SpVgg ASCO Koenigsberg
| SpVgg ASCO Koenigsberg | |||
|
|||
| Full name | Sports Association Academic Sports Club East Prussia Königsberg |
||
| place | Koenigsberg | ||
| Founded | July 1, 1919 | ||
| Dissolved | 1945 | ||
| Club colors | black-white-yellow | ||
| Stadion | Hammerteich sports field; Palestra Stadium |
||
| Top league | Gauliga East Prussia | ||
| successes | |||
|
|||
The SpVgg ASCO Königsberg was a German sports club in the East Prussian capital Königsberg . The club was created on July 1, 1919 from the merger of the two football clubs SC Ostpreußen 1902 Königsberg and Akademischer SC 1905 Königsberg as the Association Academic SC - SC Ostpreußen (ASCO) Königsberg . In 1921 the club was finally renamed.
History of the previous clubs
Sports club East Prussia
On August 1, 1902, the former FC Königsberg player Alfred Hirsch founded the SC East Prussia with seven colleagues. Club colors and coats of arms were reminiscent of the symbols of the province of East Prussia : black and white, the badge was the black eagle on a white background. The association had its home in the Maraunenhof district . The circus square in front of what was then the Steindammer Tor acted as the first venue . Games were initially only played against FC Königsberg, which always emerged as the winner from the encounters.
As early as 1904, several members left the club, which then founded FC Prussia . However, the club was able to survive this crisis.
The SCO was a founding member of the establishment of the Königsberger Ballspiel-Vereine on September 3, 1904, and its chairman Hirsch became the first secretary.
With the departure of the club's founder, Hirsch, to Hamburg in 1905, the football department lost an essential support, while at the same time the athletes were able to celebrate their first successes. The Norwegian Ingebretzen founded an ice hockey department within the club, which mainly consisted of Swedes and Norwegians based in Königsberg. Also in 1905, a joint practice operation was agreed with the Academic Sports Club, which was only founded in April of that year. The ASC had its focus on gymnastics, ice sports and athletics, soccer was the main sport in the SCO. Even before the merger, friendly relationships were cultivated and sports activities were exchanged.
The club was able to attract national attention with the inauguration of its own sports field, the East Prussia sports field with grandstand and clubhouse on Königsberger Oberteich. On June 16, 1906, the course was opened with an athletics match and a friendly against FC Königsberg (0: 4). The East Prussia sports field was described as exemplary and at that time was considered the most modern sports field in East Germany. The plans go back to the year 1903, when this facility was planned by several members and estimated at 30,000 Mk . However, with 68 members, the association was too small to handle this project. The construction of the sports facilities could not begin until December 1905, after a 15,000 m² plot of Bendix's terrain on the Oberteich was leased and Terrain AG Maraunenhof took over part of the planning work free of charge.
Like many other clubs in Germany at the time, the SC Ostpreußen also acted as a "midwife" for the founding of clubs. Club member Paul Unruh raised z. B. the Elbinger SV 05 from the christening, and the SC Preußen Insterburg always saw itself through its founders as a “sister club” of the SCO. Between Prussia Insterburg and East Prussia Königsberg there were annual comparisons in football and athletics, in which SC Lituania Tilsit later took part. Also Labiau saw a successful foundation by the SCO. The association was also very active in recruiting members and tried to recruit new members in higher education institutions. Numerous athletes were recruited for the club from the Burgschule , the Wilhelms- and the Altstadt-Gymnasium .
From 1907 the club was - initially together with the ASC - organizer of the annual East German Ice Sports Festival . In addition, a competition from Cranz to Königsberg was held for the first time , which found its way into the sports calendar as a regular annual event. The track and field athletes achieved many successes in East German sports competitions called the "Olympic Games". The record set there by Hans Kurtzahn in the standing long jump of 3.14 m missed the Olympic record by only half a centimeter and was only surpassed after the First World War . With Karl Hans Wiede a winter sports warden was appointed for the first time in 1909, who among other things founded a roller hockey department. This served primarily as preparation for training for the ice hockey players and practiced in the Tiergartenhalle. However, a challenge prize was also played out with other clubs.
The resignation of numerous board members paralyzed the association's activities for a long time until a new board could be appointed in autumn 1910. The Königsberg fraternities , the students of the building trade school and the women's gymnastics club were given the East Prussia sports field once a week for training. In 1911 the number of members fell to 50 people, but an increase was recorded again in the following year. The football department alone was able to register three teams for the league competitions. In addition, the batball game became at home in the SCO.
After the school administrators increasingly supported the development of sports in the city, the number of members in the SCO also increased. Finally, in 1913, the soccer team won 3-1 for the first time against VfB Königsberg .
Together with VfB, SC Ostpreußen was the organizer of the German speed skating championship , which was held on January 24th and 25th, 1914 in the Königsberg zoo. In the same year they were successful at the national athletics festival in Eydtkuhnen and at the 8th national "Olympic Games", which took place for the first time with large participation with athletes from Wroclaw and Danzig a few days before the start of the war.
With the beginning of the First World War, the sports activities in all of East Prussia, which was a war zone in 1914/15. The club's own sports field was confiscated by the military administration as a military training area, and the few club members who had not been drafted were unable to maintain club life, apart from social events. 32 club members were killed in the war, which was a third of the number of members. There were also a large number of missing persons . Donations from the members and the sale of the club house made it possible to pay off the club's debts that arose during the war. However, the lease for the sports field was not extended, the club became homeless and the continued existence was up for debate.
At the first general assembly on January 29, 1919, the club's continued existence was decided unanimously after the SCO had promised to use the Palaestra sports field . From March 1919, the athletes could use the Palaestra sports field two days a week. In addition to the track and field athletes, the batting and hockey teams were the beneficiaries, while the footballers formed a combined team with the academics. The highlight was a 5-2 win over Prussia-Samland.
Very soon the plans for a merger of the two clubs matured. On June 20, 1919, the extraordinary general assembly of SC East Prussia decided to merge with the ASC.
Academic sports club Königsberg
On the initiative of the two Albertina students Gustav Sembill and Hans Kallmeyer , the Academic Sports Club was founded on April 15, 1905 in the Palaestra Albertina as a student sports club of the university. Sembill was elected first chairman. The club experienced a rapid upswing and was able to achieve its first successes at the Sopot Sports Week and the Sports Festival in Cranz in the year it was founded. The sports offer was varied. First and foremost, athletics was practiced, gymnastics and a swimming department also found a home in the club. The rowers were affiliated with the Prussia rowing club . Football, hockey and batting were only included in the program later, while ice hockey was practiced as a bandy until 1918 , and foil fencing was practiced in the winter of 1905/06 . The sports offer was supplemented by speed skating and figure skating .
The Palaestra functioned as a club in the early days. T. the inner courtyard of the Palaestra or in front of the horse stables in Karolinenhof. From 1906 the East Prussia sports field of the SCO was allowed to be used. The sports facility for ice athletes was the Oberteichbahn.
A friendly relationship developed between the SC East Prussia and the ASC. Together, the first East German ice sports festival was organized in 1906, which was followed by around 500 spectators.
In 1907 the range of sports on offer had grown to include wrestling, boxing and jumping, but the rowing department had to be closed. After the doctor Luerssen joined the club, the sports medical supervision of the members was introduced. This made the ASC a pioneer in East Germany. Luerssen also gave lectures on sports medicine in schools and collaborations in the city. The club found the full support of the Palaestra in spreading the sport idea.
Especially in athletics, the club in East Prussia became a leader. The Palaestrafest was organized as a separate event , at which foreign universities also presented their participants, the birth of the traditional university competitions Gdansk - Königsberg. The ASC team were also at the forefront in the batball game, which was very popular in East Prussia. Every year they competed in the June games for the trophy of honor donated by Prince Friedrich Wilhelm .
In 1908 the club was entrusted with the organization of the Cranzer Sportwoche . The board member Carl Bechler represented the German colors in the 100-meter run at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, but was only second in the run-up with 11.4 seconds and was eliminated after drawing lots after the British runner Patrick Roche also in 11.4 Seconds came to the finish. Bechler also competed in the javelin throw , his result is unknown.
The founding of the Baltic Lawn and Winter Sports Association (BRWV) was of organizational importance for the development of sport in East Prussia and was initiated by Gustav Sembill.
The increasing sporting activities led to acute space problems, which could only be solved by sharing the training grounds of SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg. 1909 continued to be a successful year in track and field while the hockey department lacked serious competition. With the Englishman Joi Edwards an experienced trainer could be engaged for the boxing department.
In the years 1910 and 1911 the athletes were also superior association champions, but the documents with the details are lost. The highlight of the association in those years was the third official university championships on July 17, 1910 in Cranz, which were organized by the ASC under the patronage of the German Crown Prince. The footballers became 2nd class champions and were promoted to 1st class for the first time.
End of the club
With the first heavy bombing raids in World War II at the end of August 1944, the Königsberg club life came to a standstill. The existence of the association ended with the flight and expulsion of the German population from Königsberg in 1945.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the club lived on in a traditional community that was a member of the “ Traditionsgemeinschaft der Leichtathleten aus den deutschen Ostgebieten e. V. ”became. Hamburg was chosen as the post-war seat of the remainder of the club .
Handball
The handball women from ASCO Königsberg achieved third place in the German women's field handball championship in 1942/43 .
Well-known names
- Carl Bechler (1886-1945); Track and field athlete, participant in the 1908 London Olympics in the 100 meter run and javelin throw.
- Fritz Bouillon (1903–?); Player and international football referee .
- Bruno Mäser (1904-1960); German champion in javelin throwing in 1930 and 1931.
- Fritz Ruchay (1909-2000); National player and selection player of East Prussia for SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg ; Trainer from SV Waldhof Mannheim and Stuttgarter Kickers, among others .
literature
- SpVgg ASCO Königsberg (ed.): " Chronicle of the ASCO-Königsberg Association with its original clubs, Sportclub Ostpreußen 1902, Academic Sports Club 1905" , Hamburg, August 1952.
- Ruth Geede: “ 100 years of ASCO: Olympia am Pregel. On August 1, 1902, the East Prussia Sports Club was founded ” in the Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung of July 27, 2002, accessed on June 10, 2010.
Web links
- East Prussia sport, collection with results, tables and reports of various sports in East Prussia.