Paul Greifzu
Paul Greifzu (born April 7, 1902 in Suhl , † May 10, 1952 near Dessau ) was a German automobile and motorcycle racing driver .
Life
After completing an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and mechanic, Greifzu worked in his father's motor vehicle repair shop from 1920. In 1921 he took part in a long-distance journey in a Dixi automobile from Meiningen to Suhl . In 1925 he won his first race with the Saalfeld mountain test drive . In 1938, Greifzu won the German Grand Prix for sports cars .
During the Second World War , Greifzu campaigned for the humane treatment and accommodation of forced laborers, which is why he is also known as " Oskar Schindler von Suhl ".
In 1950 he won the Sternberg race from Zella-Mehlis to Oberhof . On August 19, 1950, Paul Greifzu survived a serious accident while racing at the Nürburgring . 1951 was the year of the great successes he achieved with a self-built BMW:
- 4th place in Formula 2 at the Eifel race on the Nürburgring behind Paul Pietsch , Fritz Rieß and Willi Heeks ,
- Winner at the opening race of the Dresden Autobahn spider ,
- Winner of the international Formula 2 race with 29 cars at the AVUS in Berlin,
- Winner in the race on the Halle-Saale loop ,
- Winner on the Sachsenring ahead of Hans Stuck
The following year tragically ended Greifzu's career. On May 10, 1952, he was killed in a training accident on the Dessau race track for the 3rd Dessau car and motorcycle race . A material defect was assumed to be the cause. A counterweight on the crankshaft broke and the engine blocked. Greifzu was thrown out of the car and died at the scene of the accident. He was buried four days later in his Thuringian hometown of Suhl.
Honors
A memorial stone was set up next to the accident site on the A 9 . The stone was located 500 meters behind the Dessau Süd junction in the direction of Munich. Due to the heavy traffic and a wild fence, it was no longer accessible. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of death, the stone was moved to the Paul Greifzu Stadium in Dessau in 2012. Since July 2017, a memorial stele has been erected at the accident site directly on the motorway.
Several sports stadiums were named after him in honor of Paul Greifzu, for example in Stralsund or Dessau . Schools also got his name, such as the Paul Greifzu School , a secondary school in Suhl.
In Brandenburg an der Havel there was a Paul-Greifzu-Straße in the north part of the city until shortly after reunification . In the course of the politically motivated renaming, this street was renamed Nikolaus-von-Halem-Straße . Paul-Greifzu-Straße still exists today in Cottbus , Hohenstein-Ernstthal , Riesa and Suhl .
literature
- Herbert Beyer: Paul Greifzu - A life for motorsport . New life, Berlin 1954.
- Short biography about: Greifzu, Paul . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
Web links
- Biography at a school named after him
- Literature by and about Paul Greifzu in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Melenk: Master of Sports . Page 167. Motorbuch Verlag, 2004
- ↑ Report on the inauguration of the memorial stele in the Deutsche Handwerkszeitung
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grab it, Paul |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German automobile and motorcycle racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 7, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Suhl |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 1952 |
| Place of death | Dessau |