Fritz Kachler
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Friedrich "Fritz" Kachler ( b.January 1888, Vienna, Austria, d.1973, Vienna ) was a three-time World Figure Skating champion ( 1912, 1913 and 1923 ), succeeding Ulrich Salchow .
A mechanical engineer, he rose to become president of the Austrian Railways, after having been dismissed by the Nazis ( 1938-45 ). He did not believe that sport and nationalism should be mixed and therefore chose not participate in the Olympic Games of 1920 and 1924. He donated his time and expertise to train both Sonja Henie and later Cecilia Colledge to the world championship level. He was a down to earth, no nonsense type, with a wry sense of humour. All his life, he rose early, lived a very disciplined, spartan existence and as result was very fit and never ill. He and his family lived very modestly for a man of his accomplishments, though he did own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with double sidecar in his earlier years. In retirement he took streetcars and trains. He refused to fly in airplanes, stating that as an engineer, he knew what could go wrong. He turned down invitations to judge competitions (e.g. the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics) for this reason. He is buried in the Eisenstaedter family grave (plot 12G) in the Doeblinger Cemetery, Vienna. His wife Margarethe Eisenstaedter died two years later. They had one child, Johanna (Prosser) (b. 1923) and one grandchild, Doris (Eglau) (b. 1964), both of whom live not far from Vienna. His grand niece, Janice (Webster) (nee Kletter) (b.1975) lives in Ottawa, Canada.
[edit] Competitive highlights
| Event | 1912 | 1913 | 1923 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st |
