Max Schmeling and the Making of a National Hero in Twentieth-Century Germany

336 Pages·2018·4.642 MB·English

by  Jon Hughes (auth.)

PSaplogrrta avned S tPuodliiteisc isn
Max Schmeling
and the Making of
a National Hero in
Twentieth-Century
Germany
Jon Hughes
Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics
Series Editor
Martin Polley
International Centre for Sports History
De Montfort University, UK
Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics aims to nurture new research, both
historical and contemporary, to the complex inter-relationships between
sport and politics. The books in this series will range in their focus from
the local to the global, and will embody a broad approach to politics,
encompassing the ways in which sport has interacted with the state, dissi-
dence, ideology, war, human rights, diplomacy, security, policy, identities,
the law, and many other forms of politics. It includes approaches from a
range of disciplines, and promotes work by new and established scholars
from around the world.
Advisory Board:
Dr Daphné Bolz, University of Normandy – Rouen, France
Dr Susan Grant, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Dr Keiko Ikeda, Hokkaido University, Japan
Dr Barbara Keys, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr Iain Lindsey, Durham University, UK
Dr Ramon Spaaij, Victoria University, Australia and University of
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/15061
Jon Hughes
Max Schmeling
and the Making
of a National Hero
in Twentieth-Century
Germany
Jon Hughes
Royal Holloway
University of London
Egham, UK
ISSN 2365-998X ISSN 2365-9998 (electronic)
Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics
ISBN 978-3-319-51135-1 ISBN 978-3-319-51136-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51136-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939104
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover image: © Ullstein Bild/Max Machon
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
F a
oreword and cknowledgements
This is an interdisciplinary study of the representation of the boxer and
businessman Max Schmeling that will, I hope, be of interest to a wide
range of readers. It may appeal to those with an interest in the history of
sport and sporting cultures, in the history of Germany in the twentieth
century and its struggle with questions of memory and national identity,
and in the cultural construction of “hero” figures. I have attempted in
writing the book to cater for this potential readership. I make few pre-
sumptions and have attempted to introduce, in context and in a clear
manner, the data upon which my argument relies, whether they relate
to Schmeling’s life, the political context or the specificities of sport and
boxing. The reader will notice that quotations from German sources are
provided both in the original language and in English translation. I am
grateful to the publisher for permitting me to do this, which will allow
readers of German to engage with specifics of language, terminology and
rhetoric, but will not exclude the reader who is unfamiliar with German.
Unless otherwise indicated, translations into English are my own. I have
attempted for the most part to be faithful to the source text in these
translations, but on occasion have favoured readability and style over a
more literal approach. Translations from poems and songs are rendered
in functional prose, and I apologize for the inevitable loss of flavour.
The chapters dealing with National Socialism and the Third Reich
presented particular difficulties with respect to translation, as this was
a political culture that generated countless ideological neologisms
and peculiarities of language. Some of the favoured lexis of National
v
vi FoREwoRD AND ACKNowLEDGEMENTS
Socialism may already be familiar to the historian, and I have attempted
to retain standard translations wherever possible. Certain key terms,
such as Volksgemeinschaft and Gleichschaltung, are explained in the first
instance and thereafter left in the original German. other important
terms, such as the deceptively simple Kampf, proved impossible to ren-
der consistently; Kampf can variously suggest “fight” in the physical
sense (including a boxing match), “combat” in the military sense, “con-
flict” in a more general sense, or “struggle” in a metaphorical sense—as
in Mein Kampf. Der Faustkampf can be translated simply as “boxing”
but was politicized in the Third Reich and consciously distinguished
from das Boxen; as a consequence, I have sometimes translated it as the
more antiquated “pugilism”. I hope, in any case, that the translations
always retain the sense, if not in every case the style, of the original.
Much of the primary material cited in this book was originally pub-
lished in ephemeral sources such as newspapers and magazines. I have
accessed these sources in part through the invaluable digitization pro-
jects that have proved enormously beneficial to a project such as this
one. I wish in particular to commend the Zeitungsinformationssystem
of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, which has digitized the Vossische
Zeitung, amongst other titles, and the collaborative digitization pro-
ject “Illustrierte Magazine der klassischen Moderne” (run by the
Sächsische Landesbibliothek, the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek
Dresden and the University of Erfurt, Seminar für Medien- und
Kommunikationsforschung) through which I was able to access Der
Querschnitt. other primary sources were accessed through the microfilm
collections held in the newspaper archives of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin
and the British Library in London. I am also especially grateful to the
University of Potsdam for making its edition of Boxsport available to me.
This study is the product of research on Max Schmeling, and on sport
in the German context, stretching back almost a decade. It would have
been impossible for me to complete without a generous period of sab-
batical leave provided by the School of Modern Languages, Literatures
and Cultures at Royal Holloway, University of London, to which I am
indebted. I am also above all grateful to Janet, both for her eagle-eyed
proofreading and for her love and support throughout.
This book is dedicated to Janet, and to the memory of my mother
Merle Hughes (1944–2010).
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 The Weimar Republic 1: A Star is Born 17
3 The Weimar Republic 2: The American Dream 75
4 The Third Reich 1: The “Loyal Citizen” 123
5 The Third Reich 2: “A German Victory”? 179
6 After 1945: “The Good German” 257
7 No More Heroes?: Conclusion 315
Index 323
vii
l F
ist oF igures
Fig. 2.1 Max Schmeling, photograph by Lili Baruch, 1926
(Ullstein Bild – Lili Baruch) 40
Fig. 3.1 Conrad Veidt and Max Schmeling on board the SS
Deutschland, 1929 (AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo) 78
Fig. 4.1 The photograph of Schmeling and attendants giving the
Hitler Salute, following his victory over Steve Hamas in
1935, that proved so controversial. Joe Jacobs is on the far
right (Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo) 145
Fig. 5.1 Joe Louis in 1937 (Keystone Pictures USA /
Alamy Stock Photo) 180
Fig. 5.2 Schmeling and Louis at the weigh-in, 18 June 1936
(Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo) 198
Fig. 5.3 The moment of victory for Max Schmeling, 19 June
1936 (Press Association) 203
Fig. 5.4 The Schmelings (Max, Anny ondra and his mother)
meet Hitler following his victory against Joe Louis.
The photograph appeared in the magazine,
Illustrierter Film Kurier (United Archives GmbH /
Alamy Stock Photo) 207
Fig. 5.5 Promotional advertisement for the film Max Schmelings
Sieg - ein deutscher Sieg (1936), published in the magazine
Illustrierter Film Kurier (United Archives GmbH /
Alamy Stock Photo) 210
Fig. 6.1 Max Schmeling promoting his newly founded soft drinks
venture in September 1957 (Press Association) 271
ix
x LIST oF FIGURES
Fig. 6.2 Max Schmeling and Joe Louis at their first post-war
reunion in 1954 (Everett Collection Historical /
Alamy Stock Photo) 282
Fig. 6.3 (L-R) Henry Maske, Carsten Eggers and wladimir
Klitschko at the unveiling of the memorial to Max
Schmeling in Hollenstedt, 2010 (European Pressphoto
Agency b. v. / Alamy Stock Photo) 293