Paul Gnaier

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Paul Karl Rudolf Gnaier (born March 8, 1926 in Schnaitheim , a suburb of Heidenheim an der Brenz ; † November 25, 2013 ) was a German fencer and sports official . He was eleven times German champion .

education and profession

After his secondary school leaving certificate and an apprenticeship in administrative service, Paul Gnaier completed a course of study for the higher administrative service in Stuttgart, which he completed in 1948 with the inspector's examination. In 1952 he spent a year studying in the USA. In 1953 Paul Gnaier was appointed head of the Schnaitheim office of the Heidenheim city administration. He worked in this position as mayor of Schnaitheim for 37 years, until his retirement in 1991. He lived with his wife Margarete, with whom he had been married since 1955, until his death in Heidenheim-Schnaitheim.

Sporting successes

At the age of three, Paul Gnaier had a serious accident in his father's bakery in which he lost his right hand. Nevertheless, he later played sports, was a good athlete and u. a. District champion in high jump. In the war year 1942 he came into contact with fencing for the first time , which immediately fascinated him. His first great success was the Württemberg youth championship in foil in 1944 . Later, the sword , in which he specialized, became his weapon of success. Trained by the Stuttgart fencing master Franz Kühner († April 18, 2007), Paul Gnaier was the first German individual champion in the epee in 1953 . In 1956 he won the German team championship for the first time with the Heidenheim rapier team . In total, Gnaier was eleven times German champion (four times in the individual, seven times with the team). Later he was German senior champion eight times. Paul Gnaier took part in three Olympic Games ( 1960 in Rome, 1964 in Tokyo, 1968 in Mexico City) and ten times in world championships. He has been appointed to the German national team eighty times.

Functions

As early as 1944, at the age of 18, Paul Gnaier took on the first management function in his club as acting head of the fencing department. He was then the technical director of the Heidenheim fencing department until 1974. Paul Gnaier was a member of the board of the Württemberg Fencing Federation (WFB) from its re-establishment in 1949. From 1971 to 2006 he was President of the WFB. This more than 50 years of responsible activity in a national sports association is extremely unusual.

Construction of the fencing center in Heidenheim

Paul Gnaier Fencing Center

In addition to competitive sport , Paul Gnaier devoted himself to organizational tasks from an early age. Spurred on by competition from the nearby Tauberbischofsheim, he achieved recognition as a second state training center for fencing in Heidenheim in 1970, its recognition as a federal base in 1973, the construction of a fencing hall in 1976, the establishment of a part-boarding school in 1979 and another structural expansion of the center in 1986. After his death, the city of Heidenheim decided to rename the fencing center "Paul-Gnaier-Fechtzentrum Heidenheim".

Honors

Honorary member of the German Fencing Association
Honorary President of the Württ. Fencing Association

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paul Gnaier passed away. Deutscher Fechter-Bund eV, November 26, 2013, accessed on January 30, 2015 .
  2. ^ Academy of Fencing Art in Germany. (PDF; 2.0 MB) old.fechtkunst.org, May 3, 2008, accessed on August 7, 2012 .
  3. ↑ History of German Masters. Deutscher Fechter-Bund eV, accessed on January 30, 2015 .
  4. ↑ German championships medal winner men's sword. (PDF; 89 kB) In: veteranen-fechten.de. October 29, 2013, accessed January 30, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Paul Gnaier in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
  6. ↑ renaming of the fencing center Heidenheim in "Paul-Gnaier-Heidenheim Fencing Center". (PDF; 35 kB) (No longer available online.) City of Heidenheim, December 17, 2013, formerly in the original ; accessed on January 30, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stadt-heidenheim.name  
  7. ↑ Honorary President. Württemberger Fechterbund eV, accessed on January 30, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Gnaier, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gnaier, Paul Karl Rudolf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German fencer and sports official
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Heidenheim an der Brenz
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 2013