page_title: Max Schmeling
section_title: Cultural references
hierarchical_section_title: Max Schmeling / Cultural references
caption_attribution_description: English: Max Schmeling monument with sculptor Carsten Eggers and box-champions Henry Maske (l.)and Wladimir Klitschko (r.)after unveiling of the artwork in Germany Deutsch: Max Schmeling Denkmal mit Bildhauer Carsten Eggers (Mitte), Ex-Boxer Henry Maske und Schwergewichts-Weltmeister Wladimir Klitschko nach der Enthüllung des Kunstwerks in Hollenstedt
context_page_description: Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cultural events because of their national associations. Schmeling is the only boxer to win the world heavyweight championship on a foul.
  Starting his professional career in 1924, Schmeling went to the United States in 1928 and, after a ninth-round technical knockout of Johnny Risko, became a sensation. He became the first to win the heavyweight championship by disqualification in 1930, after opponent Jack Sharkey knocked him down with a low blow in the fourth round. Schmeling retained his crown successfully in 1931 by a technical knockout victory over Young Stribling. A rematch in 1932 with Sharkey saw the American gaining the title from Schmeling by a controversial fifteen-round split decision. In 1933, Schmeling lost to Max Baer by a tenth-round technical knockout. The loss left people believing that Schmeling was past his prime. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party took over control in Germany, and Schmeling, although he has never joined NSDAP, came to be viewed as a Nazi puppet.
context_section_description: Schmeling lived in Stettin, Germany (now known as Szczecin, Poland); a band from this city, the Analogs, recorded the song "Max Schmeling" on their album Hlaskover rock (2000).
  In a season 9 or 10 episode of "Law and Order", Schmeling's name is mentioned when the detectives are looking for a certain gun. The man who is supposed to own it is a fighter from the 1930s who went the distance with Schmeling in 1937.
  Schmeling briefly appears as himself in the film The Zurich Engagement (1957)
  The American-German film Joe and Max (2002) tells the true story of Joe Louis and Max Schmeling and their enduring friendship.
  In the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Joe Kavalier is beaten up by someone who may or may not have been Max Schmeling. The author hints that it probably wasn't, as Schmeling should have been fighting in Poland at the time.
  In Rocky IV, the climactic fight between American Rocky Balboa and Russian Ivan Drago was inspired by the bout between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, just updated to reflect Cold War relationships.
  Schmeling also appears as a character in the opera, Shadowboxer, based on the life of Joe Louis.
  Schmeling figures prominently in the 2010 novel by P.F. Kluge A Call From Jersey.
  In a novel by Curzio Malaparte, Kaputt (1944), Schmeling figures prominently in the chapter "Cricket in Poland" depicting a gathering in February 1942 hosted by Governor-General Dr. Hans Frank in the Belvedere palace in Warsaw.
  Schmeling's role as a paratrooper in World War II is mentioned in the Gunter Grass novel The Tin Drum (1959).
  Schmeling is the central figure in the stage play, The Measure of a Man, written by Brian C. Petti.
  For the film Max Schmeling – Eine deutsche Legende (2010) another former boxing champion, who moreover had known him, played Max Schmeling: Henry Maske.
  The novel, The Berlin Boxing Club (2011) by Robert Sharenow, set in 1930s Berlin, features Schmeling heavily as the character who introduces a young Jewish boy to boxing, and later plays a larger role.
  The Voyagers! episode "All Fall Down" depicts his second fight with Joe Louis. The series' time travelling protagonists Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones convinced Louis not to back out of the fight and witnessed his victory over Schmeling in Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1938.
  In season 1, episode 9 of "Babylon Berlin", the character of Bruno makes a reference to Max Schmeling in referring to a pair of old boxing gloves: "You've found my gloves. Come with me, little Schmeling."
  Schmelling is mentioned in the song Ambling Alp by indie-band Yeasayer, "Oh Max Schmelling was a formidable foe, Ambling Alp was too at least that's what I'm told"
caption: Henry Maske and Wladimir Klitschko, after the unveiling of the Max Schmeling monument in Hollenstedt on 21 May 2010
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