND of February 26, 1960 p. 8
15. ^ ND of March 7, 1960 p. 4
16. ^ ND of March 8, 1960 p. 8
17. ^ ND of March 9, 1960 p. 6
18. ^ BZ of March 10, 1960 p. 7
19. ^ ND of February 20, 1961 p. 4
20. ^ ND of February 21, 1961 p. 6
21. ^ BZ of February 4, 1962 p. 4
22. ^ ND of February 7, 1962 p. 6
23. ^ BZ of February 6, 1962 p. 7
24. ^ BZ of February 8, 1962 p. 7
25. ↑ ND of February 21, 1962 p. 6
26. ↑ ND of January 31, 1964 p. 8
27. ^ BZ of February 3, 1963 p. 7
28. ^ ND of February 24, 1963 p. 8
29. ^ ND of February 25, 1963 p. 4
30. ↑ Neue Zeit of January 10, 1964 p. 5
31. ^ ND of February 3, 1964 p. 4
32. ↑ Neue Zeit of February 9, 1964 p. 8
33. ↑ BZ of February 23, 1964 p. 4
34. ^ ND of February 21, 1964 p. 8
35. ↑ BZ of January 24, 1964 p. 3
36. ↑ BZ of January 26, 1966 p. 8
37. ↑ BZ of January 28, 1964 p. 8
38. ↑ BZ of January 29, 1966 p. 7
39. ^ ND of February 1, 1966 p. 8
40. ^ BZ of February 21, 1966 p. 6
41. ↑ BZ of February 24, 1966 p. 7
42. ^ BZ of February 27, 1966 p. 4
43. ^ ND of February 5, 1967 p. 6