United Team of Germany at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Germany was represented at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy by a United Team of Germany of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) and, for the first time, also from the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) which had not joined in 1952.

United Team of Germany at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Flag of Germany, which was used at the time by both East Germany (until 1959) and West Germany
IOC code	EUA
NOC	United Team of Germany
in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Competitors	63 (52 men, 11 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Andreas Ostler (bobsleigh)
Medals Ranked 9th	Gold 1 Silver 0 Bronze 1 Total 2
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1956 1960 1964
Other related appearances
Germany (1928–1936, 1952, 1992–)  East Germany (1968–1988)  West Germany (1968–1988)

The results were rather disappointing as only 2 medals were scored against the emerging competition. Rosa "Ossi" Reichert won gold at the women's giant slalom, and Harry Glaß took bronze in the K90 individual jump.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Nationality	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Ossi Reichert	West Germany	Alpine skiing	Women's giant slalom	January 27
Bronze	Harry Glaß	East Germany	Ski jumping	Men's normal hill	February 5

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Pepi Schwaiger	Downhill					3:22.2	20
Karl Zillibiller						3:21.6	19
Sepp Behr						3:07.7	12
Hans Peter Lanig						2:59.8	5
Beni Obermüller	Giant Slalom					3:42.9	48
Pepi Schwaiger						3:23.5	26
Sepp Behr						3:11.4	8
Hans Peter Lanig						3:08.6	7
Rochus Wagner	Slalom	1:48.7	32	2:28.7 (+0:05)	42	4:17.4	34
Karl Zillibiller		1:36.6	26	2:23.6	34	4:00.2	25
Sepp Behr		1:33.3	15	DSQ	–	DSQ	–
Beni Obermüller		1:32.3	10	1:55.2	10	3:27.5	9

Women

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Mirl Buchner	Downhill					DNF	–
Sonja Sperl						1:57.8	32
Hannelore Glaser-Franke						1:54.7	29
Ossi Reichert						1:52.3	20
Mirl Buchner	Giant Slalom					2:05.0	27
Hannelore Glaser-Franke						2:02.7	19
Marianne Seltsam						2:01.4	12
Ossi Reichert						1:56.5
Marianne Seltsam	Slalom	DSQ	–	–	–	DSQ	–
Ossi Reichert		1:07.8	24	DSQ	–	DSQ	–
Hannelore Glaser-Franke		1:01.8	19	1:02.9	17	2:04.7	14
Mirl Buchner		1:01.7	18	1:16.8	28	2:18.5	21

Bobsleigh

Main article: Bobsleigh at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Sled	Athletes	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Run 3		Run 4		Total
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
GER-1	Hans Rösch Lorenz Nieberl	Two-man	1:26.92	14	1:24.08	6	1:25.21	9	1:25.13	6	5:41.34	9
GER-2	Andreas Ostler Hans Hohenester	Two-man	1:24.63	4	1:24.89	10	1:25.07	8	1:25.54	8	5:40.13	8

Sled	Athletes	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Run 3		Run 4		Total
			Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
GER-1	Hans Rösch Michael Pössinger Lorenz Nieberl Sylvester Wackerle	Four-man	1:18.61	6	1:19.04	8	1:19.43	7	1:20.94	13	5:18.02	6
GER-2	Franz Schelle Jakob Nirschl Hans Henn Edmund Koller	Four-man	1:19.03	9	1:18.84	7	1:19.31	6	1:21.32	15	5:18.50	8

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
15 km	Helmut Hagg	56:50	46
	Rudi Kopp	54:31	31
	Siegfried Weiß	54:29	29
	Kuno Werner	54:18	27
30 km	Werner Moring	2'00:55	40
	Erich Lindenlaub	1'58:30	33
	Hermann Möchel	1'56:34	30
50 km	Werner Moring	3'20:32	20

Men's 4 × 10 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Kuno Werner Siegfried Weiß Rudi Kopp Hermann Möchel	2'26:37	10

Women

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
10 km	Rita Czech-Blasl	43:51	29
	Elfriede Spiegelhauer-Uhlig	43:15	26
	Else Amann	42:22	20
	Sonnhilde Hausschild-Kallus	42:22	20

Women's 3 x 5 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Elfriede Spiegelhauer-Uhlig Else Amann Sonnhilde Hausschild-Kallus	1'15:33	7

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Tilo Gutzeit	10	11	141.08	90	10

Women

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Rosel Pettinger	11	6	152.04	101	10

Pairs

Athletes	Points	Places	Rank
Marika Kilius Franz Ningel	10.98	35.5	4

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Group A

Top two teams advanced to Medal Round.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	30	1	6
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	6	3
3	Italy	3	0	1	2	5	7	2
4	Austria	3	0	2	1	2	32	1

• Canada 4-0 Germany
• Italy 2-2 Germany
• Germany 7-0 Austria

Games for 1st-6th places

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	5	5	0	0	25	5	10
2	United States	5	4	1	0	26	12	8
3	Canada	5	3	2	0	23	11	6
4	Sweden	5	1	3	1	10	17	3
5	Czechoslovakia	5	1	4	0	20	30	2
6	Germany	5	0	4	1	6	35	1

• USA 7-2 Germany
• USSR 8-0 Germany
• Canada 10-0 Germany
• Czechoslovakia 9-3 Germany
• Germany 1-1 Sweden

Contestants Ulli Jansen Alfred Hoffmann Toni Biersack Bruno Guttowski Martin Beck Paul Ambros Karl Bierschel Kurt Sepp Markus Egen Ernst Trautwein Rudolf Pittrich Hans Huber Arthur Endress Reiner Kossmann Hans Rampf Martin Zach Günther Jochems

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping (Three jumps, best two counted and shown here.)
• 15 km cross-country skiing

Athlete	Event	Ski Jumping				Cross-country			Total
		Distance 1	Distance 2	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Helmut Böck	Individual	66.0	66.5	190.0	24	59:13	228.700	11	418.700	19
Gerhard Glaß		72.0	72.5	203.5	9	1'04:17	209.100	30	412.600	24
Herbert Leonhardt		62.0	62.0	177.0	32	1'01:34	219.600	23	396.600	28
Heinz Hauser		71.0	67.5	195.0	20	1'00:43	222.900	17	417.900	21

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Jump 1			Jump 2			Total
		Distance	Points	Rank	Distance	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Sepp Kleisl	Normal hill	73.0	95.0	29	71.0	94.0	26	189.0	26
Werner Lesser		77.5	105.0	10	77.5	105.0	8	210.0	8
Max Bolkart		80.0	111.5	3	81.5	111.0	4	222.5	4
Harry Glaß		83.5	115.0	1	80.5	109.5	7	224.5

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Helmut Kuhnert	44.0	34
1500 m	Hans Keller	2:18.1	35
5000 m	Hans Keller	8:24.5	30
	Helmut Kuhnert	8:04.8	9
10,000 m	Hans Keller	17:27.7	21
	Helmut Kuhnert	17:04.6	10

References

• Official Olympic Reports
• International Olympic Committee results database
• Olympic Winter Games 1956, full results by sports-reference.com