Fritz SCHAFER

German welterweight wrestler Fritz Schäfer won the silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the Greco-Roman style, losing the final to Sweden’s Rudolf Svedberg. This was a re-match of the 1935 European final, also won by Svedberg, who again defeated Schäfer to win the gold medal, but only by a 2-1 decision. Schäfer was runner-up at the 1935 Europeans in both Greco-Roman and freestyle, but in 1937 he won the Europeans in both styles, and at Greco-Roman in both 1938 and 1939. He won eight German Greco-Roman titles in 1934-35, 1937-40 and 1942-43. He was also German freestyle champion six times in 1935, 1937-38, 1940 and 1942-43.

Schäfer trained as a butcher and was deployed as such during World War II. He was declared missing in action in North Africa at the end of World War II. He had, however, been in French captivity since 1943. He later joined the Foreign Legion in 1952, and then fought in Indochina and Algeria. He settled in Metz, France, and was officially considered lost in Germany. In 1972 he returned destitute to Ludwigshafen and died a year later.