Ice Stock Sport at the 1936 Winter Olympics

Eisstockschießen, or in English, ice stock sport, is a variant of curling, often called German curling, but more properly Bavarian curling. The sport is mostly practised in southern Germany, Austria and the Südtirol. The sport is played on ice, although there is a summer variant played on paved surfaces. A German federation for the sport was first established in 1934 with German Championships first held in 1936. European Championships were first contested in 1951 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the World Championships in the sport began in 1983, held at Frankfurt am Main, shortly after the formation of the International Federation für Eisstockschießen (IFE).

Eisstockschießen has twice been an Olympic demonstration sport, in 1936 and 1964. In 1936, there were eight different events, with six for men, three international and three national, and two national events for women. Little is known about the details of the various events. Admission to the events was free. In the distance events, each competitor had three attempts with the best attempt counting. In the target events, each competitor had five shots at a house with a target scoring from 1-9 points. The 1936 events were held on the Rießersee, a lake, with several of the events held under less than ideal conditions, because of snow. The competition was organized by Josef Dötsch, a leading proponent of the sport in Germany.