Roderich Menzel

Roderich Menzel (1934)

Roderich Menzel (born April 13, 1907 in Reichenberg ; † October 18, 1987 in Munich ) was a Czech and German tennis player who later worked as a writer. As an author, he used the pseudonyms Clemens Parma and Michael Morawa in addition to his name .

Live and act

Roderich Menzel was born in Reichenberg (today: Liberec ), where he lived with his parents and two brothers at Römheldstraße 7. He started playing football at RSK Reichenberg when he was 16. Since he played tennis on the same level, he had to choose between these two sports. His choice fell on tennis and he soon became a Czechoslovak junior winner (1925).

In the Davis Cup , Menzel first played for Czechoslovakia , after the "annexation" of the Sudetenland to the German Reich in October 1938 for Germany.

In 1931 he won the international German tennis championships at Hamburg's Rothenbaum. After Menzel lost in the final of the French tennis championships Don Budge in 1938 , he was counted among the four best tennis players in the world.

After the Second World War , Menzel worked as a writer in Munich and published under his own name and under the pseudonym Clemens Parma . The catalog of the German National Library includes 156 titles for him, several of which have been translated into foreign languages. In the 1950s and 1960s he wrote children's and youth literature , which the illustrator Johanna Sengler illustrated. The best-known book of these is "The Wonder Car". He also wrote biographies about Friederike von Hannover and Max Reinhardt . In 1973 Menzel received the Liebieg Medal from the Reichenberg home district in Augsburg .

Roderich Menzel was married four times (Anna Maria 'Bucky' Rabl, Erika Franziska Josefa Wurdinger, Gerda, Johanna Sengler) and had five children (Michael, Christian, Renate, Carola and Peter).

Tennis career

Grand Slam successes

• Australian Open
  • 1935 - quarter-finals
• French Open
  • 1929 - Second round
  • 1931 - Fourth round
  • 1932 - semi-finals
  • 1933 - quarter-finals
  • 1934 - quarter-finals
  • 1935 - quarter-finals
  • 1938 - final (loss to Don Budge )
• Wimbledon
  • 1928 - first round
  • 1929 - first round
  • 1930 - second round
  • 1932 - Round of 16
  • 1933 - quarter-finals
  • 1934 - third round
  • 1935 - quarter-finals
  • 1937 - first round
  • 1937 - semi-finals doubles
  • 1938 - Round of 16
  • 1939 - Second round
• US Open
  • 1934 - Fourth round
  • 1934 - Fourth round

Czechoslovakian champion

• 1932 - doubles
• 1933 - singles, doubles
• 1934 - single
• 1935 - singles, doubles
• 1936 - doubles
• 1937 - single

World ranking

1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938
10	9	6th	7th	-	8th	4th

Works (excerpt)

• Tennis ... as I see it! , Heidelberg [u. a.] 1932
• Tennis parade , Heidelberg 1937
• Between man and God , Heidelberg 1937
• Beloved tennis partner , Hamburg 1940
• Strange but true! , Berlin 1940
• With bat and typewriter , Heidelberg 1941
• A man as if reborn , Berlin 1942
• 24 hours , Berlin 1942
• Songs and ballads , Hamburg 1948
• Triumph of medicine , Hamburg 1950
• Flying fish and tender kangaroo , Munich 1951
• World power tennis , Munich 1951
• Adventure, mystery and long journey , Hamburg 1952
• Lied am Brunnenrand , Heidelberg 1953
• Men who fight cancer , Bad Wörishofen 1953
• German tennis , Graefelfing near Munich
  • 1 (1955)
  • 2nd anniversary book of German tennis , 1961
• Miracles happen every day , Munich 1955
• A heart for the people , Munich 1956
• Rescue for millions , Frankfurt / M. 1956
• Tennis for you and me , Munich [u. a.] 1957
• The men are so fickle ... and other funny stories , Munich 1958
• Max Reinhardt , Bad Homburg vdH 1959
• About the boy who changed the time , Bad Homburg vdH 1959
• Adventure in Sicily , Munich 1960 (under the name Clemens Parma)
• Set the table, donkey stretch, stick out of the sack , Bad Honnef 1960 (together with Erika Klemme)
• Hansel and Gretel , Honnef / Rh. 1961 (together with Erika Klemme)
• The Pied Piper of Hameln , Honnef / Rh. 1961 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• Roderich Menzel's tennis course , Lübeck 1961
• Der Apfel , Munich 1962 (with Dick Bruna )
• Till Eulenspiegel , Honnef / Rh. 1962 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• Vogel Twiet , Munich 1962 (with Dick Bruna )
• Der Fisch , Munich 1963 (together with Dick Bruna )
• In the land of the pearl divers , Munich 1963
• Der König , Munich 1963 (with Dick Bruna )
• Pitt and the enchanted bicycle , Munich 1963 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Johanna Sengler)
• Game - fight - victory , Düsseldorf 1963
• The Wandering Shoe , Munich 1963 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Johanna Sengler)
• World champion on the ice: Kilius-Bäumler , Munich 1963
• Secret meeting point: Waldhütte , Munich 1964
• My football and I , Munich 1964
• Fame was her companion , Düsseldorf 1964
• Schneewittchen , Hanau 1964 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• The miracle car , Esslingen 1964 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Johanna Sengler)
• New Rübezahl stories , Munich 1965
• How Kasperle got the princess , Düsseldorf 1965
• Juri das Zauberpony , Freising 1966 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Johanna Sengler)
• Kitti, the kitten , Freising 1966 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Veronika Heimer-Dieterle)
• Leo the Lion , Freising 1966 (together with Pepperl Ott)
• My friends, the world champions , Düsseldorf 1966
• Peter and the tower clock , Munich 1966 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Johanna Sengler)
• Sports rules that everyone should know , Munich 1966
• How Tom abolished the war , Düsseldorf 1966
• Zotti the Bear , Freising 1966 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• Fairytale journey to the Sudetenland , Munich 1967
• Mario and Grissi , Freising 1967 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• You have enchanted the world , Regensburg 1967
• Adam created the earth anew , Düsseldorf [u. a.] 1968
• The magic carpet , Regensburg 1968 (together with Johanna Sengler)
• Sabu plays the shepherd's flute , Munich 1968 (together with Rita Schwilgin )
• 7 × 7 wonders of the world , Düsseldorf 1968
• Thomas, great football hero , Munich 1968 (under the name Clemens Parma, together with Felix Gora)
• The best eleven goalkeepers , Düsseldorf 1969
• Home and people in the age of space travel , Munich 1969
• The best eleven skiers , Düsseldorf 1970
• The Bird King , Munich 1970
• Until the end of the world , Düsseldorf 1971
• Stronger than 1000 horses , Düsseldorf 1972
• The best eleven football stars , Düsseldorf 1973
• Love for Bohemia , Munich 1973
• When Bohemia was still part of Austria , Vienna [a. a.] 1974
• Alluring distance , Düsseldorf 1974
• Men against ice and desert , Munich 1974
• The best eleven goalscorers , Düsseldorf 1975
• The best eleven footballers , Düsseldorf 1976
• On the trail of smugglers , Menden / Sauerland 1976
• The best eleven tennis champions , Düsseldorf 1977
• Secret hideaway castle ruins , Menden / Sauerland 1977
• The Powder Tower , Vienna [u. a.] 1977
• With gloss and glory , Esslingen am Neckar 1978
• Austrian fairy tales , Munich [u. a.] 1978
• Silesian fairy tales , Munich [a. a.] 1979
• Where the children live , Düsseldorf 1979 (together with Erika Urai)
• The best football stars , Düsseldorf 1980
• Eleven famous footballers , Munich 1980
• Goldmann Tennis Lexicon , Munich 1980
• Sepp Maier , Düsseldorf 1980
• From As to Aus , Düsseldorf [u. a.] 1980
• Karlheinz Rummenigge , Düsseldorf 1981
• The new football greats , Düsseldorf 1981
• Reinhold Messner , Düsseldorf 1981
• The winners , Vienna [u. a.] 1981
• Soccer - soccer , Düsseldorf 1982
• Luis Trenker , Düsseldorf 1982
• Paul Breitner , Düsseldorf 1982
• Famous football stars and their coaches, managers and fans , Düsseldorf 1983
• Karl-Heinz Förster , Düsseldorf 1983
• Pierre Littbarski , Düsseldorf 1983
• Toni Schumacher , Düsseldorf 1983
• The young soccer lions , Düsseldorf 1985
• The most beautiful fairy tales , Bad Homburg vdH 1987

Web links

• Literature by and about Roderich Menzel in the catalog of the German National Library
• ATP profile of Roderich Menzel (English)
• ITF profile of Roderich Menzel (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Roderich Menzel (English)