Field handball was only part of the Olympic program once, at the 1936 Berlin Games. The German Reich dominated their two preliminary round matches, beating Hungary 22-0 and then the USA 29-1, before winning all three matches in the final round, including a 10-6 win over Austria in the deciding match that won the gold medal. Goalkeeper Karl Kreutzberg played two matches in Berlin which earned him two of his three international caps.
A butcher by profession, during the 1936 Berlin Olympics Kreutzberg was regularly photographed with US athlete Jesse Owens, with whom he formed a friendship. In 1972, five years before Kreutzberg’s death, the two men met again at the Olympics in München. Also to be remarked, in 1953 Kreutzberg was named carnival prince in his hometown Düren.
Germany