Charles Buchwald

Charles Buchwald was – together with Oscar Nielsen – one of only two Danish football players who competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games as well as in the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games winning gold (in 1906) and silver (in 1908 and 1912). They are two of only three men, thru 2024, with three Olympic football medals, along with Dezső Novák (HUN/1960-68), although the IOC does not recognize the 1906 medals.

Buchwald played for the Akademisk Boldklub (AB) and Østerbros Boldklub (ØB) both in København (Copenhagen). He helped AB win the Dansk Boldspil-Union’s (Danish Football Association, DBU) championship tournament in 1899 and 1900. For this club he played 38 league matches between 1903 and 1913 and was later made an honorary member. In 1913 he transferred to ØB. Buchwald mostly played as a centre-half but also as forward and defender and even goalkeeper in his early days.

Buchwald represented the unofficial Danish national team consisting of players only from Københavns Boldspil-Union (Copenhagen Football Union, KBU) at the 1906 Intercalated Games at Athens. Denmark won the tournament easily against local Greek teams. After two hands-down victories against the two French teams at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Denmark lost 2-0 to Great Britain (England) in the final and won silver. At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Denmark had a bye in round one and defeated Norway and the Netherlands convincingly to reach the final. Here they lost 4-2 to Great Britain (England) winning Olympic silver. Buchwald played in all eight games for the Danish team during the three tournaments. In the 1912 final against Great Britain, however, he dislocated his elbow and had to retire after 30 minutes of play. As the rules at the time did not allow substitutions, Denmark finished the match with one man less. In total, Buchwald earned seven caps from 1908-12 without scoring. He was also active as a referee and officiated four international matches between 1910 and 1913.

However, Buchwald was even better known as a cricketer and the absolute best batsman of his time in Denmark. Buchwald played for AB from 1896-1929 and scored 9,758 points, an average of 49.84. He took a total of 223 wickets, an average of 8.84, and scored 28 centuries, the biggest being 205 not out. He was also a first-class fielder and a skilled pitcher.

Buchwald’s father was the owner of the Friisholt estate in Denmark’s Central Jutland Region. Charles graduated from Østerbro’s Latin and Realskole in 1898 and earned a Master of Laws in 1905. Subsequently, he worked as deputy bailiff in Horsens and legal assistant in København. From 1908, he worked for the Ministry of Public Works, initially as an assistant, from 1916 as a commissioner, and from 1926 as head of office. He dropped his license to practise, which he had obtained in 1919. In 1927, he was appointed Knight of the Dannebrog and in 1932 he was additionally awarded the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog. Buchwald retired from public service in 1942. In 1914 he married Ebba Hilarius-Kalkau, the daughter of Harald Hilarius-Kalkau, chairman of the DBU. The couple had one son.