Hans von Tschammer und Osten Hans von Tschammer und Osten ( 25 October 1887 in Dresden , Kingdom of Saxony - 25 March 1943 ) was a German sport official , SA leader and a member of the Reichstag for the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany . He was married to Sophie Margarethe von Carlowitz . Hans von Tschammer und Osten led the German Sports Office " Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen " ( DRA ) " German Reich Commission for Physical Exercise " after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 . In July the same year Hans von Tschammer took the title of " Reichssportführer " , " Reich Sports Leader " , and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his control . He re - established the organization he led , transforming it into the Sports governing body of the Third Reich , " Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen " ( DRL ) " Sports League of the German Reich " . In 1937 it was renamed " Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen " " National - Socialist Sports League of the German Reich " . von Tschammer held the high - profile post of " Reichssportführer " until his death in 1943 . The name of today ' s DFB - Pokal , Deutscher Fußball - Bund - Pokal " German Football - Federation Cup " , first contested in the 1934 - 35 season during von Tschammer ' s tenure as " Reichssportführer " , was known as " Hans von Tschammer und Osten - Pokal " ( " Tschammerpokal " ) until it was last played in Nazi Germany in 1943 . Many other innovative improvements regarding the organization of sports events that von Tschammer ' s formidable Reich Sports Organ introduced , like the Olympic torch relay , are still in use today . Biography . Hans von Tschammer und Osten was born in a family of landed gentry . After receiving a traditional upper - class education he went to fight to the front in the First World War . During the times of the Weimar Republic he joined the SA , becoming a " Gruppenführer " , " Group Leader " , rising up to become a colonel of the paramilitary organization and later a member of the Reichstag . Von Tschammer was named " Reichskommissar für Turnen und Sport " ( Commissioner for Gym and Sports of the Reich ) of the German Sports Office " Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen " ( DRA ) on the 19th July 1933 . Although he had been a relatively unknown figure in German sports , Von Tschammer saw as his goal the use of sports " " to improve the morale and productivity of German workers . " " Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities . After Adolf Hitler ' s accession to power , von Tschammer disbanded the DRA , branded as a " bourgeois entity " , on the 5th May 1933 ( officially the 10th May ) and re - established it as a Nazi - oriented organization , the " Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen " ( DRL ) . Von Tschammer was an active and able promoter of sports in Nazi Germany . He instituted the present - day German Football - Federation Cup . He also commissioned the publication of " Sport und Staat " ( Sports and State ) , a massive four - volume Nazi propaganda report on the organized sports activities in the Third Reich . " Sport und Staat " was made by Arno Breitmeyer and Hitler ' s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann . This lavishly illustrated work had many pictures and information about the various Nazi organizations , i . e . SA , NSKK , Bund Deutscher Mädel , Hitler Jugend , etc . Printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds , a branch of the DRL , only volume one and two of a planned series of four volumes were published . The aims of the promotion of sports in the Third Reich included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of a wider national purpose . This was in line with the ideals of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , the " Father of physical exercises " , who connected the steeling of one ' s own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified , strong Germany . A more controversial aim was the demonstration of Aryan physical superiority . Hans von Tschammer und Osten enjoyed the Nazi sports festivals in which he took a keen interest as organizer . He appears often as spectator in white suit during the massive displays of Nazi pageantry . The Summer Olympics in Berlin were held during von Tschammer ' s tenure as " Reichssportführer " . He played a major role in the structure and organization of the Olympic Games together with Carl Diem , who was the former secretary of the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen ( DRA ) . Von Tschammer trusted the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch - Partenkirchen to Karl Ritter von Halt , whom he named President of the Committee for the organization of the games . Von Tschammer would be later blamed by historians for enforcing a ban on non - Aryan s in the Germany ' s Olympic team , a fact that was condemned internationally as a violation of the Olympic ethical code . But it is doubtful that he was the only one of the NSRL leaders behind that decision . Despite his major role in the Olympics and in the world of sports of his time , von Tschammer never became a member of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) , a post he craved . In 1937 Karl Ritter von Halt was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the IOC instead of him . Von Tschammer ' s influence within the Nazi Party also began rapidly eroding towards the end of the 1930s decade despite being a topmost Nazi leader . The war preparations would make the influence of sports in Nazi Germany wane in favour of militarism . Hans von Tschammer und Osten , however , would never see the end of the organization he had led for so long . He also would never see Germany losing World War II , for he died from pneumonia in Berlin in 1943 . The assets he left behind were negligible for a man of his position . Von Tschammer was succeeded as " Reichssportführer " by Arno Breitmeyer . Notes and references . Attribution