Eberhard Riedel

Many people knew my father as the successful East German Olympic skier, an athlete who represented his country on international slopes. For me, he was the man who showed me how to go through life with poise, discipline, and passion.

What distinguished him was not only his skiing ability but his attitude toward sport. He was not a loud person, not one to push himself into the foreground. He worked, trained, and fought, quietly, persistently, with a deep respect for his sport and his fellow competitors.

When you spoke to him about his successes, he rarely talked about placements or rankings. Instead, he spoke of the things not visible to everyone. Of the conditions under which they trained, of icy mornings in the mountains, of the precision this sport demands. He spoke of team spirit, of camaraderie, but also of the pressure to represent an entire country, and that at the time a politically highly volatile period.

After his active career, sport remained a central part of his life. He remained committed to the next generation, passed on his experiences, and stayed closely connected to skiing. It was important to him that young people not only learn technique but also values: fairness, endurance, and the ability to cope with defeats.

To me, he was far more than the athlete. I experienced him as a father, as someone who, despite all discipline, carried great warmth within him. He could be strict, yes, but always fair. He was an absolute family man, and when I needed him, he was there. When I doubted, he was the one who encouraged me to keep going. When I fell, he didn’t just help me up; he taught me how to stand up again on my own in the future.

It is the small moments that are especially beautiful in my memory. But they also hurt all the more: his gaze, his calm words, his quiet smile when he was proud, without saying it out loud.

I was able to say goodbye to him in the hospital. How much I admired him. How much I owe him for what I am today. How often I thought of his strength in difficult moments and that giving up was never an option.

But I know that he lives on in me. In everything he taught me. In the way I think, how I act, how I cope with setbacks. And perhaps also in the courage I now need to let him go.

Dad, I miss you more than words can express. And at the same time I am infinitely grateful to be your son. Thank you for everything. For every minute. For every piece of advice. For your trust. Take care, Dad.

Your son Peter

In his Erzgebirge hometown of Lauter, Eberhard Riedel began winter sports. Even as a small boy, he climbed from the village to the Morgenleithe, the home mountain, several times a day, then hurled himself down the valley. In 1947 he won a ski jump on the local Grieseschanze.

He transferred to SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal, where he was trained by Joachim Loos, and then devoted himself to alpine skiing. Between 1952 and 1956 he repeatedly became Sachsenmeister in the children's and youth divisions. In 1957 he was called up to the DDR alpine national team.

Eberhard Riedel competed in three Olympic Winter Games. In 1960 at Squaw Valley he finished 16th in the downhill, in 1964 in Innsbruck 15th in the giant slalom and 18th in the slalom. In 1968 in Grenoble he achieved his best Olympic result with 13th place in the slalom. He also competed at the Alpine World Championships in 1958 in Bad Gastein and in 1966 in Portillo, Chile.

Riedel learned the profession of a forester, in which he worked from 1962. From 1955 to 1962 he was a member of the National People’s Army. On October 20, 1963, he was elected to the Volkskammer of the GDR as a representative of the FDJ and served there for one legislative period until 1967. In 1964 he taught the then State Council Chairman Walter Ulbricht the slalom technique.

In the same year he began a distance learning course in sports science at the German University for Physical Culture in Leipzig and, after completing it, worked as a football, skiing, and ski jumping coach. He also briefly mentored Jens Weißflog. He ended his active career in 1969 after the DDR stopped funding alpine skiing.

Together with his wife Hannelore, who also competed successfully in skiing, he lived in Kurort Oberwiesenthal. They have two grown sons, Olaf and Peter Riedel.

The end of participation in international competitions came in 1968 in alpine racing. The GDR state and sports leadership made this decision due to supposedly high costs and unprofitability. Behind the scenes it was whispered that the professional development of this sport did not fit the socialist image. With this decision alpine racing in the GDR was no longer promoted and has since lived a shadow existence.