Bookstore Glossary Library Links News Publications Timeline Virtual Israel Experience
Anti-Semitism Biography History Holocaust Israel Israel Education Myths & Facts Politics Religion Travel US & Israel Vital Stats Women
donate subscribe Contact About Home

Hans von Tschammer und Osten

(1887 - 1943)

Hans von Tschammer und Osten became an SA colonel of the Nazi Party in 1931. He was a leader of the SA-Group Centre and a member of the Reichstag, but his most well-known position was his role as Reich Sport Leader.

Von Tschammer und Osten's job was to enhance the physical activity and athleticism of Germans. Aesthetic beauty was honored during the Third Reich, and von Tschammer und Osten implemented a policy of racial exclusion within sports. Jewish athletes were prohibited from participation in national sporting events.

Athleticism and fitness became so important that certain jobs, and all universities, required a certain amount of physical activity as part of the application process. Sporting events became a source of national pride for the Germans.

Von Tschammer also helped to coordinate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He died in March 1943.


Sources: Wistrich, Robert S. Who's Who in Nazi Germany. NY: Routledge Press, 1995