Erwin Tratz

Erwin Tratz (* 1927 ) is a former German weightlifter .

Career

Erwin Tratz, who was a businessman, came from an old Nuremberg family that had been involved in heavy athletics ( wrestling and weightlifting ) for generations . It is therefore not surprising that he too turned to weightlifting as a young man. In the spring of 1949 he achieved in the light heavyweight (up to 82.5 kg body weight) 295 kg in the Olympic three-way fight. In the autumn of the same year, on the occasion of a city battle between Nuremberg and Vienna, he had already reached 325 kg and beat the later European champion Willi Flenner , who scored 320 kg. Erwin Tratz remained active until 1965 and won five German championship titles. But he never succeeded in reaching the European or even the world's best. For top German athletes, who were actually after-work athletes at the time, the conditions under which they had to live and train were simply too bad. The German weightlifters in Erwin Tratz's time could not keep up with the emerging state amateurism of the Eastern Bloc countries. His 8th place at the World Championships in Stockholm, the first World Cup he played, reads quite well, but it was also the last place in his weight class. The distance he had to the winner Vorobjow was 97.5 kg. In 1955 he started a second time at a World Cup in Vienna. This time he was ninth out of 12 participants with 357.5 kg.

International assignments

(WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, Ls = light heavyweight, Ms = middle heavyweight)

• 1953, 8th place , WM + EM in Stockholm, Ls, with 332.5 kg, EM valuation: 6th place , winner: Arkadi Vorobjow , USSR , 430 kg before Trofim Lomakin , USSR, 427.5 kg;
• 1954, 9th place, World Cup + EM in Vienna, Ls, with 357.5 kg, EM rating: 6th place, winner: Thomas Kono , USA , 435 kg, ahead of Trofim Lomakin, 427.5 kg

International battles

• 1953, against Austria , Ls, 345 kg - Emmerich Bauer, 350 kg;
• 1954, against France , Ls, 350 kg - Marchal, 360 kg;
• 1955, against France, Ls, 345 kg - Dochy, 367.5 kg

German championships

• 1949, 3rd place , Ls, with 312.5 kg, behind Ernst Köhler , Weinheim , 345 kg and Anton Gietl , TSV 1860 Munich , 330 kg;
• 1950, 3rd place , Ls (FK), with 395 kg, behind Hans Claussen , Lübeck , 422.5 kg and Köhler, 397.5 kg;
• 1951, 1st place , Ls, with 327.5 kg, before Ottmar Weiß, TSV 1860 Munich, 317.5 kg and Wagenknecht, Weil im Dorf, 307.5 kg;
• 1952, 1st place , Ms, with 347.5 kg, ahead of Köhler, 342.5 kg and Ludwig, Berlin (East), 312.5 kg;
• 1953, 1st place , Ls, with 347.5 kg, ahead of Helmut Kienert , Berlin , 332.5 kg and Fritz Mast, TSV 1860 Munich, 330 kg;
• 1954, 1st place , Ls, with 355 kg, ahead of Günter Siebert , Leipzig , 352.5 kg and Hans Claussen, 347.5 kg;
• 1955, 3rd place , Ms, with 360 kg, behind Josef Schnell , Schrobenhausen , 372.5 kg and Günter Franke, Sieglar , 365 kg;
• 1956, 2nd place , Ms, with 375 kg, behind Schnell, 385 kg and in front of Franke, 367.5 kg
• 1959, 1st place , Ms, with 375 kg, ahead of Georg Schipper , Griesheim , 365 kg and Bernhard Szwejk , Hüls, 360 kg

German records

when pressing with both arms:

• 112.5 kg, 1953, Ls,
• 115 kg, 1953, Ls,
• 116 kg, 1955, Ls,
• 120 kg, 1955, Ls

swell

"Athletics" trade journal from 1949 to 1959