Kurt HELBIG

In addition to his Olympic lightweight gold medal, Kurt Helbig set seven lightweight and middleweight world records from 1925-30 – one in the snatch, two in the clean & jerk, and four in the total. Kurt Helbig’s other career was a butcher, but from 1922 to 1937 he had difficulty finding work. After his 1928 Olympic victory he was awarded 100 Reichsmark, which led to the cancellation of his unemployment benefits for eight weeks. In 1932 he could not take part in the Olympics, although he was qualified, as his federation did not have the money to pay his expenses for the trip to Los Angeles.

In 1951 he became one of the foundation members of the Eastern German NOC. He later became a fulltime employee at the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry of State Security) at Plauen. The Kurt-Helbig-Hall and Kurt-Helbig-Place at Plauen were named in his honor. His son Kurt, Jr. became national middleweight champion in 1956.