Gottlieb Polak

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Riding master Gottlieb Polák on Conversano Stornella in the levade

Gottlieb Polák (born January 13, 1883 in Kladrub , Czech Republic; † July 5, 1942 in Vienna , Austria) was chief rider and riding master at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Polak played the violin and was considered an extraordinarily talented rider.

Life

Polak was born as the son of a farm clerk at the Kladrub stud and was familiar with horses from an early age. He broke off his studies at the Music Academy in Prague after a year in order to enter the Kladruber riding stables as an apprentice in 1900 , from where he came to the imperial stables in Vienna two years later .

After completing his military service with Uhlan Regiment No. 11 in Pardubitz from 1904 to 1907, he was transferred to the Campagne riding stable in Vienna in 1908 , where he also served with Archduke Franz Ferdinand , among others . Already at this time Polak's extraordinary equestrian talent was noticed. In 1916 he was appointed to the Spanish Riding School as a "riding scolar", in 1920 as a rider, in 1927 as a chief rider and in 1941, as Wenzel Zrust's successor , appointed first chief rider .

Polak's best known students were Alois Podhajsky , Waldemar Seunig and Georg Wahl . From 1930 to 1931 he was the teacher of the Swedish Prince Gustav Adolf and was awarded the Swedish Wasa Medal . Major Podhajsky trained at the Riding School before taking part in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Described by Seunig as a “riding genius”, Polak's lessons had musical accents when he said: “If you tune your horse like a violin, then your riding becomes silent music”. Extreme meticulousness and bright enthusiasm find their ideal in Polak. Polak was master of many means to the "oiled switch position" to promote the joints, and knew from his experience as tournament jumping rider, the crucial role of the rapid reaction capability of the rider body not only in the field and at insubordination, but especially in the high school play . In Polak's time, prospective school stallions at the Spanish Riding School were also jumped over obstacles.

Waldemar Seunig expresses himself in his book In the saddle, I don't count time about Polak:

“On Pluto-Kerka, almost complete, as far as a school horse can be complete, this virtuoso masters the transitions from piaffe to passage and from school to strong trot , in which this king of gaits particularly shines and the full charisma of Polaks Art and skill orchestrated. Another stallion of the master piaffed in such a sedate and soft manner (with the hind feet, detached from the ground, approaching the hip plumb bob) that not a drop from a glass placed on his cross would wet the fur. Energy-charged school jumps, the vehemence of which can cause real confusion in the human innards, are practiced, and the manual work between the pillars and on the vertical rail is not neglected. "

His outstanding equestrian skills were recognized by being awarded the German Riding Badge in Gold . His work at the Spanish Riding School was recognized by his appointment as riding master, the first holder of this newly created higher rank.

On May 10, 1942, riding master Polak rode his young Lipizzaner stallion Pluto Theodorosta in the imagination and fell unconscious from the horse after the first kicks. He died almost two months later. According to the bulletin of the Reich Inspector for Riding and Driving Training, Chief Rider Gottlieb Polak was registered as Rittmeister. He was buried in the Hietzinger Friedhof in Vienna . Delegations from the High Command of the Army, Military District XVII and from the Spanish Riding School, the Commander Colonel Podhajsky and Oberbereiter Lindenbauer, lay wreaths on the coffin.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Waldemar Seunig: In the saddle I don't count time ... Verlag Sankt Georg, Düsseldorf 1958, p. 110 .
  2. ↑ Waldemar Seunig: In the saddle, I don't count time ... Verlag Sankt Georg, Düsseldorf 1958, p. 108 .
  3. ↑ Waldemar Seunig: In the saddle, I don't count time ... Verlag Sankt Georg, Düsseldorf 1958, p. 109, 110 .
  4. ↑ German rider books . No.  13-18 . Ernst Steiniger Verlag, Berlin 1942.
personal data
SURNAME Polak, Gottlieb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Polák, Gottlieb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian chief rider and riding master at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Kladruby nad Labem , Czech Republic
DATE OF DEATH July 5, 1942
Place of death Vienna , Austria