Helmut Uhlig (basketball player)

Helmut Uhlig
Player information
birthday	November 11, 1942
place of birth	Halle (Saale) , GDR
date of death	July 22, 2014
Place of death	Osnabrück , Germany
size	176 cm
position	Point guard
Clubs as active
1956–1963 SC Chemie Halle 1963–1964 Alemannia Aachen 1964–1969 VFL Osnabrück 1969–1971 USC Munich 1971–1974 VFL Osnabrück 1974–1975 Quakenbrücker TSV
National team
1961–1963 1968–197200	GDR BR Germany
Clubs as coaches
1964–1967 VfL Osnabrück (player- coach BBL team) 1968–1969 VfL Osnabrück (coach and A-youth coach) 1974–1976 Quakenbrücker TSV (coach and coach 2nd BBL)

Helmut Uhlig (born November 11, 1942 in Halle (Saale) ; † July 22, 2014 in Osnabrück ) was a German national basketball player, Olympic participant and special education teacher . Growing up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Uhlig developed into one of the best players in his association and made his debut in the GDR national team in 1961. End of 1963 moved Uhlig in the Federal Republic on. As a national player, he represented the German Basketball Federation (DBB) in numerous international games, including the 1972 Olympic basketball tournament in Munich . Uhlig is the only German basketball player who has played for both the German Basketball Association of the GDR (DBV) and the German Basketball Association in FIBA European championship competitions ( 1963 in Breslau , 1969 qualification in Thessanloniki and 1971 in Böblingen and Food ).

life and career

The basketball game got Helmut Uhlig in his hometown of Halle (Saale). He was a member of the top GDR team SC Chemie Halle and played his first game in the GDR national team at the age of 19. With this Uhlig reached sixth place at the 13th FIBA ​​European Championships in 1963 in Breslau ( Poland ), together with players such as Hans-Joachim Flau, Herbert Kulik, Otfried Pleitz, Götz Ribitzki and his older brother, the GDR record national player Volkhard Uhlig (168 international matches).

Helmut Uhlig used a trip by the GDR basketball master SC Chemie Halle (he had been active in league competitions for the sports club since 1956) to Switzerland for a European championship game on November 21, 1963 against the Swiss champions SMB  Lausanne (59: 72) to flee to the Federal Republic of Germany. At considerable personal risk and without any previously organized support, he withdrew from the GDR delegation after the European Cup first leg won by his team with the aim of entering the Federal Republic of Germany as a citizen of the GDR. Initially sent to the central reception center in Gießen by the West German authorities , the former GDR selection player acted once as a "guest player" for the local upper division club MTV Gießen in an encounter against a US Army selection.

In December 1963, Helmut Uhlig joined the reigning German champion Alemannia Aachen , a team that trained and played largely under semi-professional conditions. For the second half of the 1963/1964 Oberliga West, the Oberliga was the top division of the DBB at the time, Uhlig obtained the DBB's license to play for his new club. His teammates included Rolf Bader (2.05 m), Hans Brydniak , Hans "Heiner" Grüttner, Machmut Kuhlein, John Loridon (2.05 meters, five times "FIBA All Star Game Player", Belgium), Jobst von Lossow, "Captain" Gene Moss (2.05 m, USA ), Dieter Schneider, Klaus Schulz and Klaus Weinand . Head coach of the Aachen club was the Belgian , internationally experienced trainer Eddy Verswijvel (Bader and Grüttner were DBB national players who had also previously played in the GDR for a DBV first division club). Since Uhlig, due to the association change associated with his escape, from DBV to DBB, from FIBA with an obligatory release ban, which initially did not allow his use in FIBA's international match operations, he was not available to his club in the FIBA European Cup . Alemannia Aachen was eliminated in January 1964 in the round of 16 against the eventual winner of the European cup competition Real Madrid CF ( Spain ).

For the season 1964/1965 Helmut Uhlig moved, together with the national player Klaus Weinand, to VfL Osnabrück , which started in the fall of 1966 together with nineteen other clubs in the newly founded basketball league (BBL). In this context, the student Uhlig moved from the Sports University in Cologne , he did not continue his chemistry studies, which he had begun in the GDR , to the Pedagogical University in Osnabrück, where he later completed his pedagogy studies (in Munich he later supplemented his pedagogy studies with an apprenticeship to special education teacher.). As the captain of the legendary Osnabrück “master team”, Uhlig won the first ever DBB cup competition in 1967 , followed two years later by the DBB championship title (a total of seven times Uhlig was in a “grand finale” of the German Basketball Federation and four times before Championship finals of the DBV.). Two finals lost with VfL Osnabrück against MTV Gießen were lost with one point.

In the third final of the DBB basketball championship played against MTV Giessen on April 28, 1968 in Osnabrück's Schloßwallhalle, Helmut Uhlig was mistaken and scored at the beginning of the second half of the game with a one-point lead by VfL Teams of 36:35, an " own basket ", which put the MTV team in the lead with one point (as this was not an intentional own basket, the two points scored were credited to the captain of MTV Giessen, Bernd Röder. ).

Weinand Koppermann Böttger Yahya Uhlig

"Starting Five" VfL Osnabrück DM final against MTV Gießen on April 20, 1969 in Gießen

Helmut Uhlig played at VfL Osnabrück, in the Oberliga Nord and in the BBL, with the players Klaus Ansmann, Eckhard von Bock and Polach, Wilfried Böttger, Heinz Böttner, Rolf Dieter , the brothers Hans-Jürgen and Volkmar Gaber, Peter Garthaus, Hans Gröneweg, Michael Haferkamp, Egon Homm , Eckhard Husemann, Volker Jarrè, Günter Kollmann , Ingbert Koppermann , Eckhard Meyer, Wolfgang Plock, Helmut Posern, Ulrich Renner, Harald Rupp , Raul Russel, Rainer Tobien, Klaus Weinand and Rassem Yahya together. After Uhlig had headed the daily training of the VfL basketball players until 1967, Miloslav Kříž , a doctorate Czech lawyer from Prague , took over the coaching of the Osnabrück team and worked as a head coach (without an assistant). Uhlig took part in the FIBA ​​European Champion Clubs 'Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup with the VfL Bundesliga team. In these competitions he played against Solna Stockholm , Slavia Prague and Honvéd Budapest . In 1968 the VfL players were able to reach the round of 16 in the European Cup Winners' Competition.

Sports honor plaque of the city of Osnabrück in gold, awarded on January 16, 1970

After winning the German championship in 1969, Helmut Uhlig and his teammates received the Osnabrück City Mayor Wilhelm Kelch's gold medal as part of a special honor in the Friedenssaal of the Osnabrück town hall "as a sign of special recognition for outstanding sporting achievements" .

The two victorious VfL Osnabrück final teams, in the DBB Cup in 1967 and in the DBB Championship in 1969, included Helmut Uhlig and VfL players Wilfried Böttger, Egon Homm , Ingbert Koppermann , Klaus Weinand and Rassem Yahya . In January 1970, Osnabrück's Lord Mayor Kelch expressed himself in a conversation with the honored athletes in the context of the reception for the athletes Osnabrück sports clubs who were successful in the competition of German sport in 1969, looking back on the past second half of the decade of the 1960s that the basketball and table tennis players of VfL - with the players around Helmut Uhlig, Klaus Weinand and Rassem Yahya as well as Ernst Gomolla , Bernt Jansen and Hans Micheiloff - created a "golden era of Osnabrück sport" . Here brought SPD - politician William Kelch expressed the hope that it was buried by a large group of mourners successor VfL President Friedel black man on the Heger cemetery in Osnabruck, accompanied in July 1969, would succeed, the necessary environment to continue to develop successfully so that both VfL teams can stay “on the road to success” in the long term .

In the summer of 1969, Helmut Uhlig took part in the qualification for the 16th FIBA with the DBB national team, among others together with VfL comrade Egon Homm and the discoverer, trainer and advisor to NBA professional Dirk Nowitzki Holger Geschwindner ( MTV Gießen )  European Championship in Naples ( Italy ), participated in Saloniki . Head coach at the tournament in Greece was national coach Miloslav Kříž , assisted by Günter Hagedorn .

At the end of 1969, Uhlig was voted basketball player of the year by the German sports press , ahead of Gießen national player Holger Geschwindner .

For the season 1969/1970 Helmut Uhlig moved to USC Munich . For the Munich Bundesliga club he was active in the following two seasons under the successful coach Laszlo Lakfalvi from Hungary . Uhlig's teammates in Munich included Rainer Pethran, Rolf Dieter (before VfL Osnabrück), Jochen Decker, Holger Geschwindner and Ekkehardt Jekeli (the three players before MTV Gießen) and Jürgen Wohlers (before and after MTV Wolfenbüttel ). After Uhlig had become DBB runner-up in 1971 with Munich in the 1970/1971 season behind the defending champion TuS 04 Leverkusen , he returned to VFL Osnabrück. During his time at USC Munich, the playmaker Uhlig was considered the best honored player in the basketball Bundesliga.

In 1971 Helmut Uhlig was part of the DBB line-up at the 17th FIBA ​​European Championship in Boeblingen and Essen , which ended in 9th place. The coach of this national team was Theodor Schober.

A year later, Uhlig took part in the XX. Olympic Summer Games in Munich (rank 12). For this purpose, he was nominated for the fifty-member "1972 Olympic squad" by the national coaching council of the DBB in October 1968 under the chairmanship of the then sports warden Anton Kartak . In addition to Uhlig, five other VfL Osnabrück players were on the " Kartak list ". In the Olympic tournament itself, Uhlig, then 29 years old, scored 30 points in six matches for the German selection in 20 fouls whistled against him. The lost game in the "Final Round" for 11th place against Spain (83:84 afterwards) was his last international game for the DBB.

In the course of his active career, Helmut Uhlig was considered to be a very fast and agile player, whose strengths lay in both attack and defense . He was a very accurate distance shooter and a strong fast break player and played in the attack on the playmaker position. Uhlig, who largely compensated for his small body height of 1.76 m for a basketball player with his special jumping strength, was also attested to be technically very well trained, very athletic, robust and tactically adept, as well as nervous and extremely overall in difficult game situations to act routinely. Uhlig himself attributed his skill level - among other factors - to his training as a young squad player in the GDR. In the basketball association of the GDR, in contrast to the DBB's support concept, value was placed on providing the young players of the junior squad with a high number of competitive and test games under competitive conditions (two games a week and continuous training throughout the year) in a targeted and comprehensive manner To convey practical experience on the basketball floor.

After completing his playing career, Helmut Uhlig worked for two seasons at TSV Quakenbrück , now Artland Dragons , as a trainer and coach. Under his responsibility, the Quakenbrücker basketball players in 1975, including Günter Kollmann, a former teammate of Uhlig, were promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga . In 1969, Uhlig had already, as coach of the VfL Osnabrück A youth team, led his team into the final of the DBB youth championship (80:69 for the MTV Gießen A youth team, coach international Bernd Röder).

The former captain of the “VfL master team” (1964 to 1969) had his center of life, together with his wife, whom he met at the beginning of his permanent stay in Osnabrück, in the peace city of Osnabrück. The civil servant special school teacher last worked until 2006 at the “Schule an der Rolandsmauer”, an open all-day school and special needs school in Osnabrück.

Sporting successes

SC Chemistry Hall

• DBV runner-up - 1960, 1961, 1962
• DBV Champion - 1963

VfL Osnabrück

• DBB Cup Winner - 1967
• German runner-up DBB - 1965, 1967, 1968
• German Champion DBB - 1969
• DBB Cup Finalist - 1969

USC Munich

• German runner-up DBB - 1971

Teammates at VfL Osnabrück

Participation in FIBA ​​European Championships

• 1963 FIBA ​​European Championship for Men - October 4th to 13th - Wrocław , Poland

DBV team: Volkmark Benne, Siegfried Danzko, Hans-Joachim Flau, Herbert Kulik , Otfried Pleitz, Gotz Ribitzki, Klaus Sauerbier, Dieter Schultze, Karl-Friedrich Stahl, Axel Straube and Helmut and Volkhard Uhlig

• 1969 FIBA ​​European Championship for Men - Qualification September 10th to 19th - Thessaloniki , Greece

DBB team: Rolf Dieter, Egon Homm, Dietrich Keller , Jürgen Loibl , Jochen Pollex , Hans Riefling , Manfred Schitthof, Wolfgang Schmidt, Norbert Thimm , Helmut Uhlig , Largo Wandel and Jürgen Wohlers .

• 1971 FIBA ​​European Championship for Men - September 10th to 19th - Essen and Böblingen , Federal Republic of Germany

DBB team: Gerd Brand, Rolf Dieter, Holger Geschwindner, Dietrich Keller, Jürgen Loibl, Rainer Pethran, Dieter Pfeiffer, Jochen Pollex, Norbert Thimm, Helmut Uhlig , Klaus Urmitzer and Jürgen Wohlers.

• 1972 Summer Olympic Games: Men's Basketball Tournament - August 27 to September 9 - Munich, Federal Republic of Germany

DBB team: Karl Ampt, Holger Geschwindner, Dietrich Keller, Hans-Jörg Krüger , Dieter Kuprella , Joachim Linnemann, Rainer Pethran, Jochen Pollex, Norbert Thimm, Helmut Uhlig, Klaus Weinand and Jürgen Wohlers .

See also

• "Master Team" of VfL Osnabrück
• Miloslav Kříž - Head Coach VfL Osnabrück
• Gold Cup of the City of Bremerhaven
• Player of the "Twenties List" 1968 to 1972
• BBL teams from 1966 to 1972

literature

• "Basketball" - "Official body of the German Basketball Federation" (born 1959 to 1975) - ISSN  0178-9279
• Russel, Jesse and Cohn, Ronald: German national basketball team / preparation for the 1972 Summer Olympics . Transmedia Holding, Miami (USA) 2012, ISBN 978-5-513-20594-4 , pp. 152 .

Web links

• Statistics FIBA ​​European Championship for Men - Final Round 1963
• Statistics FIBA ​​European Championship for Men - Final Round 1971
• Helmut Uhlig Overview of participation in international competitions in the FIBA ​​player archive (senior level)
• Helmut Uhlig in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ As a player trainer, information: Quakenbrücker Turn- und Sportverein v. 1877 e. V., Kleine Mühlenstr. 4, 49610 Quakenbrück, press officer Bernhard Middendorf
2. ↑ ^{a b} Obituaries Helmut Uhlig Website NOZ - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Mourning for Helmut Uhlig Website DBB - German Basketball Association. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
4. ↑ Basketball: Ex-national player Uhlig dies ( Memento from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Website Zeit Online. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
5. ^ GDR basketball championships - places one to three . Sports Complete website - sports and sporting events, data basketball. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
6. ↑ ^{a b} FIBA European Champion Clubs' Cup 1963/1964, 1st round SMB Lausanne (SWI) against SC Chemie Halle (GDR) (59:72) and (60:89). Linguasport website - Sport History and Statistics. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
7. ↑ ^{a b} 1963 FIBA ​​European Championship for Men team of the GDR. Website FIBA ​​Archive, Historical Data. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
8. ↑ Nomination of the fifty-strong players' squad for the 1972 Summer Olympics on October 10, 1968 by the national coaching council of the DBB (letter from Vice-President Kartak to the players, copy.) Website VereinsWikia. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
9. ^ ^{A b c} West Germany Basketball at the 1972 Munich Summer Games Team DBB. SR / Olympic Sports website. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
10. ↑ ^{a b c} XVI European Championship (Napoli 1969) Qualifying Stage: May 9th to May 25th. Linguasport, Sport History and Statistics website. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
11. ↑ Basketball European Championship 1963 ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Wroclaw (POL), East Germany. Website Todor66 by Todor Krastev. Sports Statistics, International Competitions Archive. Participation Helmut Uhlig, SC Chemie Halle (GDR). Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
12. ↑ Interview with Volkhard Uhlig “We were in Kienbaum when it was said: That's it”. Berliner Zeitung website, author Christian Schwager, September 13, 2013. Accessed December 12, 2013.
13. ^ Refugees - athletes from the GDR. Website Zeit-Online, Sport. Article by Ulrich Kaiser. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
14. ↑ ^{a b} We always have the Olympics - the sport of the GDR before the summer games in Munich Website Spiegel-Online. Article in “Der Spiegel” 32/1972, July 31, 1972. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
15. ↑ ^{a b} We always have the Olympics - the sport of the GDR before the summer games in Munich (2nd continuation and conclusion). Spiegel-Online website. Article in “Der Spiegel” 34/1972, August 14, 1972. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
16. ↑ For the first time since 1965, there is a DM final without the participation of MTV 1846 ( memento from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Helmut Uhlig in December 1963 in Gießen. LTi Gießen 46ers website, history. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
17. ↑ Volkhard Uhlig: As a permanent guest at Körbe-Jagden website Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, author Birger Zentner, November 27, 2013. Accessed December 12, 2013.
18. ↑ FIBA Champions Cup 1963–64 round of 16: Alemannia Aachen versus Real Madrid CF (Spain). Linguasport website - Sport History and Statistics. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
19. ↑ Men Basketball European Champions Cup 1964 ( Memento from May 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Alemannia Aachen versus Real Madrid CF, Spain. Sport Statistics - International Competitions Archive website. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
20. ↑ Champions Cup 1964 Game Details 1/8 Final (Real Madrid CF). Retrieved December 21, 2011.
21. ↑ 1965 - Winning the first championship - "We have never experienced a more dramatic basketball final" ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Butler meets for the second time. Website Gießen 46ers, history. Retrieved May 6, 2012. 
22. ^ Karl Gosch: A dream came true. Ernie Butler won the "golden" basket . In Freie Presse (Gießen), Sport, published May 24, 1965.
23. ^ German basketball championships and DBB Cup winners - results VfL Osnabrück . Sports Complete - Sports and sporting events, data basketball. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
24. ↑ Klaus Manthey: Curtain up on the basketball Bundesliga: VfL in Oldenburg - Osnabrückers have worries: Dr. Yahya and Dieter struck . In "OT" - Osnabrücker Tageblatt, September 30, 1966.
25. ↑ Wilhelm Heckmann: VfL basketball player failed with 85:73 at MTV Gießen . In "NT" - Neue Tagespost - Sport am Montag, Osnabrücker Sportzeitung, No. 101, May 1, 1967.
26. ^ ^{A b} Wilhelm Heckmann: Yakovos Bilek: "VfL lacks a coach" . In "NT" - Sport am Montag, Osnabrücker Sportzeitung, No. 101, May 1, 1967.
27. ↑ Klaus Manthey: VfL basketball player first DBB cup winner - 86:74 against ATV Düsseldorf crowns the first Bundesliga season . In "OT" - Osnabrücker Tageblatt, June 12, 1967.
28. ^ After the runner-up championship: VfL DBB Cup winner, 86:74 success in the basketball final against ATV Düsseldorf . In "NT" - Neue Tagespost - Sport am Montag, Osnabrücker Sportzeitung, June 12, 1967.
29. ↑ ^{a b} Hartwin Kiel, Jürgen Bitter and Bernd Stühlmeyer: VfL basketball player runner-up again - Giessen won 79:69 . In "NOZ" - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Sport Report, April 29, 1968, page 11.
30. ↑ For the fourth time MTV 1846 against VfL Osnabrück - will MTV 1846 succeed again in the master crown? In Gießener Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 90, April 18, 1969, page 9.
31. ↑ The VfL basketball players are German champions. In “NOZ” - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 3rd volume, no. 42, April 21, 1969, page 1.
32. ↑ Henner Gramsch: Sovereign VfL took the master from the throne - 69 Gießen: 76 VfL . In "NOZ" - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Sport Report, April 21, 1969, page 15.
33. ↑ Henner Gramsch: 74:75 Seven seconds were missing - VfL basketball players lost the final for the DBB Cup . In "NOZ" - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Sport Report, June 16, 1969, page 9.
34. ↑ CHRONICLE ( Memento from October 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) - MTV Gießen / Gießener 46ers - The Bundesliga veteran von der Lahn. Website Giessen 46ers, Chronicle. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
35. ^ "Cup Winners' Cup 1967–68" FIBA European Cup of National Cup Winners, First Round (Solna IF) and 1/8 Final (Slavia Prague). Linguasport, Sport History and Statistics website. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
36. ^ "Champions Cup 1969–70" FIBA European Champion Clubs' Cup, First Round Honved Budapest. Linguasport, Sport History and Statistics website. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
37. ↑ Men Basketball European Cup Winners Cup 1968 Website Todor66 by Todor Krastev. Sports Statistics, International Competitions Archive. VfL Osnabrück versus Solna IF Stockholm u. TJ Slavia VS Praha. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
38. ↑ Hartwin Kiel: Victory was possible - a little luck was missing against Slavia Prague . In "NOZ" - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Sport Report, January 15, 1968.
39. ↑ VfL Osnabrück becomes champion in Gießen. Höfig hands over the master shield to Captain Uhlig. In basketball - official organ of the German Basketball Federation, No. 9, April 30, 1969.
40. ↑ Certificate of honor Sports plaque of the city of Osnabrück in silver , Osnabrück, January 10, 1969, Oberstadtdirektor Joachim Fischer and Lord Mayor Wilhelm Kelch.
41. ↑ Certificate of Honor Sports plaque of the city of Osnabrück in gold , Osnabrück, January 16, 1970, Oberstadtdirektor Joachim Fischer and Lord Mayor Wilhelm Kelch.
42. ↑ 100 years of VfL: Purple-white story (s) Farewell to VfL President Friedel Schwarze. Website NOZ - Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
43. ^ Men Basketball European Championship Qualification 1969 Thessaloniki (GRE). Website Todor66 by Todor Krastev. Sports Statistics, International Competitions Archive. German national team (DBB) with Egon Homm u. Helmut Uhlig (VfL Osnabrück). Retrieved December 23, 2010.
44. ^ Men Basketball European Championship 1971 Essen, Boeblingen (FRG), German national team (DBB). Website Todor66 by Todor Krastev. Sports Statistics, International Competitions Archive. German national team (DBB) with Helmut Uhlig, USC Munich. Retrieved December 23, 2010
45. ↑ ^{a b} 1971 FIBA ​​European Championship for Men team of the DBB. Website FIBA ​​Archive, Historical Data. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
46. ^ Letter from Anton Kartak, Vice President of the German Basketball Federation and Chairman of the National Coaching Council, on October 10, 1968, to the fifty basketball players nominated for the "1972 Olympic Squad".
47. ^ West Germany Basketball at the 1972 Munich Summer Games Website Olympics at Sports Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
48. ↑ "The basketball game in Osnabrück. Representation of the development of a sports game in a big city. “ Bodo Bernhardt, semester paper Sport. Summer semester 1968, with Hermann Westerhaus , Osnabrück University of Education.
49. ^ Schule an der Rolandsmauer, Osnabrück Website Schule an der Rolandsmauer. Retrieved October 22, 2014.