Albert Richter
Encyclopedia
Albert Richter was a German
cyclist
who won the world sprint
championship. He was taken from a train by the Gestapo
and never seen again.
, Josef the clarinette and Albert the violin
.
Albert worked with his father and Charles in a family business making plaster figurines, although some sources say he was a plasterer, but he was frequently out of work in the Depression
. He used his spare time to train on the velodrome
in Cologne, in secret because his father disapproved. He rode his first races, on the road and on the track, at 16. His father found out when Albert broke his collar bone. His rides, however, attracted the attention of Ernst Berliner, a former cycling champion who ran a furniture business in the city and who had become a reputed cycling coach. Berliner was Jewish and had had his business ransacked several times by Brown Shirts.
In 1932, after winning the Grand Prix de Paris
, Richter hoped to be picked for the Olympic Games
in Los Angeles
. But he was disappointed. The German federation could not afford his fare.
and won the world sprint amateur championship on September 3. He was greeted enthusiastically in Cologne. He turned professional and Berliner sent him to Paris, the centre of European track cycling. Agnès Granjon said in her short biography:
Richter lived in Paris and spent more time abroad than in Germany. He was open about his opposition to the rise of Hitler and his National Socialism. Sepp Dinkelkamp, a Swiss sprinter, said:
Richter became part of a travelling circus of sprinters that included Jef Scherens
and Louis Gérardin. Richter refused to wear a German jersey
with a swastika
when he raced, preferring the older style with the traditional German eagle. He was on the podium of every championship he rode from 1933 to 1939 (e.g., UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's Sprint
), although never with the gold medal. Scherens won the world championship every year from 1932 to 1937. Richter came third in 1933 behind him and Lucien Michard
. In the two following years Scherens, Richter and Gérardin finished in that order. In 1936, Richter and Gérardin changed places. In 1937 and 1938 he again came in third.
For a while, he stayed. He occasionally gave Nazi salutes but he refused to spy during his foreign journeys. He won the bronze medal in the 1939 world championship - the races were not completed because news came partway that Germany had invaded Poland
- and then decided to avoid being called into the army, particularly because it would mean shooting at the French. Instead, he would escape to Switzerland
once he had ridden the Berlin
Grand Prix in the Deutschlandhalle
on 9 December. Richter had many friends in Switzerland, the family of cyclists called Suter (see Heiri Suter
), and a family that owned a hotel in Engelberg
.
He called Berliner, who urged him not to return to Germany. He also told Berliner that a Jewish business man from Cologne named Schweizer, who had already left Germany, had asked him to smuggle money for him when he went. Against Berliner's advice, he went to Berlin and won the grand prix, his last victory.
On 31 December 1939, he boarded the train to Switzerland. It crossed into Switzerland at Weil am Rhein
. The station straddled the border and it was there that the German steam engine would be replaced by a Swiss electric locomotive. German exit controls and Swiss entry controls could be carried out at the same place. To catch smugglers on the border meant their guilt was clear.
Two Dutch sprinters, Cor Wals and Cees Pellenaers, later Holland's Tour de France
manager, had been on the train since Amsterdam
. They told the Belgian newspaper Het Volk
that German soldiers walked through the snow on the station platform and went straight to Richter's compartment. The door opened and Richter fell unconscious from the train. The Germans pulled his bike from the baggage van - not bothering with his suitcase - and cut open the tyres. Inside were 12,700 marks.
Richter, still unconscious, was pulled along the platform, the Dutchmen said, his legs trailing behind him. Outside the station, witnesses said, Richter was loaded on a truck and taken to Lorrach
, site of a "correction" camp.
Richter had been a popular champion. He had been seen being dragged from the train. The Germans insisted he had died skiing
. But Richter was still in Germany. The next claim was that he had been beaten to death by rival smugglers. And then that he had hanged himself in his cell in shame. One version is that he was given the choice between suicide and a firing squad, that he shot himself with a revolver and that the Germans then said he had died on the eastern front.
When one of his brothers tried to see him on January 2, he was shown Richter's corpse in the hospital morgue or, according to some reports, slumped in a cell. It was bloody and his suit full of holes. Berliner tried to learn the truth after the war but was unsuccessful. His death has not been formally registered. The German cycling federation said: "His name has been effaced from our ranks, from our memories, for ever."
, says it was Richter who did the smuggling. Miethe or Steffes went to see Berliner and that was why Berliner and his family fled to Holland. Berliner and Richter had stayed in touch. Miethe and Steffes knew that. Richter appeared to have trusted Steffes and may even have told him about the money. Lon Pullen said:
.jpg)
In the documentary, made by Raimund Weber and cameraman Tillmann Scholl in 1990, Auf der Suche nach Albert Richter, Steffes' wife jumped in on a question asked of her husband and called Berliner "ein Schweinehund."
Brack could not be questioned. He was hanged for war crimes at Nuremberg
in 1946.
was named Albert Richter.
Berliner survived the war and emigrated to the United States
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
cyclist
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
who won the world sprint
Sprint (cycling)
The sprint or match sprint is a track cycling event involving between 2 and 4 riders, though they are usually run as a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.- Racing style :...
championship. He was taken from a train by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and never seen again.
Background
Albert Richter, known to friends as Teddy, grew up in Sömmeringstraße 72, Ehrenfeld, Cologne. He was one of three brothers born in Cologne to a talented musician. Charles learned the saxophoneSaxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, Josef the clarinette and Albert the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
.
Albert worked with his father and Charles in a family business making plaster figurines, although some sources say he was a plasterer, but he was frequently out of work in the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. He used his spare time to train on the velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
in Cologne, in secret because his father disapproved. He rode his first races, on the road and on the track, at 16. His father found out when Albert broke his collar bone. His rides, however, attracted the attention of Ernst Berliner, a former cycling champion who ran a furniture business in the city and who had become a reputed cycling coach. Berliner was Jewish and had had his business ransacked several times by Brown Shirts.
In 1932, after winning the Grand Prix de Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Richter hoped to be picked for the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. But he was disappointed. The German federation could not afford his fare.
Professional career
Richter went to RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and won the world sprint amateur championship on September 3. He was greeted enthusiastically in Cologne. He turned professional and Berliner sent him to Paris, the centre of European track cycling. Agnès Granjon said in her short biography:
There were races all through the year on the four vélodromes in Paris. Richter quickly learned French in particular by watching films, and adapted quickly to his new life. After uncertain beginnings, the young German triumphed at the Vélodrome d'hiverVélodrome d'hiverThe Vélodrome d'Hiver , colloquially Vel' d'Hiv, was an indoor bicycle racing cycle track and stadium on rue Nélaton, not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. As well as track cycling, it was used for ice hockey, wrestling, boxing, roller-skating, circuses, spectaculars, and demonstrations...
by winning a competition for foreign sprinters. His fluid style, dynamic and powerful, won him the admiration of all. Adopted in a few months by the Parisian public, Albert Richter became very popular in France and gathered a new nicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
: the German eight-cylinder.
Richter lived in Paris and spent more time abroad than in Germany. He was open about his opposition to the rise of Hitler and his National Socialism. Sepp Dinkelkamp, a Swiss sprinter, said:
"I say with confidence that Albert was an anti-Nazi. If he had followed the Nazis, it would certainly have been a lot easier for him, and to his advantage. But Albert chose another way."
Richter became part of a travelling circus of sprinters that included Jef Scherens
Jef Scherens
Joseph "Jef" Scherens was a Belgian professional track cyclist, specialising in sprint where he won seven World Championships. Scherens was born in Werchter and died in Leuven...
and Louis Gérardin. Richter refused to wear a German jersey
Jersey (clothing)
A jersey is an item of knitted clothing, traditionally in wool or cotton, with sleeves, worn as a pullover, as it does not open at the front, unlike a cardigan. It is usually close-fitting and machine knitted in contrast to a guernsey that is more often hand knit with a thicker yarn...
with a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
when he raced, preferring the older style with the traditional German eagle. He was on the podium of every championship he rode from 1933 to 1939 (e.g., UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's Sprint
UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's Sprint
The UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's sprint is the world championship sprint event held annually at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Between its inception and 1992, the sprint was separated into two events; one for professionals and one for amateurs. From 1993, all...
), although never with the gold medal. Scherens won the world championship every year from 1932 to 1937. Richter came third in 1933 behind him and Lucien Michard
Lucien Michard
Lucien Michard was a French racing cyclist and Olympic track champion...
. In the two following years Scherens, Richter and Gérardin finished in that order. In 1936, Richter and Gérardin changed places. In 1937 and 1938 he again came in third.
Flight from Germany
Two riders whom Richter consistently beat - Werner Miethe and Peter Steffes - were to play a role in his death. Lon Pullen said:Miethe was already engaged in espionageEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
work on behalf of the Reich, and he and Steffes were also later involved in marketing valuables taken from French Jews who had become victims of the Nazi pogrom. In September 1937, Richter's manager, Berliner, threatened by Steffes with exposure to the Gestapo for alleged smuggling of marks outside Germany, fled with his family to Holland... Even Richter could see that his survival would only be possible if he left the country.
For a while, he stayed. He occasionally gave Nazi salutes but he refused to spy during his foreign journeys. He won the bronze medal in the 1939 world championship - the races were not completed because news came partway that Germany had invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- and then decided to avoid being called into the army, particularly because it would mean shooting at the French. Instead, he would escape to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
once he had ridden the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Grand Prix in the Deutschlandhalle
Deutschlandhalle
Deutschlandhalle is an arena in the Westend neighbourhood of Berlin, Germany. It was inaugurated on 29 November 1935 by Adolf Hitler. The building has been granted landmark status in 1995....
on 9 December. Richter had many friends in Switzerland, the family of cyclists called Suter (see Heiri Suter
Heiri Suter
Heinrich 'Heiri' Suter was a professional road racing cyclist from Switzerland. In 1923, he was first to win Paris–Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen in the same year....
), and a family that owned a hotel in Engelberg
Engelberg
Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...
.
He called Berliner, who urged him not to return to Germany. He also told Berliner that a Jewish business man from Cologne named Schweizer, who had already left Germany, had asked him to smuggle money for him when he went. Against Berliner's advice, he went to Berlin and won the grand prix, his last victory.
Death
Weil am Rhein
Weil am Rhein is a German town and commune which is a suburb of the city of Basel in Switzerland. It is situated on the east bank of the River Rhine, and close to the point at which the Swiss, French and German borders meet. It is the most southwesterly town in Germany.-Geography:Weil am Rhein is...
. The station straddled the border and it was there that the German steam engine would be replaced by a Swiss electric locomotive. German exit controls and Swiss entry controls could be carried out at the same place. To catch smugglers on the border meant their guilt was clear.
Two Dutch sprinters, Cor Wals and Cees Pellenaers, later Holland's Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
manager, had been on the train since Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. They told the Belgian newspaper Het Volk
Het Volk
Het Volk may refer to:*Het Volk , Flanders, Belgium*Het Volk, also called Omloop Het Volk, a semi-classic one-day bicycle race in Flanders, Belgium, sponsored by the newspaper*Het Volk , Transvaal political party...
that German soldiers walked through the snow on the station platform and went straight to Richter's compartment. The door opened and Richter fell unconscious from the train. The Germans pulled his bike from the baggage van - not bothering with his suitcase - and cut open the tyres. Inside were 12,700 marks.
Richter, still unconscious, was pulled along the platform, the Dutchmen said, his legs trailing behind him. Outside the station, witnesses said, Richter was loaded on a truck and taken to Lorrach
Lörrach
Lörrach is a city in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss border. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. The biggest industry is the chocolate factory Milka...
, site of a "correction" camp.
Richter had been a popular champion. He had been seen being dragged from the train. The Germans insisted he had died skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
. But Richter was still in Germany. The next claim was that he had been beaten to death by rival smugglers. And then that he had hanged himself in his cell in shame. One version is that he was given the choice between suicide and a firing squad, that he shot himself with a revolver and that the Germans then said he had died on the eastern front.
When one of his brothers tried to see him on January 2, he was shown Richter's corpse in the hospital morgue or, according to some reports, slumped in a cell. It was bloody and his suit full of holes. Berliner tried to learn the truth after the war but was unsuccessful. His death has not been formally registered. The German cycling federation said: "His name has been effaced from our ranks, from our memories, for ever."
How did the Gestapo know?
It will never be known how the Gestapo knew not only that Richter planned to smuggle money but when he would do it and where he would hide it. Wals and Pellenaers said the agents were not interested in anything but the bike's tyres. Speculation is that they were told by Steffes or Miethe. Miethe was a professional informer. Their link was through the German federation; their link to Richter was through his manager, Berliner. Berliner had smuggled money and Miethe and Steffes had found out. The French historian, Pierre ChanyPierre Chany
Pierre Chany was a French cycling journalist. He covered the Tour de France 49 times and was for a long time the main cycling writer for the daily newspaper, L'Équipe.- Biography :...
, says it was Richter who did the smuggling. Miethe or Steffes went to see Berliner and that was why Berliner and his family fled to Holland. Berliner and Richter had stayed in touch. Miethe and Steffes knew that. Richter appeared to have trusted Steffes and may even have told him about the money. Lon Pullen said:
The German television film [see below] included an interview with Peter Steffes and his wife, then in their 80s. Steffes' manner before the cameras left no doubt in the minds of viewers that his conscience was not clear on the matter... The most currently accepted theory is that Victor Brack, acting upon information from Miethe or Steffes, had given the order for the apprehension and execution of Germany's greatest track rider.
This theory was confirmed by a German named Huertgen, living in ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, to Karl Altenburger, the German industrialist whose name became known in post-war BritainUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
through his gears and brakes. Under threats from Nazis living in Argentina, Huertgen withdrew this statement.
Brack could not be questioned. He was hanged for war crimes at Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
in 1946.
Burial and honour
Richter was buried in the Melaten Friedhof cemetery. In 1977, the new Cologne velodromeVelodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
was named Albert Richter.
Berliner survived the war and emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Palmarès
- Grand Prix de Paris 1932, 1934, 1938
- World amateur sprint champion 1932
- Grand Prix de Berlin 1939
- Silver medal UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's SprintUCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's SprintThe UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's sprint is the world championship sprint event held annually at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Between its inception and 1992, the sprint was separated into two events; one for professionals and one for amateurs. From 1993, all...
1934, 1935 - Bronze medal UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's SprintUCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's SprintThe UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's sprint is the world championship sprint event held annually at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Between its inception and 1992, the sprint was separated into two events; one for professionals and one for amateurs. From 1993, all...
1933, 1936, 1937, 1938
External links
- On Albert Richter (German)
- Biography Albert Richter (French)
- Biography Albert Richter (French). With note on a DE/FR documentary movie which appeared in "ARTE" in 2005 (52min).
- On his death (French)