2. Lyžařští závodníci Němečtí
SKIERS OF THE NĚMECKÝ FAMILY
The house no. 34 at Palacký’s square is where the Německý family lived, they were also often called “Varhaníkovi”.
The sports-dynasty of the Německý-Varhaník family begins with Josef, a son born on 06/12/1900. He had eleven siblings, most of which competed in cross-country skiing, but only Josef and Ota made history. Josef worked in agriculture at home, which served as a perfect form of training – skis during winter and athletics in summer. He won the Czechoslovak National Championship three times – once in an 18km race and twice in a 50km race. He was also the International Champion of Yugoslavia. Competing at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, he finished 17th in the 50km race and at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz he finished 11th in the same distance race. He was remarkably successful in the 18km and 50km races at five World Championships – in Jánské Lázně, Cortina d´Ampezzo, Zakopane, Holmenkollen and Oberhof.
Another passion of his was athletics. He represented Czechoslovakia in the 5,000-meter track run and the 10,000-meter track run. In 1928 he set the Czechoslovak record in the 5,000-meter track run. He also won the Běchovice – Praha race twice and both times he set the track’s record.
Josef Německý passed away at the age of 43 because of a banal untreated injury.
The Německý-Varhaník family’s other son was called Otakar Německý. Born on 02/03/1902 he finished the Realschule in Nové Město na Moravě and then went on to study at the Czechoslovak Army Veterinary Service University. After his service ended, he returned to Nové Město na Moravě, where he worked as a livestock specialist at the local JZD (Jednotné zemědělské družstvo – Unified agricultural cooperative). He died on 18 March 1967 in Brno.
Similarly to his brother Josef, Otakar competed at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games at Chamonix and the 1928 Winter Olympic Games at St. Moritz, where he finished 8th in the Nordic Combination race. He won the Cross-Country National Championship in the 18km race in 1924, 1925 and 1927 and the Nordic Combination National Championship in 1924 and 1925.
He was also a two-time Polish National Champion in the cross-country 16km race (1926) and in Nordic Combination (1927). He also won the biggest international race in Schreibenau, Germany (1927).
In 1930 he was the leader of the Czechoslovak military patrol that won bronze at the famous Holmenkollen in Norway, for which they were complimented by the Norwegian king.
Nevertheless, this humble native of Nové Město’s biggest success lies in the two World Champion titles, which he won in a cross-country 18km race and Nordic Combination race at the first Ski World Championship in Janské Lázně in February 1925. 12,000 spectators attended the races called “FIS Rendezvous”, later recognized as the World Championship. 6 ministers including the minister of foreign affairs, Dr. Edvard Beneš, acted as the patrons of the race. The honorary prize – a crystal cup – was donated also by the President of the Republic, T. G. Masaryk. It was awarded to the Nordic Combination race winner, Otakar Německý. Nowadays it is on display at the Museum of Horácko, where it was donated by Otakar’s grandson. Otakar helped design the cross-country courses in the Ochoza forest and he picked the spot for a local camp site and later also for the Ski Hotel.
The following history attests to the extraordinary physical capabilities and resilience of the athletes from Nové Město na Moravě.
The athletes from Nové Město na Moravě travelled to Harrachov by train. At the last stop in Rokytnice nad Jizerou a sleigh sent by the count Harrach awaited them. On Sunday they won every race they could. However, there was no sleigh to take them back to Rokytnice. So together with their friends from Jilemnice they skied to Rokytnice and managed to catch the train at the last minute. Hungry, they stopped for a sausage and beer during a transfer in Stará Paka. After a transfer in Pardubice, the train guard told them that because it is Sunday, there is no night train going from Havlíčkův Brod to Žďár nad Sázavou and they would have to wait for the morning train. Pepek Varhaník (Josef Německý) decided: „We’re not waiting in a smelly waiting room. We’ll transfer in Žďárec to Čachnov and from there we’ll ski home, passing through Svratka on the way.” And so they did. In Svratka they stopped at a ball organized by Sokol – everyone knew them there, they got dinner, some shots and stayed for a bit; then they passed through Sněžné just as a ball was ending; and their journey ended at a firemen’s ball in Nové Město na Moravě. Come morning they all went to work.
Author: LS