Fredy Budzinski

Fredy Budzinski (1904)

Budzinski (l.) With the Dutch racing driver John Stol in Berlin's Grunewald (approx. 1908)

Fredy Budzinski (* 18th June 1879 in Berlin , † 6. January 1970 ibid; and Fredi Budzinski ) was a German cycling - journalist .

biography

Racing driver, journalist and official

Fredy Budzinski was fascinated by bicycles as a child, which is why he became an amateur racing driver at the age of 17 . In 1901 he became a professional driver, but by then it was already clear that his real love was writing. For several years he worked as a freelancer for the newspaper Rad-Welt , in 1904 he was employed and in 1912 editor-in-chief of the paper, which was one of the first pure sports magazines in Germany (daily circulation: 100,000 copies). From 1902 to 1906 he was also a functionary of the German Racing Association, which represented the interests of the athletes vis-à-vis the Association of German Cycling Organizers (VDR).

In 1909, the first six-day race on European soil took place in Berlin . Budzinski was enthusiastic about this marathon cycling event - even if not from the beginning - and accompanied it journalistically into old age. He also introduced the point scoring in two-man team driving that is still common today, which is why it is also known as the “ Berlin valuation ”.

Between the world wars

From 1915 to 1918 Budzinski was at war. After his return he married Erna Grau, a Jew, in 1919. Two years later, son Klaus Budzinski was born. In 1920, the journalist organized the newspaper driver's championship for the first time , an event similar to a folk festival in Berlin that continued with interruptions until the 1950s.

In 1924 Budzinski became editor-in-chief of the "Bundes-Zeitung", the association organ of the Federation of German Cyclists (BDR). He stayed that way until 1933, when he had to leave this position because of his non-Aryan wife. In addition, from 1926 to 1933 he was press spokesman for the “Association of German Bicycle Manufacturers” (VDFI). During these years he is said to have invented the reflector for the bicycle pedals. This invention is said to have been successfully challenged by an SS member after 1933.

time of the nationalsocialism

In 1934 and 1935 Budzinski was able to work as editor-in-chief of the magazine "Illustrierter Radrennsport", which was still privately owned. However, when this merged with the association organ “Der Deutsche Radfahrer”, he was fired again because of his Jewish wife. Carl Diem got him the position as deputy press officer at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Because Diem continued to advocate for him, he then became chief editor of the newspaper Der Deutsche Radfahrer .

After the Second World War

Grave of Fredy and Erna Budzinski in the Trinity Cemetery II

After the war, Budzinski became involved in rebuilding German cycling and worked as a freelancer for various newspapers until old age. At the age of 90 he died in his hometown of Berlin. His grave is in the Dreifaltigkeit II cemetery in Berlin-Kreuzberg . Since 1995 it has been used as an honorary grave for the State of Berlin . His wife Erna died three years later.

Fredy Budzinski was the brother of the Berlin costume designer William Budzinski and father of the journalist Klaus Budzinski .

Services

During his lifetime Budzinski was called the "Nestor of German cycling". He was a cyclist, author, functionary, inventor, lobbyist, organizer and collector. His numerous articles, books and statistics still form the basis of what is known about cycling in its beginnings until the 1920s. He left behind an extensive collection on the subject of cycling with thousands of photos, documents, programs, newspaper clippings and many other memorabilia, which was acquired in 1971 by the Central Library of Sports Science of the German Sport University Cologne . It mainly contains photos and documents on the history of cycling and bicycles from around 1890 to the 1960s. The focus is on track cycling from the 1890s to the 1920s.

Works

Without Budzinski's writings, many facts and details of cycling history would not be known today. In addition to his journalistic work as an editor of various magazines, he wrote more than 300 poems, 35 biographies of cyclists, compiled over 20 sports albums from the cycling world and published over ten other books with titles such as 25 years of German cycling , serious and cheerful things from racing life or How do I become a racing driver? .

literature

• Renate Franz : Fredy Budzinski . Sportverlag Strauss, Cologne 2007 ISBN 978-3-939390-43-5