# Germany at the Paralympics

Germany (GER) participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of nine athletes. The country, since 1949 officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was until 1990 also called West Germany while the separate East German Democratic Republic (GDR) existed, which was recognized by the IOC only after 1964. East German athletes, however, participated in the Paralympics for the first and last time in 1984. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, athletes from all of Germany compete simply as Germany (GER) again.
Germany has participated in every edition of the Summer Paralympics, and has also taken part in every edition of the Winter Paralympics, from the first in 1976. Germany was the host country of the 1972 Summer Paralympics, in Heidelberg.
East Germany, West Germany and Germany have won a total of 1915 Paralympic medals, of which 658 gold, 649 silver and 609 bronze. This is more than any country other than the United States and Great Britain. The International Paralympic Committee, however, maintains separate records for "West Germany" (1960–88) and "Germany" (1992–present), due to their separate IPC codes, giving West Germany a total of 938 medals (354 golds), and Germany a total of 973 (304 golds). This places the "two countries" seventh and eighth, respectively, on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table - behind the United States, Great Britain, China, France, Canada, and Australia.
Germany has consistently been one of the world's strongest nations at the Paralympics. Prior to 2008, at the Summer Games, it had always been among the top ten on the medal tables, and was within the top three on six occasions. In 2008,they finished in the 11th place. At the Winter Games, Germany has always been among the top three, except in 1980 (7th), 1984 (4th) and 2018 (5th). It topped the medal table at the 1972 Summer Paralympics (which it hosted), and the 1976, 2002 and 2010 Winter Games.
Among Germany's most successful Paralympians are
* Reinhild Möller, winner of 19 medals (of which 16 gold) in alpine skiing, and 4 medals (of which 3 are gold) in athletics
* Claudia Hengst: 25 medals (of which 13 gold) in swimming
* Gerd Schönfelder: 17 medals (of which 12 gold) in alpine skiing
* Frank Höfle: 17 medals (of which 10 gold) in cross-country skiing.

## Medal tallies

These tallies include the results for both "Germany" and "West Germany". They do not include the four medals of East Germany at the Paralympics.

### Summer Paralympics

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Ranking |
| Rome 1960 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 3rd |
| Tokyo 1964 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 9th |
| Tel Aviv 1968 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 35 | 6th |
| Heidelberg 1972 | 28 | 17 | 22 | 67 | 1st |
| Toronto 1976 | 37 | 34 | 26 | 97 | 4th |
| Arnhem 1980 | 68 | 48 | 46 | 161 | 3rd |
| Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 | 81 | 76 | 75 | 232 | 5th |
| Seoul 1988 | 76 | 65 | 52 | 193 | 2nd |
| Barcelona 1992 | 61 | 51 | 59 | 171 | 2nd |
| Atlanta 1996 | 40 | 58 | 51 | 149 | 3rd |
| Sydney 2000 | 16 | 41 | 38 | 95 | 10th |
| Athens 2004 | 19 | 28 | 31 | 78 | 8th |
| Beijing 2008 | 14 | 25 | 20 | 59 | 11th |
| London 2012 | 18 | 26 | 22 | 66 | 8th |
| Rio de Janeiro 2016 | 18 | 25 | 14 | 57 | 6th |
| Tokyo 2020 | 13 | 12 | 18 | 43 | 12th |
| Paris 2024 | 10 | 14 | 25 | 49 | 11th |
| Los Angeles 2028 | future event | future event | future event | future event | future event |
| Total | 531 | 540 | 524 | 1595 | 4th |

### Winter Paralympics

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Ranking |
| Örnsköldsvik 1976 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 28 | 1st |
| Geilo 1980 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 7th |
| Innsbruck 1984 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 34 | 4th |
| Innsbruck 1988 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 30 | 3rd |
| Albertville & Tignes 1992 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 38 | 2nd |
| Lillehammer 1994 | 25 | 21 | 18 | 64 | 2nd |
| Nagano 1998 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 44 | 2nd |
| Salt Lake City 2002 | 17 | 1 | 15 | 33 | 1st |
| Turin 2006 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 2nd |
| Vancouver 2010 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 1st |
| Sochi 2014 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 2nd |
| Pyeongchang 2018 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 5th |
| Beijing 2022 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 7th |
| Total | 141 | 130 | 113 | 384 | 1st |

## Records

These records include West Germany at the Paralympics.

### Summer Paralympics

Active athletes are in bold.

#### Multi medalists

German athletes who have won more than three golds or more than five medals.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Claudia Hengst | Swimming | 1988-2004 | 5 | F | 13 | 4 | 8 | 25 |
| 2 | Marianne Buggenhagen | Athletics | 1992-2016 | 7 | F | 9 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Jochen Wollmert | Table tennis | 1992-2012 | 6 | M | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | Robert Figl | Athletics | 1988-2004 | 5 | M | 5 | 1 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | Wojtek Czyz | Athletics | 2004-2012 | 3 | M | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Heinrich Köberle | Athletics | 1984-2000 | 5 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Peter Haber | Athletics | 1992-2000 | 3 | M | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| 7 | Martina Willing | Athletics | 1992-2016 | 7 | F | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| 8 | Daniela Schulte | Swimming | 1996-2012 | 5 | F | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Britta Jänicke | Athletics | 1988-2000 | 4 | F | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Jessica Sachse | Athletics | 1988-2004 | 5 | F | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 11 | Ramona Brussig | Judo | 2004-2016 | 4 | F | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | Horst Beyer | Athletics | 1992-2000 | 3 | M | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 13 | Jörg Frischmann | Athletics | 1992-2000 | 3 | M | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |

#### Multi medalists at single Games

German athletes who have won more than two golds at a single Games. Categorised by medals earned, sports then year.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Year | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Claudia Hengst | Swimming | 1988 | F | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Marianne Buggenhagen | Athletics | 1992 | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Jessica Sachse | Athletics | 1992 | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Multi medals at single event

German athletes who have won more than two golds at a single event in the Summer Paralympics. Categorised by medals earned, sports then gold medals earned.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Event | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Heinrich Köberle | Athletics | Marathon | 1984-2000 | 5 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Jochen Wollmert | Table tennis | Singles | 1992-2012 | 6 | M | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Marianne Buggenhagen | Athletics | Discus throw | 1992-2016 | 7 | F | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Siegmund Hegeholz | Athletics | Javelin throw | 1992-2004 | 4 | M | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |

#### Most appearances

German athletes who have competed in four or more Paralympic Games. Aged under 15 or over 40 are in bold.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Birth Year | Games Years | First/Last Age | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Marianne Buggenhagen | Athletics | 1953 | 1992-2016 | 39 - 63 | F | 9 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Martina Willing | Athletics | 1959 | 1992-2020 | 33 - 61 | F | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Heinrich Köberle | Athletics | 1946 | 1984-2000 | 38 - 54 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Jochen Wollmert | Table tennis | 1964 | 1992-2012 | 28 - 48 | M | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Robert Figl | Athletics | 1967 | 1988-2004 | 21 - 37 | M | 5 | 1 | 6 | 12 |

### Winter Paralympics
#### Multi medalists

German athletes who have won three gold medals or more than five medals.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Gerd Schönfelder | Alpine skiing | 1992-2010 | 6 | M | 16 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
| 2 | Reinhild Möller | Alpine skiing | 1980-2006 | 8 | F | 16 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| 3 | Frank Höfle | Biathlon Cross-country skiing | 1988-2002 | 5 | M | 13 | 5 | 3 | 21 |
| 4 | Verena Bentele | Biathlon Cross-country skiing | 1998-2010 | 4 | F | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 5 | Martin Braxenthaler | Alpine skiing | 1998-2010 | 4 | M | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 6 | Anna Schaffelhuber | Alpine skiing | 2010-2018 | 3 | F | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 7 | Thomas Oelsner | Biathlon | 1994-2006 | 4 | M | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | Andrea Rothfuss | Alpine skiing | 2006-2018 | 4 | F | 1 | 9 | 3 | 12 |

#### Multi medals at single Games

German athletes who have won two golds in a single Games. Categorised by medals earned, sports then year.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Year | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Verena Bentele | Biathlon Cross-country skiing | 2010 | F | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1 | Anna Schaffelhuber | Alpine skiing | 2014 | F | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Gerd Schönfelder | Alpine skiing | 2010 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |

#### Multi medals at single event

German athletes who have won two golds in a single event in the Winter Paralympics. Categorised by medals earned, sports then gold medals earned.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Event | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Frank Höfle | Biathlon | 7.5km | 1992-2002 | 4 | M | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |

#### Most appearances

German athletes who have competed in four or more Winter Paralympic Games. Ages under 15 or over 40 are in bold.
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Birth Year | Games Years | First/Last Age | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Reinhild Möller | Alpine skiing | 1956 | 1980-2006 | 24 - 50 | F | 16 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| 2 | Gerd Schönfelder | Alpine skiing | 1970 | 1992-2010 | 22 - 40 | M | 16 | 4 | 2 | 22 |