East German Figure Skating Championships
The East German Figure Skating Championships were an annual figure skating competition organized by the Ice Skating Association of East Germany to crown the national champions of East Germany. The first championships held after the partition of Germany took place in 1949 in Oberhof. They were held regularly between 1949 and 1990, at which point East Germany was reunited with West Germany.
Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior and junior levels, although not every discipline was held every year due to a lack of participants. Jan Hoffmann holds the record for winning the most East German Championship titles in men's singles, while Gabriele Seyfert holds the record in women's singles. The record in pair skating is held by Heinz-Ulrich Walther, although those were not all won with the same partner. Annerose Baier and Eberhard Rüger hold the record in ice dance.
History
Following the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945 and its defeat in World War II, Germany was divided between the Western Bloc led by the United States and the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union. Two separate German countries emerged: the Federal Republic of Germany, also known as West Germany; and the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany.The first figure skating championships held in the east after the division of Germany took place in 1949 in Oberhof and were called the East Zone Championships. The East German Figure Skating Championships were held annually from 1949 to 1990, except for 1957. Ice dance was added as an event in 1954. During this same time period, separate figure skating championships were held in West Germany; those results are considered the historic results of the German Figure Skating Championships.
The dissolution of East Germany occurred on 3 October 1990, leading to its reintegration into the Federal Republic of Germany to form present-day Germany. Following the reunification of Germany, East German skaters began competing at the German Championships, and many former East German skaters became champions of the newly reunified Germany, including Mirko Eichhorn, Alexander König, René Lohse, Axel Rauschenbach, Peggy Schwarz, Ingo Steuer, Kati Winkler, and Ronny Winkler.
Senior medalists
Ice dance
Kati Winkler and René Lohse originally trained in single skating, but switched to ice dance after an injury prevented Winkler from executing the necessary jumps. In an interview, Lohse stated: "It was a hard time, because for eighteen years, there was no ice dancing in East Germany and we were the first who started it again.";Note