# Germany at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Germany competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 205 competitors, 173 men and 32 women, took part in 123 events in 18 sports.
Germany had not been invited to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain because of their role in World War II, and because their NOC restored in 1947 did not represent a recognized state yet, which was founded in 1949. Germany took part in the 1952 Winter Olympics, with the GDR declining to cooperate and form a United German team as required by the IOC, joining only in 1956 and later. On the other hand, the French-occupied Saar protectorate had to send a separate team, but could join for 1956. As a result, the team for the 1952 Summer Games was de facto representing West Germany.
This event marked the first time, and as of the 2024 Summer Olympics only time, Germany failed to win a gold medal in a Summer Olympics they competed in. As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Germany's 24 medals is the highest number of total medals won at an Olympic Games without winning a gold medal.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
| Silver | Helga Klein Ursula Knab Marga Petersen Maria Sander | Athletics | Women's 4 × 100 m Relay |
| Silver | Karl Storch | Athletics | Men's Hammer Throw |
| Silver | Marianne Werner | Athletics | Women's Shot Put |
| Silver | Edgar Basel | Boxing | Men's Flyweight |
| Silver | Otto Rothe Klaus Wagner Willi Büsing | Equestrian | Team Eventing |
| Silver | Alfred Schwarzmann | Gymnastics | Men's Horizontal Bar |
| Silver | Heinz Manchen Helmut Heinhold Helmut Noll | Rowing | Men's Coxed Pairs |
| Bronze | Heinz Ulzheimer | Athletics | Men's 800m |
| Bronze | Maria Sander | Athletics | Women's 80m Hurdles |
| Bronze | Herbert Schade | Athletics | Men's 5000m |
| Bronze | Günther Steines Hans Geister Heinz Ulzheimer Karl-Friedrich Haas | Athletics | Men's 4 × 400 m Relay |
| Bronze | Werner Lueg | Athletics | Men's 1500m |
| Bronze | Günther Heidemann | Boxing | Men's Welterweight |
| Bronze | Michael Scheuer | Canoeing | Men's K-1 10000m |
| Bronze | Egon Drews Wilfried Soltau | Canoeing | Men's C-2 1000m |
| Bronze | Egon Drews Wilfried Soltau | Canoeing | Men's C-2 10000m |
| Bronze | Edi Ziegler | Cycling | Men's Road Race |
| Bronze | Werner Potzernheim | Cycling | Men's Sprint |
| Bronze | Günther Haase | Diving | Men's 10m Platform |
| Bronze | Heinz Pollay Ida von Nagel Fritz Thiedemann | Equestrian | Team Dressage |
| Bronze | Fritz Thiedemann | Equestrian | Individual Jumping |
| Bronze | Willi Büsing | Equestrian | Individual Eventing |
| Bronze | Theodor Thomsen Erich Natusch Georg Nowka | Sailing | Dragon Class |
| Bronze | Herbert Klein | Swimming | Men's 200m Breaststroke |

## Cycling
### Road Competition

Men's Individual Road Race (190.4 km)
* Edi Ziegler — 5:07:47.5 (→ Bronze Medal)
* Oskar Zeissner — 5:11:18.5 (→ 8th place)
* Paul Maue — 5:24:44.5 (→ 48th place)
* Walter Becker — did not finish (→ no ranking)

### Track Competition

Men's 1.000m Sprint Scratch Race
* Werner Potzernheim — Bronze Medal

## Diving

Men's 3m Springboard
* Hans Aderhold
   * Preliminary Round — 67.09 points (→ 11th place)
* Werner Sobeck
   * Preliminary Round — 66.75 points (→ 12th place)

## Fencing

Nine fencers, eight men and one woman, represented Germany in 1952.

### Men's foil

* Norman Casmir
* Kurt Wahl
* Julius Eisenecker

### Men's team foil

* Willy Fascher, Kurt Wahl, Norman Casmir, Julius Eisenecker, Siegfried Rossner

### Men's épée

* Erwin Kroggel

### Men's sabre

* Willy Fascher
* Hans Esser
* Richard Liebscher

### Men's team sabre

* Siegfried Rossner, Willy Fascher, Hans Esser, Richard Liebscher

### Women's foil

* Lilo Allgayer

## Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Germany in 1952.

### Individual

* Berthold Slupik
* Dietloff Kapp
* Adolf Harder

### Team

* Berthold Slupik
* Dietloff Kapp
* Adolf Harder

## Rowing

Germany had 21 male rowers participate in five out of seven rowing events in 1952.

### Men's double sculls

* Waldemar Beck
* Gerhard Füßmann

### Men's coxless pair

* Heinz Renneberg
* Heinz Eichholz

### Men's coxed pair

* Heinz Manchen
* Helmut Heinhold
* Helmut Noll (cox)

### Men's coxed four

* Günter Twiesselmann
* Klaus Schulze
* Heinz Beyer
* Gerd Vogeley
* Hans Joachim Wiemken (cox)

### Men's eight

* Anton Reinartz
* Michael Reinartz
* Roland Freihoff
* Heinz Zünkler
* Peter Betz
* Stefan Reinartz
* Hans Betz
* Toni Siebenhaar
* Hermann Zander (cox)

## Shooting

Six shooters represented Germany in 1952.

### 25 m pistol

* Ludwig Leupold
* Paul Wehner

### 50 m pistol

* Fritz Krempel

### 50 m rifle, three positions

* Erich Spörer
* Albert Sigl

### 50 m rifle, prone

* Erich Spörer
* Albert Sigl

### Trap

* Kurt Schöbel

## Wrestling
### Men's flyweight

   * Heini Weber

### Men's bantamweight

   * Ferdinand Schmitz

### Men's featherweight

   * Rolf Ellerbrock

### Men's lightweight

   * Heini Nettesheim

### Men's welterweight

   * Anton Mackowiak

### Men's middleweight

   * Gustav Gocke

### Men's light-heavyweight

   * Max Leichter

### Men's heavyweight

   * Willi Waltner