Thursday, January 4, 2018

Sporty lads of Vienna ... 1933

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We'll here's a handsome bunch. Don't they look so much better than the overdeveloped Californian gym-rats of modern times? They look like men. Healthy, natural men ....

Edith Goodman and Fritzl Ganzl

Physical fitness classes were becoming popular in the Viennese 1930s. Physical fitness not necessarily with sport competition in mind, but for its own sake. My father, studying medicine at Vienna University, had lectures from the celebrated Professor Alexander, and was an early devotee ...


He even started up a series of fitness classes, in collaboration with a lady partner as 'Friedl Gallas'.




So here are 
Row 1: Herren Egon Schmidt. Thomas Mehl, Foldi (?), Kremsmayer, Höfler, Spielvogel,  Aussler, Kattner (?), Pavlik, Meinhardt, Gottfried, Schmidseder, Meier Schmidt, Krenn plus Herr Kopp (trainer)
Row 2: Herren Dorrer (?), Topolansky, Proksch, Birkmayer and Schilder
Row 3: Streizowsky, Blauhus, Ganzl otherwise Gallas, Wolfgang, Rauscher and Czerny photographed in their youthful splendour on 6 June 1933 ..

No machines in those days ... all manpower

Fritz

PS There were two Pavlik brothers who played for the White Star football team around this date: I guess this is one of them. And there's a Topolansky competing in athletics for the WAF, discus, shot and .. relay! And can that be Alfred Proksch the Austrian champion Stabhochspringer (pole-vaulter)? Or is it Proksch the decathlete? Oh! they're the same man. Anyway he came sixth in the Olympics, became a personage, and lived to over 100! Of course, it may more probably be one of his brothers.

Alfred Proksch

There's an Egon Schmidt competing in Ice-Skating events in Vienna in the 1920s ...  ah well ...



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