Erland Herkenrath’s family moved to Zürich in 1910. His father came from Köln and mother from Norrköping, Sweden. Herkenrath studied in ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and was a founding member of the handball section of Grasshopper Club Zürich, where he played his entire career until 1956, when he quit his sporting career. In addition to his Olympic bronze medal, Herkenrath won a second place at the 1938 World Championships in field handball and was a six-time Swiss champion with his club. After his sporting career Herkenrath took over his father’s firm, which produced electrotechnical apparatuses for Swiss companies like BBC (nowadays ABB) and Bührle (nowadays OC Oerlikon) and was professionally active until mid-1980s. After his retirement he moved to Weggis near Lake Lucerne, where he died.
Switzerland