Rolf Putziger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rolf Putziger (* 1926 ; † April 1977 ) was a German journalist , entrepreneur and pioneer of bodybuilding . He is best known as a mentor to Arnold Schwarzenegger .

Life

Activity as a journalist and entrepreneur

Puck moved in November 1951, the gay magazine The island of friendship and tolerance , which he did in September 1952 because of trademark issues in the way of friendship and tolerance renamed. The magazine campaigned for the abolition of Section 175 . It was published until 1970, making it the longest-running homosexual magazine of the post-war period. In 1957, Putziger relocated his company to Berlin. The editorial office and a bookstore also belonging to Putziger served the Berlin scene as an information exchange. Putziger also provided his East Berlin Circle of Friends with new editions. In 1959, Putziger sold the magazine.

When Putziger brought some bodybuilding magazines with him from the USA in 1953, these aroused such great interest among his circle of friends that he sold several thousand of these magazines through kiosks, where they were very popular. Putziger then founded the first German bodybuilding magazine, Herkules, in 1956 . Putziger mainly took photos and articles from foreign magazines, as there were hardly any bodybuilders or studios in Germany with the exception of Harry Gelbfarb . "The homophile line, however, which became clear despite pictures of world star athletes like Steve Reeves and Reg Park , did not meet with approval from many."

After only four issues in two years, Putziger replaced Herkules with the magazine Sport und Kraft . The paper was published as a monthly title for eight years and had 68 issues. In 1962 the circulation was 15,000 copies. Putziger moved to Munich , and the magazine was no longer published by his publisher, but by the sports publisher Anton Sippel .

On November 1, 1963, the magazine Kraftsportrevue , later Sportrevue , started at Universum Sportverlag , with Putziger as publisher and editor. The authors included Gernulf Garbe , Albert Busek and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Until Putziger's death, the magazine appeared about six to ten times a year.

In 1965, Rolf Putziger owned a fitness studio at the main train station and a mail order business for dietary supplements in Munich .

Building work as a bodybuilding functionary

In 1960, the German Body Education Association (DKB), founded by Harry Gelbfarb in Schweinfurt , relocated to Munich. Putziger took the chair. At the same time the club was renamed Bund Deutscher Bodybuilder (BDB) in the same year . Also in 1960 Putziger appeared as a sponsor of the first German championships. Six years later, the German Kraftsportverband (DKV) was founded as the BDB successor , and Putziger took over again as chairman and held it until his death. BDB and DKV held the annual Mr. Germany elections .

Mentor of Arnold Schwarzenegger

When Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Europe Junior competition in 1965, Putziger was on the jury. He offered Schwarzenegger a job as a trainer in his Munich studio as well as a trip to the Mr. Universe competition in London . The reason for the offer was competition from Reinhard Smolana , whose bodybuilding studio was bigger and better equipped than that of Putziger. By hiring the young star Schwarzenegger, he hoped to improve his competitive position. On August 1, 1966, Schwarzenegger took up the position as a fitness trainer in Putziger's Herkules studio. In his memoirs, first published in 1977, Schwarzenegger describes in detail how Putziger demanded sexual favors from him for work and accommodation, which Schwarzenegger refused. Schwarzenegger was still able to keep the position, but Putziger refused to finance the trip to the Mr. Universe competition.

Schwarzenegger turned to Putziger's "mortal enemy" Smolana. He paid Schwarzenegger the trip, who took second place. Until Schwarzenegger traveled to the USA in September 1968, the Herkules-Studio became the "center of the German bodybuilder scene" due to its sporting success. During Schwarzenegger's time, the number of people exercising there quadrupled to around 400 customers. For Schwarzenegger, the gym's training facilities and his well-paid job there provided the basis for his sporting success. Due to his duties as a trainer in the afternoon and early evening, he developed what he called a “split routine” training program with one session in the morning and one in the evening, which turned out to be more productive than long, one-time training.

The Schwarzenegger biographer Marc-Hujer summarized the difficult relationship between the two as follows: “Schwarzenegger needs Putziger, the position with him, the money. This city is his chance (...) and he can't stay here without a cute guy. Putziger (...) decides on success and failure in the industry. If Putziger no longer mentions him in his magazines, he no longer exists. And how does he plan to make it to America? ”In retrospect, Putziger, like Joe Weider, is one of those friends of Schwarzenegger whom he left behind during his ascent in order to reinvent himself again and again:“ They all believed a right on him and his success and to get to the top with him. But he wanted to remain independent and go his own way. "Decades later, Schwarzenegger himself described Putziger's personality as follows:" Putziger was sleazy. "

literature

  • Peter Brügge : Everything is wide , in: Der Spiegel 50/1962, p. 65 f. Here:
  • Erika Dilger: The fitness movement in Germany , Hofmann, Schorndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-7780-4640-1
  • Harry Gelbfarb: The roots of bodybuilding in Germany , in Sportrevue 300/1993, pp. 136–143; 172-173
  • Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Die Biographie , DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1
  • Rolf Putziger: Second Federal Championships in Bodybuilding , in: Sport und Kraft, 31/1961, pp. 12-15
  • Rolf Putziger: 15 years of weight training in Germany , in: Kraftsportrevue 42/1968, pp. 6–9, 26
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger / Douglas Kent Hall: Arnold. The education of a bodybuilder . Simon & Schuster, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-671-79748-5
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall. My unbelievable true life story . Simon & Schuster UK, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84983-972-3 , pp. 47-78

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Being wide is everything . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1962 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Erika Dilger: The fitness movement in Germany. Hofmann, Schorndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-7780-4640-1 , p. 291.
  3. ↑ a b The gay magazine "Die Insel" / "Der Weg". In: mr3er.de. Retrieved January 9, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Chapter 2: 1950s West Berlin. In: schwulesmuseum.de. Archived from the original on July 7, 2004 ; accessed on January 9, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b c Erika Dilger: The fitness movement in Germany. Hofmann, Schorndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-7780-4640-1 , p. 283 f.
  6. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Die Biographie, DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, p. 61, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 .
  7. ^ Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall. My unbelievable true life story. Simon & Schuster UK, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84983-972-3 , p. 50.
  8. ↑ Erika Dilger: The fitness movement in Germany. Hofmann, Schorndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-7780-4640-1 , p. 299.
  9. ↑ Erika Dilger: The fitness movement in Germany. Hofmann, Schorndorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-7780-4640-1 , p. 289 ff.
  10. ^ Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall. My unbelievable true life story. Simon & Schuster UK, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84983-972-3 , p. 49ff
  11. ^ Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Kent Hall: Arnold. The Education of a Bodybuilder. Simon & Schuster, New York 2005, pp. 40ff.
  12. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The biography. DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, p. 68, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 .
  13. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The biography. DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, pp. 61 f., ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 .
  14. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The biography. DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, p. 80, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 .
  15. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The biography. DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, p. 81, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 .
  16. ^ Marc Hujer: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The biography. DVA, Munich, 2nd edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-421-04405-1 , p. 66.
  17. ↑ career miracle Schwarzenegger: pecking order in Arnieland. In: Spiegel Online . October 12, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2017 .
  18. ^ Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall. My unbelievable true life story. Simon & Schuster UK, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84983-972-3 , p. 50.
personal data
SURNAME Putziger, Rolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist, entrepreneur and bodybuilding pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH 1926
DATE OF DEATH April 1977