Gerhard Herrling

Gerhard Herrling (front)

Gerhard Herrling (born February 18, 1931 ; † March 26, 1961 in Erfurt ) was a German hockey player and played for the BSG Turbine Erfurt, the SC Motor Jena and the GDR national team. He died of a heart attack on March 26, 1961 during a preparatory game between BSG Turbine Erfurt and his club SC Motor Jena for the 1961 field hockey season in Erfurt's Georgi-Dimitroff Stadium, today's Steigerwald Stadium .

Athletic career

Gerhard Herrling found his way to hockey as a teenager . First with the Erfurt - West sports community, then later with KWU and Turbine Erfurt. The high point of his sporting career was then at SC Motor Jena. His dynamism in the game, his combative commitment made him an effective center forward in the club and in the national team of the GDR. With his scoring he made a significant contribution to winning the bronze medal in the field hockey championship of the GDR in 1953/54, the first ever to win a championship plaque for Erfurt hockey. For competitive reasons, he switched to the newly founded SC Motor Jena. In sixteen international matches between 1954 and 1958 for the national team of the GDR, he contributed significantly to the successes during this time. The highlight for him in the GDR national jersey was the GDR's first international game against the multiple Olympic champion India in the context of the II. International Sports Games in Warsaw in 1955 as part of an international hockey tournament. In addition to his international successes, he won a number of GDR championship titles in field and indoor hockey with his Jena sports club.

Gerhard Herrling was known and loved far beyond the Thuringian borders.

The traditional tournament of the Erfurt Hockey Club , which bears his name, is held every year and is intended to ensure that the Erfurt hockey player is remembered.

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• Horst Szuba: 1911-2011 - 100 years of hockey in Erfurt. Erfurt 2011.