Manfred von Brauchitsch
Manfred Georg Rudolf von Brauchitsch ( born August 15, 1905 in Hamburg, † 5 February 2003 in Gräfenwarth ( Schleiz ), Thuringia ) was a German racing driver and sports official.
Family
He came from the old Silesian noble family of the von Brauchitsch, and was the son of a Prussian officer Viktor von Brauchitsch (1864-1925) and Olga, born of Bomsdorff ( 1873-1954 ). In his first marriage he married on 27 December 1946 in Starnberg Gisela Hundt ( 1918-1957 ). His second wife he married after his escape in the GDR on November 22, 1958 Lieselotte Schneider ( 1918-2003 ).
Life
Brauchitsch had the nickname " unlucky " because he as a racer was fast but was repeatedly brought by unfortunate circumstances for victories or good rankings. Part of the pitch he had, however, himself attributed, as he dealt very mercilessly with its vehicles. His first race denied Brauchitsch in a private Mercedes -Benz SSK (model series W 06 ) of his cousin Hans Zimmermann, Nischwitz. 1934 to 1939 he belonged to the works team of the manufacturer. Despite his proverbial bad luck he reached some great victories such as the Grand Prix of Monaco in 1937 or 1938 at the Grand Prix of France. To this day, he holds the track record of the discharged 1913-1934 Fork creek race.
From 1940 to 1943 he was personal assistant to the Junkers leaders Heinrich Koppenberg and had the rank of a storm leader in the National Socialist Motor Corps. 1944 to 1945 he was a speaker at the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production under Albert Speer. 1945 moved Brauchitsch at Lake Starnberg. 1948 to 1950 he was the first president of the Automobile Club of Germany ( AVD ). 1949 to 1950 he lived in Argentina, but could not build on his success there. In March 1950, he returned to Germany.
The now financially destitute Brauchitsch met several times with Walter Ulbricht, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, and settled in March 1951 as Chairman of the "West German Committee for Unity and Freedom in German Sport " option. After his autobiography was published in an East Berlin Verlag and the State Security of the Federal Republic of Germany had made inquiries about the sports committee, he was indicted in September 1953 for treason, secret societies and sedition and was for eight months in prison. Shortly before the trial, at the Bavarian Higher Regional Court, he left New Year's Eve 1954 his first wife Gisela and fled to East Germany, where he worked as a sports official.
Brauchitsch was 1957-1960 President of the General German Motorsport Association ( ADMV ) and 1960-1990 President of the Society for the Promotion of Olympism. In the latter capacity he operated mainly sponsorship for the GDR Olympic teams.
He was honored three times with the Patriotic Order of Merit of the German Democratic Republic and received the 1988 " Olympic Order " of the IOC.
The " Unlucky " died in 2003 at the age of 97 years in the small village Gräfenwarth Schleiz which he had ultimately luckier than many of his racing colleagues who lost their lives at a young age on the road.
A good example of this is the Grand Prix of Germany, which took place on 24 July 1938 on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. At the pit stop he got through spilled fuel in his car in flames. Brauchitsch was drawn by racing manager Alfred Neubauer out of the car and cleared the burning jumpsuit. When the fire was smothered to Brauchitsch sat back in the car. The steering wheel was attached and he rejoined the race again. At the next bump dissolved at about 190 km / h the steering wheel. In the following accident Brauchitsch was uninjured, although the car was badly damaged. Given the then low safety standards a great happiness.
Writings
- Fight with 500 hp. 2nd edition. Siegismund, Berlin 1940
- Struggle to meters and seconds. 3rd edition. Publisher of the nation, Berlin 1955
- Without struggle, no victory. 3rd edition. Publisher of the nation, Berlin 1966