Adolf Metzner

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameKarl-Adolf•Metzner
Used nameAdolf•Metzner
Born25 April 1910 in Frankenthal, Rheinland-Pfalz (GER)
Died5 March 1978 in Hamburg, Hamburg (GER)
Measurements180 cm / 80 kg
AffiliationsEintracht Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main (GER)
NOC Germany

Biography

Adolf Metzner was 1934 European Champion in the 400 metres and 4x400 relay. He was eliminated in Los Angeles in the second round of the 400 and finished fourth with the 4x400 m relay team. Metzner was German Champion in 1931, 1932 and 1934 in the 400, and in 1936-37 with the 4x100 relay. He set three world records: 1928 in the 4x100 m relay, 1931 in the 10x100 m relay, and 1929 in the decathlon. Metzner participated in 16 international matches.

From 1938-42 he was Chairman of his home club SG Eintracht Frankfurt. A medical doctor, Metzner was a highly ranked physician in the Nazi Party and the SS (Hauptsturmführer in 1942), which was the reason for hiding himself after World War II in Holstein until 1947. In the de-Nazification processes by the Allied Armies after the war, he concealed his activities in the SS and the Nazi Party and was given only a 50 German Mark sentence.

From 1951-67 Metzner was chairman of the Association of Former Athletes. In 1971 he was appointed professor after having previously worked for many years as a research assistant at the Institute of Physical Education at the University of Hamburg, where he and Dr. Ernst Gadermann developed the first electrocardiograms. With the weekly newspaper Die Zeit (The Times), Metzner helped build a team of sports reporters in 1961, and he contributed for many years. The “Adolf-Metzner-Park” and the “Adolf-Metzner Music Prize” were named after him in his hometown of Frankenthal. In 1982 he founded the “Adolf Metzner Foundation” in Frankenthal to promote cultural and social institutions.

Personal Best: 400 – 47.8 (1932).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1932 Summer Olympics Athletics GER Adolf Metzner
400 metres, Men (Olympic) 6 h3 r2/4
4 × 400 metres Relay, Men (Olympic) Germany 4
1936 Summer Olympics Athletics GER Adolf Metzner
400 metres, Men (Olympic) DNS h3 r2/4
4 × 400 metres Relay, Men (Olympic) Germany DNS

Special Notes