Karl Recktenwald
Karl Recktenwald (born April 23, 1931 in Winterbach , Saar area , † July 19, 1964 in Leonberg ) was a German motorcycle racer . He became known as the "fastest police officer in Europe".
Life
Karl Recktenwald was born as the only son of Rosa and Walter Recktenwald, a fire fighter. After school he completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and then applied to the Saarland police , where he was used as a motorcycle policeman. In addition to his job, he already drove his first motorcycle races and built a restaurant, the "Gaststätte Waldeck", in his parents' house.
Career as a motorcycle racer
From the end of the 1950s, Recktenwald recorded his first victories and podium places, which soon led to the fact that he began to operate professionally in motorsport and became known as “Europe's fastest police officer”. He achieved his greatest success in 1964 when he finished second at the Saarland International Prize , after long leading and head-to-head races with Jack Ahearn . The press now saw him as a rising star in the motorsport sky.
death
On July 19, 1964, Recktenwald took part in the World Championship run for the German Grand Prix at the Solitude near Stuttgart . In the 500 cm³ class, he was able to achieve seventh place in the second lap and with this position would have been the best German privateer in the race. For the whole race he was in a duel with Walter Scheimann from Bremen , also a private driver and a good friend of Recktenwald's. On the 17th lap, Scheimann's rear wheel blocked at the end of the Hedersbach curve, a tight right-hand bend, and Recktenwald, who was behind it at this point, hit the rear wheel. Both fell. Scheimann injured himself only slightly, while Recktenwald was taken to the hospital in Leonberg with the diagnosis of a broken lower leg. Serious internal injuries were diagnosed there, which he succumbed to around 5:30 p.m.
Several hundreds of gendarmerie and police came to Recktenwald's funeral, the police orchestra played, and the ADAC, various motorsport clubs and the driver representatives sent delegations to Winterbach, where Recktenwald's neighbor Arnold Recktenwald held the fair.
successes
Recktenwald took part in seven world championship races between 1960 and 1964 without being able to collect championship points. His highest Grand Prix placement was tenth in the half-liter run for the Dutch TT in Assen , which in the year of his death led to 44th place overall (out of 89) in the championship.
reception
During his lifetime, Recktenwald was a crowd favorite of Saarland motorsport, as he was one of the few Saarlanders and the only St. Wendeler who achieved top positions in international races. After his death the veneration increased even further. Members of the motorsport club erected a memorial stone at the scene of the accident in the Hedersbach curve, which is regularly visited. Recktenwald was also known and loved by his motorsport colleagues.
“There were occasional tensions between the drivers, where no one indulged the other, but he was a man who had both feet on the ground. Very good character. "
On August 8, 2014, at the opening of the classic motorsport event in Wendelinuspark , Jim Redman , Luigi Taveri and Max Deubel inaugurated a commemorative plaque for Recktenwald and St. Wendel racing director August Balthasar on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of death in downtown St. Wendel .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Karl Recktenwald , entry at Find A Grave .
- ↑ a b Walter Koster: When Karl appeared, the audience caught their breath ... In: Saarbrücker Zeitung, approx. 1980.
- ^ A b Günter Staub: When a village sank into mourning . In: Saarbrücker Zeitung of July 21, 2014, page C4. Also published as: A village sank into deep sorrow . In: Wochenspiegel St. Wendel from July 19, 2014.
- ^ A b Günter Kleer: Knights in a technical world. Today the dead racing driver will be convicted . August 21, 1964.
- ↑ Program ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. of the German Grand Prix 1964.
- ↑ Interview with Heiner Butz from 2014.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Recktenwald, Karl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German motorcycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 23, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Winterbach (St. Wendel) |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 19, 1964 |
| Place of death | Leonberg |