Breslau, July 20–22, 1929
The German Athletics Championships of 1929 were held in the men's category in Breslau, now Wrocław, Poland, during the latter half of July. The hot weather may have impacted results in some events.
The sole double winner of the championships was Emil Hirschfeld, who had somewhat surprisingly taken "only" silver in the shot put at the Amsterdam Olympics. In Breslau, the sergeant claimed victories in both the shot put and discus. In the discus throw, he bested none other than the formidable Hans Hoffmeister.
A world-class performance came from Joachim Büchner, Amsterdam’s bronze medallist, in the 400m. His winning time of 48.1 seconds placed him in a tie for fourth in the 1929 world rankings.
The 200m featured a thrilling battle. Dr. Friedrich Wichmann (gold, 21.5) and Eugen Eldracher (silver, 21.5) dashed neck and neck towards the tape, while Amsterdam finalist Helmut Körnig wasn’t far behind (bronze, 21.6).
An equally fierce contest unfolded in the 800, where Berlin's Fredy Müller narrowly edged out the famous Otto Peltzer by a fraction of a second. Peltzer had led into the final bend but was overtaken at the homestretch. Both clocked a time of 1:53.8. Similarly, in the sprint hurdles, young talents began to threaten the veterans: Willi Welscher edged Heinrich Trossbach, both recording 15.0.
Two German records were broken. Albert Kilp of Düsseldorf clocked an even 15:00.0 in the 5000, while Gustav Wegner came within a centimetre of the 4-metre barrier in the pole vault.
German athletics began to noticeably improve towards the end of the 1920s. “The Germans are now capable of competing successfully even against the Americans,” praised the newspaper Uusi Suomi in Finland.
Medallists (Wikipedia)
Helsingin Sanomat, July 22, 1929 (in Finnish)
Uusi Suomi, July 23, 1929 (in Finnish)